Raise.com

Raise Marketplace
Type of business Privately Owned
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Area served United States
Founder(s) George Bousis
Industry eCommerce
Website www.raise.com
Launched 2013

Raise.com is a gift card buyback company, based out of Chicago, IL and launched in 2013 by George Bousis.

History

Raise.com was initially conceived as a spinoff of another service created by Bousis and Bradley Wasz, called CouponTrade, which was founded in 2010.[1]

In that time, the marketplace became of more friendly place to Bousis's idea. As stated by Crain's Chicago Business column, "a 2009 federal law prevented gift cards from expiring for five years; cards went from a magnetic stripe to all-digital in 2010; and advances in mobile technology made it possible to buy and sell cards on a smartphone."[2]

Founded in 2013, Raise.com received $18M in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Funding.[1][3] A second round of funding in 2015 saw $56M in Series B funding from New Enterprise Associates.[4][5][6][7][8]

In August 2015, Raise.com acquired Tastebud Technologies for an undisclosed amount, with the CEO of Tastebud Technologies, Tyler Spalding, taking the Chief Strategy Officer role within Raise.com.[4][9][10]

In June 2016, Raise acquired Slide for an undisclosed amount in stock, a company which allows you to store your gift cards in your digital wallet/Passbook. Raise also announce plans to open a New York office.[11][12]

As of 2016, the company is valued at about $1B, as presented by the New York Times.[5][13]

Business Model

For every transaction, Raise.com takes a 15% cut of the sale.[14]

In the period between funding - in 2014, Raise.com released a mobile app (iOS only) version of it’s marketplace.[15][16]

Raise.com also has partnerships with “over a dozen undisclosed retailers so far who are interested in the sorts consumer shopping insights Raise can provide.”[6][14]

Raise also has a 100 day money back guarantee on purchases directly through the marketplace.

Gift Card Fraud

There have been users of Raise.com who have experienced gift card fraud, typically executed by people who steal items under the return receipt requirements of stores and then requesting gift cards.[17][18] Generally, customer service with Raise.com when people have received fraudulent gift cards receives minimal complaints and people usually receive a 100%+ refund within the grace period. As AdvisoryHQ states, "Many of the negative Raise reviews on this review site are from buyers who waited until after Raise’s 100-day money back guarantee had expired before trying to use their gift card – only to discover that the card was invalid or had a different value than expected."[19][20]

While Raise has not publicly commented on this, their terms of service state that any user who attempts to sell an “invalid card” will be subjected to a sale price reversal and may be liable for the 15% sales commission. Additionally, the account holder may be charged a “card refund fee” in the greater amount - $20 or 15% of the gift card sale price.[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Perez, Sarah. "Gift Card Marketplace Raise.com Gives Itself A Raise With $18.1 Million In New Funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  2. ↑ "The amazing rise of Raise". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  3. ↑ "The Holiday Season Isn't Over Yet for Retail". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  4. 1 2 "Raise Marketplace - Timeline | CrunchBase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  5. 1 2 "11 Chicago tech companies in the billion dollar club". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  6. 1 2 Perez, Sarah. "Gift Card Marketplaces Raise Grabs $56 Million From NEA And Others". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  7. ↑ Bertoni, Steven. "Gift Card Marketplace Raise Snags $56 MM Series B: Valuation Tops $500 MM". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  8. ↑ Sky, Blue. "Raise Marketplace's $615 million valuation means further 'validation'". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  9. ↑ "Raise tastes its first acquisition with Tastebud Technologies". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  10. ↑ "Raise Marketplace Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  11. ↑ "Raise acquires New York-based Slide app". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  12. ↑ "Raise acquires Slide, announces plans for New York office". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  13. ↑ Times, The New York. "50 Companies That May Be the Next Start-Up Unicorns". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  14. 1 2 Rogers, Bruce. "George Bousis' Raise Creates Cash System For Gift Cards". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  15. ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Raise.com's New App Lets You Buy Discounted Gift Cards To Instantly Save While Shopping". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  16. ↑ "Gift Card Marketplace Raise.com Launches Mobile App to Revolutionize Retail, Reveals Backing from Bessemer Venture Partners | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  17. ↑ "The Role of Phony Returns in Gift Card Fraud — Krebs on Security". krebsonsecurity.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  18. ↑ "Raise.com". www.sitejabber.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  19. ↑ "Any experience with Raise.com?? • /r/Frugal". reddit. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  20. ↑ "Raise.com Review | What Is Raise and Is It Legit? Raise Gift Card Reviews". 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  21. ↑ "Raise.com". www.raise.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.