StockX, the world’s first online consumer “Stock Market of Things” for high-demand, limited edition products today announced that it has expanded beyond the sneaker resale market and will now allow companies and brands the ability to have an initial public offering (IPO) of limited-edition consumer products.
The company launched with the sneaker resale market as its first vertical, but starting today, consumers will be able to bid on exclusive, limited-edition Fourth of November merchandise created by Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke on the StockX exchange. The Fourth of November merchandise on StockX will be centered on Reasonable Doubt, which was Jay Z and Roc-A-Fella’s debut album. The album launched the career of Jay Z, who has become one of the most successful hip hop artists of all time. The album was also the start of the Roc-A-Fella family tree that includes more than a handful of hip hop hall-of-famers, an internationally renowned lifestyle brand in Roc-A-Wear, and countless other successful businesses.
“From the day we began working on the ‘Stock Market of Things’, we’ve been searching for the next ‘thing’ — the next high-demand, limited-edition product we could launch on our exchange,” said StockX co-founder and CEO Josh Luber. “We are honored to have the opportunity to work with Biggs and Fourth of November to launch the world’s first consumer-goods IPO with exclusive merchandise from perhaps the greatest hip hop album of all time.”
How an IPO on StockX Works
A consumer goods IPO on StockX will function the same way as a traditional IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, providing the same transparency, anonymity and authenticity:
- Prior to IPO – pre-bidding opens on StockX at a minimum bid price
- IPO Date – products are sold to highest bidders, based on quantity
- Post IPO – products are shipped to buyers and can be resold on StockX
“What I loved most about StockX was the bid/ask’ trading platform that allows buyers to place bids and sellers to place asks, which essentially supports entrepreneurship on a global scale. To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Reasonable Doubt I told Jay Z I wanted to do something special that would capture the enthusiasm of our fans with the platform we built together while showing the impact “Reasonable Doubt” has on the world with millennials. After product seeding key influencers and celebrities at our last event, it created a buzz in the market place which led to this partnership and the world’s first consumer-goods IPO,” said Biggs. “The Fourth of November x Reasonable Doubt merchandise collaboration is in honor of the album that connected the dots between artists of today and the movement we started years ago. If you think about the ‘Reasonable Doubt’ family tree, Jay Z introduced J. Cole, Rihanna. I introduced Kanye West to the market, who in turn, introduced GOOD Music, Pusha T, Big Sean and many others a lot of careers have been birthed from the movement we started.”
StockX, which launched in February of 2016, was co-founded by Luber, who serves as the company’s CEO, and Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans and majority owner of the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers. In the six months since launch, the company has been focused on the $6 billion sneaker resale market, but the broader goal has always been to provide a visible, liquid, anonymous and authentic marketplace for more consumer goods.
Sneakerheads will still be able to use StockX as a live “bid/ask” marketplace that allows buyers to place bids, sellers to place asks, and execute a trade when the seller’s ask price meets with a buyer’s bid. Buyers of sneakers on StockX will be assured of the authenticity of sneakers purchased on the exchange, and users can see in-depth market analysis on the sneaker resell market.
“Allowing consumers to purchase limited-edition products at an IPO the same way they would with company stock on the New York Stock Exchange is the next step in StockX’s continued growth to become a viable and better way to both buy and sell certain product categories,” said Luber.
About Biggs/Fourth of November
Fourth of November is the marriage of art, love and design established in Brooklyn, NY. The brand strives to produce garments that embody the love for jean-making as well as traditional American fashion. Each and every Fourth of November denim jean is first hand washed then sent for duplication. Fourth of November uses original Italian indigo dyed yarns to create cloth, Japanese hand washes, and American workman’s heritage. By combining it all together it produces one blue jean with the synergy of all the original cultures.
For more information please visit http://fourthofnovember.com
About StockX
StockX is the world’s first online consumer “stock market of things” for high-demand, limited edition products. Participants buy and sell authenticated products in a live marketplace where they anonymously trade with stock market – like visibility. The StockX exchange offers buyers and sellers historical price and volume metrics, real-time bids and offers (asks), time-stamped trades, individualized portfolio tracking and metrics, as well as in-depth market analysis and news. StockX launched its inaugural marketplace in the secondary sneaker space with plans to expand to additional consumer product segments that have a natural need for a live secondary market.
