Dive Brief:

• In its first acquisition, Poshmark has acquired Suede One, a virtual sneaker authentication platform, the company announced on Wednesday. The Suede One staff will become part of Poshmark's team. 
• The Suede One purchase is part of Poshmark's effort to catalyze growth in popular secondhand goods categories and strengthen the user experience for both buyers and sellers, the company said. 
• Poshmark will pair Suede One's virtual verification tools with Posh Protect, which refunds customers for purchases that don't match the listing description, and Posh Authenticate, which provides free authentication for luxury items worth $500 or more. 

Dive Insight:

With the Suede One acquisition, Poshmark is among other resale platforms that are combating the sale of counterfeit goods. In its acquisition announcement, the company said it plans to scale its authentication tools to verify sneakers of various prices and possibly offer authentication services for more product categories. 

"We built this company to solve a key challenge for the reseller community — creating technology that protects them from fraud and ensures fast, accurate authentication that they can rely on," Matt Forloine, CEO of Suede One, said in a statement. 

Suede One, which was founded in 2020, has an inventoryless approach to authentication. Product images are analyzed, and algorithms focus on "consistencies to identify whether an item is real or counterfeit," according to the company. For popular brands like Yeezy 350s and Jordan 1s, Suede One states that it is able to authenticate most submissions with accuracy of over 99%. For other sneaker styles, humans review submissions with help from the company's authenticator tool. 

"We are laser focused on making strategic investments that fuel the continued growth of our business, give the best overall experience for buyers and make our marketplace the number one, most trusted destination for sellers," Manish Chandra, founder and CEO of Poshmark, said in a statement.

Other e-commerce platforms have introduced measures to build trust in used items sold online. Over the years, eBay has implemented services to authenticate jewelry, watches, sports memorabilia and sneakers. In April, eBay launched in-person authentication events to verify the authenticity of watches and other collectibles. 

But as Poshmark releases more authentication features for sneakers, investors have been eyeing the secondhand sneaker, clothing and accessories platform GOAT Group. In June, the company raised $195 million in Series F funding from Park West Asset Management to support its global expansion and grow its shoe, clothing and accessories verticals. The platform also offers its own authenticity guarantee, according to its website.