Horiuchi also noted that the sellers are on the "older" side, while people purchasing the products tend to skew younger. "A majority of our customers are people who are following makeup artists on social media, experimenting with makeup, having fun, purchasing at least once a month," Horiuchi said.
"A ColourPop palette I really wanted had been discontinued, but I found it on Glambot for much cheaper."
After learning about Glambot from a friend, Kamilla Patera, a 24-year-old Hungarian communications coordinator who runs a beauty blog on the side, decided to take the plunge and buy a few products. In the past two years, she's ordered dozens of products from brands that are unavailable in Hungary or are too expensive to purchase brand new. "A ColourPop palette I really wanted had been discontinued, but I found it on Glambot for much cheaper," Patera said.
And while larger American beauty retailers only ship to select countries — like Norway and Japan, in Sephora's case — the California-based resale platform ships products internationally to any country, with no additional shipping costs.
Another customer, Israeli-based makeup artist Inbal Shumer, has purchased dozens of products from Glambot over the years including blush, foundation, and eye shadow. Shumer said she orders makeup from Glambot because the name-brand products she wants are too expensive to purchase in Israel. (When asked if she uses the secondhand products from Glambot on her clients, POPSUGAR's request for comment went unanswered.)
Breaking Down Glambot's Sanitation Process
Horiuchi, who has an undergrad degree in biotechnology, said she developed Glambot's sanitation process herself, drawing from her experience working in labs while in college. She leads the training on analysing and cleaning the products for the in-house team who works in lab.
Then, there's the sanitation process itself, which Horiuchi gave a "very high bird's-eye view of things" due to "proprietary information." First the lab members go through a checklist to ensure the product is authentic and if it's expired. Then they will remove the section of the product that was exposed to the previous owner using varying techniques, such as UV light and heat therapy. This works for items like lipsticks, eyeshadows, and foundations, while products with reusable applicators, like mascara and lip gloss, are only sourced and sold if brand-new.