states area served worldwide founder s joseph einhorn key people joseph einhorn ceo jack einhorn president paul hsu chief operating officer francois henri pinault board member chris hughes board member leroy kim board member jack dorsey board member jim pallotta board member 1 industry internet ecommerce consumer goods products men s women s kids pets home gadgets art food media architecture sports travel destinations diy workspace cars other 2 owner joseph einhorn employees 1 10 2013 3 website www.fancy.com alexa rank 3 418 february 2013 update 4 type of site social network service microblogging ecommerce registration required to post follow or be followed users 2 million october 2012 5 available in multilingual launched 2009 3 current status active fancy is a social photo sharing webstore and mobile app created by joseph einhorn . the new york based e commerce site allows users to engage in socially oriented shopping through picture feeds and sharing . users can purchase products that they see directly from the website which acts as an intermediary between the consumer and the retailer . 6 7 in july 2013 bloomberg announced that fancy had raised 53 million in funding bringing the company s valuation to approximately 600 million . 8 in february 2015 fancy raised a 20 million series d strategic funding round which was led by mexico s carlos slim domit and the ccc holding company . 9 contents 1 history 1.1 thingd 1.2 creation and growth 1.3 purchase of fancy.com 1.4 usage 2 features 2.1 contribution 2.2 fancy box 2.3 gifting 2.4 promotions 3 finances 3.1 revenue sources 3.2 funding 3.3 acquisitions 3.4 partnership with google 4 references 5 external links history edit thingd edit thingd is the parent company of fancy . 10 thingd is short for thing daemon . in a 2010 techcrunch article ceo joseph einhorn summarized the company s mission by stating that we want to build a database of everything in the world . 11 thingd aims to be the object layer in the web the platform that identifies images and collects metadata around everything from gucci sunglasses to comic book collectibles . 12 creation and growth edit fancy was originally set up as an invitation only photo blog where more than 5 000 tastemakers and celebrities upload and tag images of their possessions as well as the baubles they d like to own . 13 it has since then opened to the public . 14 in october 2012 comscore announced that fancy had grown 25 % since its launch and was estimated to be worth us 100 million . 5 as of july 2013 fancy is valued at approximately 600 million . 8 in february 2014 olivia palermo with fancy started an e commerce website . 15 purchase of fancy.com edit fancy purchased fancy.com in june 2013 and the company was subsequently rebranded from the fancy to fancy . 16 usage edit the fancy userbase is split relatively 50 50 between u.s. and international users . the main age group on fancy consists of 24 to 35 year olds . visitors from the us make up for 47 % of fancy.com s visits with 53 % coming from an international following . visitors from india france and china represent 7.8 % 6.5 % and 5.2 % of the total traffic respectively . 4 features edit contribution edit to contribute users employ a tool known as a bookmarklet in their web browsers . on finding something interesting to share users utilize the bookmarklet to select an image describe it and then add it to their personal feeds it is automatically linked back to the page from where it was found . 7 users may also upload images and describe them within the subcategories of either men women kids pets home gadgets art food media or other . users can also follow others whose tastes they like . users who generate a lot of interest are rewarded with honorary titles like editor or art director for their curatorial prowess . 14 fancy also has mobile applications for ipad iphone windows phone and android platforms . 17 fancy box edit fancy box is a monthly subscription service in which users pay 39 to receive a box full of different products available from fancy worth an estimated total of 80 or more . fancy allows for boxes to be customized by category such as men s women s home gadgets media and more . 18 gifting edit fancy helps users find gift ideas through their gift tab . users can either send a fancy box worth 60 or browse for gift ideas by color or price ranging from 1 20 to gifts 500 . fancy also offers gift guides such as back to school for him anniversary and winter getaways . lastly users can view recommendations for gifts by sending in a customized description of what they desire and the individual designated to receive the gift . 2 promotions edit users receive a credit of 1 for every friend that signs up and 10 when that friend buys something within 60 days . fancy has also partnered with american express to promote its site . through october 31 2012 amex gives a 20 statement credit for every 100 spent on fancy and paid for by using an amex credit card . the card must be synced with twitter ; a tweet must be sent using amexthefancyoffer and a tweet validating the offer must be received from amexsync before receiving the credit . 