Luxe reseller Cudoni closes despite recent eBay investment

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Apr 23, 2023

UK resale fashion website Cudoni has collapsed into administration citing the “rising cost of living and economic crisis”. It’s the second reseller to go under in just a few days following Dotte’s closure last week.

It notified customers online of the “difficult decision” to close the business, the failure coming just months after eBay made an investment in the company as part of a Series B fundraising of £7.5 million.

Cudoni said that as a business dependent on venture capital financing to scale, it was unable to continue in the current macro-economic environment. It had failed to raise further investment to make it through the next year.

The statement continued: “We thank all of our clients and valued customers for supporting our growth journey, and we could not be more proud of what we have achieved together.

“However, the market and the world has seen unprecedented change and the rising cost of living and economic crisis have been difficult to ride out for every start-up, not just ourselves.

“We have explored every option available, but sadly in the current climate, it is impossible for Cudoni to continue. We will no longer be accepting consignment items and will begin the process of shipping all items back to their owners.”

The message was strikingly similar to what Dotte has said in its own goodbye message and underscored how resale may be seen as key for the future but it remains a precarious segment for start-up businesses, even those with a very high profile.

The 2017 start-up became one of many launching to capitalise on the booming fashion resale segment.

Back in January, founder and chief executive James Harford-Tyrer said receiving funding was an “outstanding vote of confidence in the brand and our ambitions”.

Fast forward to mid-April and Cudoni has already reportedly cut 30 of its 79 staff.