Depop is doubling down on its campus presence this year — or should we say tripling down?
Since 2024, Depop has tripled the number of college campuses where it has a presence through its Campus Manager program to over 300. This fall, the company has already received 7,000 applicants for its 600 openings for student ambassadors, which Depop calls Campus Managers. To support the program’s expansion, Depop is planning over 2,000 campus events over the next 12 weeks.
These ambassadors are playing a big role in Depop’s marketing push for younger consumers. Campus Managers host listing parties and seller coaching sessions, and they feed valuable data back to Depop about how students are engaging with the platform. The in-person events are particularly valuable, according to Depop’s global integrated marketing lead, Oskar Platts-Palmer.
“There’s such a great level of engagement when students get to connect with Depop in person,” Platts-Palmer said. “People come to our events, meet new people, get new ideas, and bond over their personal style or a shared love of secondhand. For us, that really reinforced the value of being on campus and gave us the confidence to keep growing the program to reach even more students. We’re actually hiring our spring 2027 Campus Managers right now, so we’re excited to see who joins next.”
The Campus Manager role is a paid position, and Depop looks for students with an interest or experience in event planning and marketing. The 2,000 events Depop is aiming for will be planned and coordinated in concert with the Campus Managers and Depop’s marketing team. These events will be held at all 300 campuses where Depop has a presence and can range from listing parties with a few dozen attendees to full pop-up shops attracting hundreds.
To kick off the season of events, Depop is launching Depop After Class, its first-ever campus tour, which will bring all-day in-person marketplaces, live performances and product customization stations to college campuses across the U.S. The first event kicks off in Austin on Friday, November 6, before heading to Fullerton and then Berkeley later this month. More dates and campuses will be announced in the future.
Platts-Palmer said in-person campus interaction is key to building loyalty, and the team has worked to make the program go beyond similar student ambassador systems.
“It’s a lot more than discount codes, freebies and branded social posts,” Platts-Palmer said. “Our Campus Managers are the ones bringing Depop to life on their campuses. They run tabling events, listing parties, team up with student organizations and communities, and help their peers start selling and build confidence running their own shop. That peer-to-peer connection is something we couldn’t create on our own, and they’re the reason a lot of students try Depop for the first time.”
Campus Managers themselves get early access to new products, along with valuable career experience, Platts-Palmer said. Several current Depop employees were part of the Campus Manager program before graduation.
Young people love resale, but Depop skews exceptionally young even compared to its peers. More than 90% of Depop’s 7 million active users are under 34. Depop’s annual revenue is over $80 million. It was acquired by eBay in July for around $1.2 billion.
Other youth-oriented brands are also experimenting with student ambassador programs. Princess Polly, Revolve and Madewell all have campus programs. Shein hosted its first on-campus fashion show earlier this year. And the soda brand Poppi hired 250 student ambassadors this summer to lead on-campus marketing this fall.
While Depop is continuing to invest in tech and operations, such as lowering shipping costs earlier this fall, Platts-Palmer said it’s high-touch connections with customers that are really providing value.
“Being there in person also helps us build longer-term relationships with students,” he said. “It gives us a much better sense of what they care about, which shapes how we engage them going forward. We’ll always invest in tech to make secondhand easier to buy, sell and discover on our platform, but it’s people and communities that have always been at the core of Depop and resale culture.”
Week in review
- Holiday campaigns are rolling out across the fashion and beauty industries. DKNY launched its winter campaign this week, bringing together the models and influencers Iris Law and Amelia Gray. The pair also starred in DKNY’s fall campaign.
- Similarly, Kate Spade unveiled a holiday campaign this week that’s studded with notable content creators. Bretman Rock, Sally Carden, the four women behind the TikTok account 4inthe5 and Micky Gordon are all featured in the campaign.
- Finally, Mango’s winter campaign, released this week, features model and actress Alex Consani, along with cameos from actress Dree Hemingway, actor Harry Hamlin, fashion editor Carine Roitfeld and actress Priscila Delgado.
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