19 starting from july 9 2012 fancy started offering cash rewards to users who share the stuff they love . anytime that users share a product that they fancy they will receive a referral link . whenever someone clicks on their referral link and makes a purchase the original user who posted the referral link will get a 2 percent cut in the form of credit in his her account . fancy created a dashboard that is specifically designed for users to keep track of all the earnings that were made through referral links . founder joseph einhorn expressed in an interview with venturebeat that the goal is to evolve the way social commerce operates . he added that the company wants to reward the users who create value for us by curating favorite items and helping others to discover great new things . 20 finances edit revenue sources edit there is no advertising on fancy but fancy allows external merchants to sell their products on the site . 21 brands and retailers bid to sell items that are fancied . the seller then sets a price based on the demand or number of fancies that an item has . after fancy approves the item users can then make their transaction on the website . in return for selling other merchants products fancy takes a small commission of every purchase that is made through the website . funding edit on june 9 2009 fancy received a combined 2 million from angel investors jim pallotta board member and owner of the boston celtics esther dyson and allen & company . in may 2010 fancy completed its series a round which amassed a total of 6 million from various investors including art samberg jeff samberg maynard webb bob pittman twitter creator jack dorsey board member and facebook co founder chris hughes board member . fancy secured a 10 million investment in november 2011 from pinault printemps redoute bringing the company s valuation to 100 million . 22 in july 2013 fancy closed a 53 million funding round from among others american express len blavatnik and will smith . 8 the funding brought the company s estimated value to 600 million and is being used to expand the company which in 2013 was processing 3 million in monthly revenue . 1 8 in september 2013 fancy secured an investment round of 7 million from among others richard c. perry owner of barneys new york and his son david perry who works at fancy . 23 in february 2015 fancy raised a 20 million series d strategic funding round which was led by mexico s carlos slim domit and the ccc holding company . 9 fancy noted that it would use the funding to continue to build out its technology platform and execute on new key strategic partnerships . 9 acquisitions edit as of august 2012 apple was in talks to acquire fancy . apple wanted to secure a role for themselves in the growing e commerce market . although there is no guarantee that the acquisition will happen and the price that apple proposed to pay for fancy is unknown . apple is not known for making big splashy acquisitions but fancy could give apple a clear route to converting people s interest in an object into a sale . 24 the acquisition was never completed . 25 in february 2013 fancy acquired the online artisanal foods vendor samplrs.com in an attempt to bolster the company s food business . 26 partnership with google edit in february 2013 google partnered with fancy allowing users to buy and share goods directly through its social platform in a method similar to facebook s gifts . 27 references edit a b fancy . fancy at crunchbase . crunchbase . 8 july 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b home . fancy . thing daemon inc. 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b thefancy.com . the fancu on linkedin . linkedin . 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b thefancy.com . alexa . alexa internet inc. june 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b marion aan t goor 10 october 2012 . fancy the future of social media . viral blog . socialmedia8 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . erica berger february 23 2013 . you think pinterest is big here comes fancy with a brand spanking new e commerce platform . venturebeat . retrieved july 20 2013 . a b frequently asked questions . fancy . fancy . 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b c d sarah frier july 7 2013 . fancy said to get funding from amex will smith . bloomberg . retrieved july 20 2013 . a b c social commerce site fancy raises around 20m in series d led by carlos slim jr and japan s ccc techcrunch retrieved february 24 2015 kafka peter december 23 2010 . what is thingd why did it make fancy and what s up with those fancy offices let s ask founder joe einhorn . . all things digital . dow jones & company . retrieved october 24 2012 . robin wauters 10 november 2010 . thingd the super ambitious low profile but red hot startup you ve never heard of . techcrunch . aol inc. retrieved 15 july 2013 . benjamin popper 9 november 2010 . creating the facebook of stuff . new york observer . wordpress.com vip . retrieved 15 july 2013 . ira boudway 29 november 2010 . thefancy.com a website for materialists . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 15 july 2013 . a b austin considine 7 january 2011 . arbiters of style see it post it and share it . the new york times . retrieved 15 july 2013 . diderich joelle 20 february 2014 . olivia palermo in town for milan fashion week . wwd . retrieved 20 february 2014 . andrew allemann june 22 2013 . thefancy buys fancy.com domain name rebrands . domain name wire . retrieved july 20 2013 . mobile . fancy . thing daemon inc. 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . silverman 2013 . fancy box . fancy . thing daemon inc. retrieved 15 july 2013 . fancy for american express . fancy . thing daemon inc. 2013 . retrieved 15 july 2013 . christina farr 9 july 2012 . fancy gives you cash for sharing the stuff you love . venturebeat . venturebeat