Kidizen announced on Tuesday it had closed its marketplace, catching customers by surprise. A message on the Kidizen website from “Team Kidizen” said it had started the site over 10 years ago “to connect parents through the buying and selling of preloved kid stuff” and had grown to 1 million members.
“We have done everything we can to build a lasting home for this amazing community, but sadly, we haven’t been able to achieve that. It’s a difficult decision, and one we never wanted to make, but we must now bring our operations to an end,” the company told customers.
Sellers must move fast – Kidizen abruptly ceased all buying and selling on the marketplace on Tuesday at 11 am. Sellers must ship outstanding orders within 3 days (November 1, 2024) – “Orders without a tracking number by this deadline will be canceled and refunded.” Sellers who purchased a shipping label but have not yet shipped have until 10 am on November 4, 2024 to upload tracking that shows their orders have shipped.
Some sellers discussing the shutdown on Reddit said they were having difficulty withdrawing their funds. “Still trying to get $$ out. It’s refusing to link to my PayPal or bank account to do so. It says I have 8 days. Luckily it’s not a huge amount but seriously…” To which another seller replied, “Same. FYI I got this reply from customer service: Due to the volume of activity occurring due the the announcement of Kidizen’s closure, actions such as creating shipping labels and cashing out are delayed until our servers catch up. Please try again later. We appreciate your patience at this time.”
It’s shocking that Kidizen isn’t giving sellers more time to adjust – and it isn’t clear who at the company sellers would be able to contact if there are any errors on the Form 1099-K Kidizen will send to the IRS that report sellers’ revenue activity. In a FAQ section of the website under, “Why weren’t we given more notice?” Kidizen wrote the following:
“We understand this news may feel sudden, and we’re truly sorry for any disruption it’s caused. Up until very recently, we were actively pursuing options to secure a future for Kidizen. When it became clear that these solutions wouldn’t come to fruition, we immediately shifted our focus to supporting our sellers with transitioning their listings and ensuring a smooth close-out process for everyone. We also prioritized making sure that all buyers either received their orders or were refunded for any unshipped items.
“We implemented the necessary steps to accomplish this, though we sincerely wish we had more time to support you through this change. Thank you for being a valued part of the Kidizen community, and we’re here to answer any questions as you navigate this transition.”
Kidizen CEO Dori Graff and CCO Mary Fallon founded the site in 2014, calling Kidizen, “a resale marketplace for kids’ fashion and essentials.” A year ago, Graff talked about Kidizen and its founding in an article on Pulse2.com. Sellers paid nothing to list items, and according to Kidizen’s Terms:
“When an Order is placed, we charge the seller of the Order a transaction fee equal to 12% of the aggregate Listing Price of all the items in the Order, plus $.95 per Order. The amount the seller makes for Order (the “Seller Proceeds”) is thus 88% of the aggregate Listing Price for the items in the Order, minus $.95 per Order. If the seller purchases the shipping label for the Order through Kidizen, 12% of the postage is refunded to the seller so that the fee is not applied to the amount of the sale used for postage.”
Kidizen advised sellers to download their sales reports prior to closure by going to Settings > Sales Reports.
Kidizen will shut down the platform and deactivate the website on November 7, 2024, and it will remove the app from the App Store and Google Play. The Kidizen website currently lists its address as 4440 Round Lake Rd W, suite N10, Arden Hills, MN 55112.
