LePrix Secures Strategic Investment from Publicly-Traded AUCNET Inc.

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- LePrix, the only online B2B and B2C platform for businesses to sell and source pre-owned luxury wholesale in the United States, receives a strategic, minority investment from Aucnet USA, LLC. which is the American subsidiary of publicly-traded global-company, Aucnet Inc. (Aucnet) headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Aucnet is one of the leading B2B online marketplace auction platforms in Japan, which was established by Aucnet Consumer Products USA, LLC (ACP USA) in January 2020 as part of its global expansion portfolio.

"We are thrilled to have Aucnet as a strategic shareholder in LePrix, especially since Aucnet has deep expertise in the resale industry and both companies have a mission to provide resale businesses a platform to efficiently navigate the highly-fragmented resale of luxury goods on a global scale. With the conscious consumer demanding sustainable options, this alliance is critical for the maturation of the pre-owned luxury supply chain," says Elise Whang, CEO and co-founder of LePrix. This year, LePrix will continue to aggressively grow the business including expanding its pre-owned wholesale platform ("LePrix Wholesale") by expanding its supply chain and increasing sales efforts in conjunction with developing AI-driven pricing tools.

According to Whang, consumers spend more than $198B in the luxury fashion segment. Secondhand online sales are expected to grow 24x faster than retail as millennials and gen Z'ers demand more sustainable shopping options. Brick-and-mortar resale stores are growing at 8% annually in the U.S. and are sourcing top selling pre-owned items at wholesale prices on LePrix's wholesale platform and LePrix's B2C platform is on pace with the explosive growth of online sales of secondhand items. There are over 40,000 resale businesses that focus on pre-owned fashion globally.

LePrix has seen tremendous growth in recent years through LePrix Wholesale. With more than 785% year-over-year growth, LePrix Wholesale continues to fuel the expansion of all aspects of the business. Since the launch of LePrix Wholesale in Q4 of 2018, pre-verified resale businesses are now able to sell to other resale and retail businesses at wholesale prices.

Aucnet's investment is a part of its global expansion strategy into the United States, starting with the opening of ACP USA's operations in 2020 (Projected). The strategic investment from Aucnet further solidifies both companies' global footprint as aggregators of the highly-fragmented resale industry at scale with the use of technology.

ABOUT LEPRIX
LePrix is an online platform for businesses to source pre-owned luxury wholesale from around the world (B2B) and sell to their end customer (B2C). Over 600 resale and retail partners, mostly in Northern America, are using the LePrix platform. LePrix is a Delaware company with offices in the Washington DC area, NY and San Francisco.

For more information on LePrix visit http://leprix.com, http://wholesale.leprix.com or email [email protected]

ABOUT AUCNET
In 1985, Aucnet launched the world's first 'used car TV auto auction system' that enabled the trading of used cars without needing to see the actual products. Since then, the company has specialized in information distribution support service by organizing and operating the internet auctions. Furthermore, over the past 35 years, online auctions have gone on to include: motorcycles, flowers/agricultural goods, used digital devices, used luxury products, and others.

For more information on Aucnet visit http://ir.aucnet.co.jp or contact [email protected]

SOURCE LePrix