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11 months ago
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Sellers who used e-commerce platform Jane.com claim they are struggling to recover their millions of dollars owed to them following the abrupt shutdown of the site.
Documents reveal that the Utah-based online marketplace owes more than $10.1 million in sales to over 1,300 sellers after it announced its closure last month, NBC News reported.
Employees and sellers said they were 'misled' by Jane.com, a platform once lauded as an alternative to Amazon with a focus on female-owned small businesses and female consumers.
The company, founded by Megan and Michael McEwans in 2011, had stopped fulfilling orders and communicating with sellers in early October, business owners said.
The shutdown has also left sellers scrambling to find alternative platforms to sell their items, particularly during the holiday season.
Sellers on the e-commerce platform Jane.com, founded by Megan and Michael McEwans(pictured) in 2011, claim they are owed millions of dollars following the abrupt shutdown of the site in last month
Dana Hicks (pictured), the owner and CEO of the T-shirt retailer, noticed delays in payments and asked the company's staff what was happening before being told the issues were due to a staff member being on leave
Employees and sellers said they were 'misled' by Jane.com, a platform once lauded as an alternative to Amazon with a focus on female-owned small businesses and female consumers
'It's been a shock,' Dana Hicks, the owner and CEO of the T-shirt retailer Limeberry Designs, told NBC.
'It was hard this weekend going through a Black Friday without the typical Jane numbers that you see.'
Hicks had been selling graphic T-shirts on Jane.com since 2014, achieving over $2 million in sales last year, with 90 percent of these sales attributed to Jane.
She noticed delays in payments from Jane.com in October asked the company's staff, who said the issue was due to an employee on leave.
The payments dropped from three or four times a week to one, she said. By October 26, she had not been paid in more than a week.
On the same day, the co-founder Michael wrote an email, apologizing for the delays in payments and assuring her.
'Hi Dana, I'm sorry you're experiencing a slower payment schedule. I assure you we're doing our best to get to everyone paid,' he wrote.
He mentioned a new product feature called Moments, which he said would help with 'driving more engagement with your products.'
'Although this isn't a solution to your immediate problem, over the long term, if sellers participate and take advantage of the opportunity, I believe it will,' he wrote.
Documents reveal that the company owes more than $10.1 million in sales to over 1,300 sellers after the Utah-based online marketplace announced its closure last month
The payments dropped from three or four times a week to one, Hicks said. By October 26, she had not been paid in more than a week
The founders Michael and Megan, now divorced, played no active role in the company's daily operations
The founders Michael and Megan, now divorced, played no active role in the company's daily operations.
Documents revealed that they each received $350,000 annually from the company until the end of 2022.
In early November, after Hicks inquired about her payments again, Jane.com paid her $40,000, a part of the money she was owed.
Hicks was not the only seller who experienced the issue, as many large sellers pulled their products off of the website after the company stopped making payments.
Mike Allen, a co-owner of the clothing company Johnny Threads, wrote in an email: 'They had stopped paying us for approximately 5,000 orders that were shipped and delivered spanning back to early October.'
On November 17, Jane.com signed its assets over to DSI Assignments, a company that will help liquidate the business' assets to repay creditors in the Court of Chancery in Delaware, where Jane was registered.
At the time, sellers had suspected the company was on the brink of collapse after being ghosted for weeks.
'It's been very disappointing as a small business owner. … It's going to devastate families,' Jen Abegg, who started selling jewelry on the platform for more than ten years, told the Salt Lake Tribune.
The website of Jane had been 'down for maintenance' since November 17.
Hicks had been selling graphic T-shirts on Jane.com since 2014, achieving over $2 million in sales last year, with 90 percent of these sales attributed to Jane
Documents published by DSI Assignments reveal that the company owes more than $10.1 million in sales to over 1,300 sellers, including 13 who are owned more than $100,000 each
DSI said it is looking for buyers and trying to maximize the value of Jane's assets, which could help in repayment to creditors and sellers, but Allen said he's not optimistic
Documents published by DSI Assignments reveal that the company owes more than $10.1 million in sales to over 1,300 sellers, including 13 who are owned more than $100,000 each.
A private group on Facebook called 'Jane sellers helping each other' was created as vendors are trying to reconnect with each other and searching for solutions.
'This is a group is for former Jane sellers to come together and unite,' they wrote in the group description.
DSI said it is looking for buyers and trying to maximize the value of Jane's assets, which could help in repayment to creditors and sellers, but Allen said he's not optimistic.
'It's obvious there will not be any money for us,' Allen wrote.
Two unnamed sellers filed reports with the Lehi Police Department, but no enough evidence for criminal fraud charges were found, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.
DSI asked sellers to file claims for money they are owed by March, but there's no guarantee that they will recover it, as they are 'unsecured creditors' whose debts are not backed by assets.
'In most of these cases, whilst there can be a bit of financial negligence, it's usually not deeply criminal,' retail expert Neil Saunders of GlobalData said.
'It's just companies not projecting cash flow properly or taking on too much debt and not being able to repay.'
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