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05-01-2022 11:06 AM
Looks like Zazzle might turn into a public company soon. Would you buy Zazzle stock? Why or why not?
QUOTE
Zazzle Inc., an online marketplace for customized items, has hired Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc to prepare for an initial public offering this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is seeking to go public as soon as this summer....
END QUOTE
http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ecommerce-firm-zazzle-is-said-to-tap-citi-barclays-for-ipo-1.1725764
I also do Postcrossing!
Solved! Go to Solution.
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05-04-2022 03:46 PM - edited 05-04-2022 03:52 PM
in reply to @Connie and everyone else reading this...
Consider this scenario: Background info: I was a successful SK on CP and have personal knowledge of some of what happened. Around Sept of that year, artists were posting on the forum, asking what was going on. Fortunately I got bad vibes at the end of quite a few phone conversations and emails as an artist working with one of the owners (I believe I saved the emails) and when the ipo issued, I did not buy in and was glad I didn't.
CP issued IPO (owners number 1 cashed out before the ipo and quietly left the company,( which I can verify) and the remaining owner sold his the first day (if memory serves me) along with the other big holders, then the stock dropped, leaving the remaining holders hanging. Picture it...big investors cash out their large holdings first day, stock drops, Working from memory but fairly clear picture of the unfolding of events.
Maybe another previous CP SK can chime in.
Just saying please use caution when investing in stocks of any kind with any company.
More tidbits for thought--
https://dbpedia.org/page/Zazzle
Zazzle received an initial investment of US$16 million in July 2005 from Google investors John Doerr and Ram Shriram, and an additional investment of US$30 million in October 2007.
founders Robert Beaver, Bobby Beaver ,Jeff Beaver
founded 1/1/ 2005
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https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/ipos/604149/hot-upcoming-ipos-to-watch-for-2022
Robert Beaver founded five different tech companies. But his largest is Zazzle, which he launched in 2005 with sons Jeff and Bobby, and wife Peggy, as cofounders.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Zazzle has hired Citigroup and Barclays for an IPO that could arrive as soon as this summer. The company could be valued at between $1 billion and $2 billion.
Very little is currently known about the company's financials, though an eventual S-1 filing would change that. (my additional comment--financials undisclosed because they are a private company right now)
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https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/google-investors-find-new-project/
July 2005 Doerr's Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Shriram's Sherpalo Ventures will announce they've led Zazzle's series A funding, and the two men have joined the company's board of directors.
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FWIW-- Not trying to defame or cast a bad light on any company, just do your due diligence, pay attention, money lost is money gone.
In my case, the years I put in building my CP shops is gone ( I closed them and left), and I had to start again on Zazzle, July is my 14 yr Z bday. For me, just another a learning experience/life lesson.
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05-05-2022 09:06 AM
Zazzle was reaching out to designers before CP began alienating designers, which gave them a head start on the exodus. Zazzle's timing was perfect. CP started failing designers a few years before they went public. It started there in 2009, as Carla pointed out, and they quickly began pulling the rug. The warning sign was already lit but illegible. Any designer with a modicum of foresight jumped ship. The IPO set the sign ablaze and made the message crystal clear. CP's timing was abysmal.
CP was on the frontier of POD which means they had to make unprecedented mistakes and make necessary cuts and changes to programs that weren't sustainable. For example, the first thing that CP did was to kill our base volume bonus. Zazzle followed suit a few years later and now most PODs can't maintain such a program. That was probably a necessary adjustment. The problem with CP is that they followed with royalty limitations, and then capped them again and again and created obstacles and obstructions and so many hoops to jump through to the point that it wasn't worth the time or effort designing there anymore. They ended all of their designer perks, which we have never really had here. And they did it all in a manner and time frame that alienated their designer pool.
Like Carla, I already had a store here but wasn't very active. I think Zazzle would have eventually been moderately successful based solely on their customization model. But it would be fair to say that the CP exodus was a breakthrough for Zazzle and was solid proof that designers are the main ingredient for success. I just hope that this fact is passed on to potential investors.
As stated before, sometimes going public is necessary and all investors aren't in the game for a quick payout. RB went public in 2016 and they still treat their designers well. I don't remember much changing there after the IPO. Martin Hosking was one of its founders and is still the major shareholder and is on the board of directors. Hopefully our founders here will remain the major shareholders as well.
Zazzle has a few advantages over CP when it comes to going public. They have documented history to learn from and to guide them, they have passion for the platform and they have an amazing community. As long as Zazzle continues to allow designers (creators) to set their own royalties they will remain successful. Capping royalties is the most important mistake that they could possibly make.
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09-13-2022 10:21 PM
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05-05-2022 08:40 PM
Thank you for the details Carla and Jerry. I was living off grid back then but had an iphone with instagram and I knew a few of the designers at CP through my connections there. The ones I knew went to Redbubble and when I moved to town that was where I went too, Until I heard about Zazzle in 2014. I agree with what you said Jerry, I hope the new investors will value the designers and also not cap our royalties either. I did check out CP but wasn't even tempted by the low royalty there.
As I said in another thread, I am prepared to ride this out and see what happens. I have invested too much time here to quit now.
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05-06-2022 10:42 AM
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06-06-2022 07:39 PM
I think it is a wise idea as a designer to invest in yourself by diversifying your streams of income. I can't give you advice whether to buy Z stock or not... I can tell you I probably won't. But I am adding more eggs to more baskets, while keeping my eggs in this basket also.
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06-07-2022 06:42 PM
I don't know how you do that? I barely have enough time to create & promote for my main store here, let alone start another store elsewhere. if I had the guts to it (and I don't) I would feel like I'm taking time away from my main bread winner every time I step away to try to start a new flame. But I wish you success with your strategy and I can understand why you'd want to do that.
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06-09-2022 01:01 PM - edited 06-09-2022 01:02 PM
I have actually been on two other platforms for several years but spent most of my time building my Zazzle. Now I am delegating certain days or hours of the day to working on the other ones too. I am a good multitasker I guess. The markup on my fineartarmerica sales is well worth the extra effort. Also thanks for the well wishes!
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06-09-2022 06:06 AM
The stock market in general is doing horrible right now. My 401K (which I'm going to be relying on in 2 years) is plummeting daily. Inflation is out of control at 8.3%. Gas is almost $5.00 a gallon. Businesses are closing. People are going to have to start cutting back somewhere. I think we (Zazzle) is in for a hard couple years. So, no, I wouldn't buy Zazzle stock. I pray I'm wrong and Zazzle does well (I'm a designer, so I really pray it goes well of course), but we are going into a recession, if not a depression. I think it's a bad time to buy stock.
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