Copious pockets $5M to build a buying-centric Pinterest

Fashionistas in search of a place to buy and sell fashion could be drawn to Copious

A tremendous shift has taken place in commerce that has most consumers signing online to research and buy necessary items rather than heading out the door to the local mall.

From eBay and Craigslist to Etsy and Amazon, people are getting into the habit of buying and selling through online marketplaces to increase their odds.

Copious, a San Francisco startup that makes an online marketplace, announced Thursday that it raised $5 million in Series A funding.

The new round, led by Foundation Capital, with Google Ventures and Relay Ventures participating, brings the company funding to $7 million.

Copious launched its beta version to the public in June 2011, and was designed much like eBay but with a significant amount of social components built deep into the product so that people that share or tweet the people they do business with or store styles they are really liking.

Copious has a target demographic of women 18-40 and is strong in the apparel sector. The platform has been built to cater to the items that the merchants wish to sell. There are individuals that sell baby clothes, personalized shirts and even techie keepsakes.

Currently, this company plans to use the new funds to grow its intimate staff of 12 as well as build out demographic base and eventually expand its reach to international markets.

Copious makes money off of the social e-commerce self-contained platform by taking a 9.5% commission from each transaction.

I got a chance to chat with co-founder and CEO Jim Rose about how Copious wants to exist in the crowded e-commerce world.

"We believe that the direction that commerce is moving in will be all about highly personalized information that is adjusted based on loves, shares, follows and other social interactions," Rose explained. "People want suggestions that are meaningful to come to them."

Rose also shared that the young company is expereincing consistant growth of sellers, at 30%-50% more coming on the platform monthly, as well as on the consumer end, where each month 70%-100% more people sign on to find unique purchases.

Just a few months ago, Copious reached out to a handful of fashion bloggers to see if they could bring them on as merchants to inspire and encourage users as well as help the bloggers create an even bigger name for themselves -- and better monetization to boot.

"When your demographic is women 38 and under, you want role models on the site to inspire and guide the others posting items for sale," Rose said.

Recently, Copious has added a new pre-paid shipping service for its sellers called Copious Simple Ship. This service works by allowing sellers to print out a shipping label for easier, faster delivery.

The startup also incentivizes users to suggest the service to friends by offering certificates for $10 and $5 off the next purchase if friends join the site.

Unlike other services that curate items based on different likes, Copious has a very individual touch that allows people a one-of-a-kind look in the closets of fashionistas and a chance to buy desired items from people's whose style they love. I'd liken it to going to a friend's house for a clothing swap.

Copious also has laid-out its site to look a lot like Pinterest but with the perk of being able to instantly buy anything shown. 

And because of the deep social network integration, Copious is curating items just for you based on the interests you have the items you have shared in the past. Pretty soon sites are going to just start sending you things you might like without you even having to log online. If only.