Hipecommerce
Austin, US · 2 known investors
Hip eCommerce builds and operates online marketplaces and communities dedicated to specific collectibles, such as stamps (HipStamp) and comic books, where buyers and sellers can trade items. It provides category-specific search tools and seller services for collectors worldwide.
Also known as Hip eCommerce · HipComic · HipPostcard · HipStamp
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Hip eCommerce is a collectibles-focused marketplace and technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It builds and operates vertical marketplaces and communities dedicated to individual collectible categories, currently HipStamp.com (stamps), HipPostcard.com (postcards) and HipComic.com (comic books). Each marketplace is built specifically around how collectors in that category browse, search and collect, and the company states that hundreds of thousands of people worldwide use its sites to buy, sell and collect.
Alongside the marketplaces, the company offers seller services and tools intended to help collectible sellers reach a wider audience and increase monthly sales. Category-specific functionality includes a custom search engine on HipStamp that interprets country and catalog-number queries, and comic book image recognition software launched in 2020 that generates complete listings (including volume and issue number) from a single photograph, which the company says lets sellers list comics four times faster. The company also runs direct eCommerce and consignment operations, reflected in staff roles covering comic acquisitions, consignor CRM, auction consignment, fulfillment and a Rosenberg Philatelics unit.
The company's stated mission is to re-imagine eCommerce for collectibles by building collectible-specific communities, and its positioning argues that a large share of the collectibles market remains offline or unrealized each year.
Founding story
In July 2016, Mark Rosenberg agreed to purchase the bidStart marketplace from Stanley Gibbons (US) Inc. for an undisclosed sum, with the deal set to close on or before August 1, 2016, following a review of Stanley Gibbons' eCommerce strategy. Hip eCommerce launched in 2016.
Business model
Hip eCommerce operates online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers of specific collectibles, layering paid seller services and tools on top of the marketplace platform. It also conducts direct eCommerce and consignment activity, with dedicated staff for comic acquisitions, consignor relationship management and auction consignment.
Revenue derives from its collectible marketplaces and associated seller services and tools; the company reports scale in terms of annualized gross merchandise volume rather than revenue.
Traction
As of the October 2020 Series A announcement, Hip eCommerce reported over $18 million in annualized GMV, more than 1,500 sellers, 150,000 members and 10 million listings across its three marketplaces.
Latest developments
With the October 2020 Series A, the company expanded its board of directors to include Mike Smerklo, Reverb.com founder David Kalt, and RetailMeNot founder Cotter Cunningham as executive chair, joining existing director Scot Wingo. Proceeds were earmarked for business, marketing, product and engineering efforts and to accelerate the product roadmap.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
The company positions itself as a vertical, category-specific alternative to larger horizontal marketplaces in the collectibles space, which its lead investor described as an approach to niche categories that have traditionally been underserved. It cites a $200 billion worldwide collectibles market as its addressable opportunity.
Rather than a general marketplace, Hip eCommerce runs separate destinations per collectible type, with search, listing and community features designed around each category's cataloging conventions and collector behavior.
Technology
The platform includes category-specific technology such as a custom search engine on HipStamp that understands country and catalog-number searches, and comic book image recognition software that creates full listings, including volume and issue number, from a single image, cutting listing time by a factor of four according to the company.
Go-to-market
The company acquires supply through seller services, tools and consignment/acquisition programs aimed at collectible dealers and collectors, and reaches buyers through its category-specific marketplace sites, supported by in-house marketing, email marketing and customer success teams.
Collectors, hobbyists and dealers of stamps, postcards and comic books worldwide — both buyers seeking specific items and sellers, including those with substantial offline inventory to digitize.
Geography
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with marketplaces serving buyers and sellers internationally; an earlier related transaction was announced from Raleigh, North Carolina.
History
Hip eCommerce launched in 2016, the same year Mark Rosenberg agreed to acquire bidStart from Stanley Gibbons. It went on to operate HipStamp.com, HipComic.com and HipPostcard.com. In 2020 it launched comic book image recognition software and, in October 2020, closed a $5.325 million Series A round led by Next Coast Ventures, bringing total funding to just under $7 million and expanding its board.
Compiled by commissioned research from 4 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsThe company announced a $5.325 million Series A round led by Next Coast Ventures, bringing total funding to just under $7 million, to be used for business, marketing, product and engineering efforts and product roadmap acceleration.
$5.3M source ↗
In connection with the Series A, the board of directors was expanded to include Mike Smerklo, David Kalt (founder of Reverb.com) and Cotter Cunningham (founder of RetailMeNot) as new executive chair, alongside existing director Scot Wingo.
Software that creates complete comic book listings, including volume and issue number, from a single image, which the company says allows sellers to list comics four times faster.
Stanley Gibbons (US) Inc. and Mark Rosenberg confirmed an agreement for Rosenberg to purchase bidStart for an undisclosed sum, with closing on or before August 1, 2016, following a review of Stanley Gibbons' eCommerce strategy.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 4
primary sources listed
- Hipecommercehipecommerce.com · web
4 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Hipecommerce do?
- Austin-based operator of collectible-specific online marketplaces for stamps, postcards and comic books.
- Who are Hipecommerce's investors?
- Hipecommerce's investors include Next Coast Ventures, Acurio Ventures.
- Where is Hipecommerce headquartered?
- Hipecommerce is headquartered in Austin, US.