C2C & B2C MARKETPLACE
How Preppy Sport became the #1 online secondhand tack shop by dividing its operational workload?
Founded by a passionate rider, Preppy Sport is now the reference C2C marketplace for buying and selling secondhand equestrian equipment. By automating workflows with Origami Marketplace, founder Camille Traverse went from a team of 6 down to running the platform entirely on her own.
Reduction in operational workload through automation
À PROPOS
The first secure online tack sale platform, born from passion and a real market gap.
An avid rider for years, Camille Traverse quickly realized that equestrianism beyond being costly generates a lot of equipment that piles up over time. She spotted a gap: no dedicated platform existed for buying and selling secondhand equestrian gear in a safe, reliable way.
In 2014, she launched Preppy Sport, the first online secondhand tack marketplace, allowing riders to buy and sell branded equipment at competitive prices. The platform rapidly became the go-to C2C reference in the equestrian world, with over 40,000 active listings and 95,000 users.
In 2019, faced with strong growth but soaring operational costs, Camille migrated to Origami Marketplace to automate all processes freeing herself to focus on growing the business instead of running it manually.
📅 Launch year
2015
🐴 Models
C2C & B2C
« Switching to Origami Marketplace gave me real peace of mind on the technical side. I no longer have the stress of not knowing how to handle things.
The team is always ahead of the curve on new features and always there to support me when I need it — with genuine care. »
THE PROBLEM
A marketplace that was growing,
but whose operational costs were growing even faster.
Manual validation of every listing by Camille and her team
Manual payment processing — a source of errors and additional overhead
A team of 6 needed for low-value tasks that could have been automated
No automated parcel tracking, generating high volumes of support requests
A non-scalable model: operating costs grew in direct proportion to revenue
Logistics ill-suited to bulky items like saddles — outside standard carrier constraints
IMPLEMENTATION
3 priorities to turn a manual marketplace into a scalable platform.
Automate all repetitive, low-value tasks
Replace the manual validation of listings, payment processing and parcel tracking with automated workflows — freeing Camille from time-consuming tasks so she could focus on growing the platform rather than running it day-to-day.
Deliver a smooth C2C experience tailored to the specifics of equestrianism
Give riders a simple, fast listing experience, instant messaging to communicate with buyers, a concierge service for sellers who don't want to manage the sale themselves, and logistics adapted to bulky items like saddles.
Choose a scalable SaaS solution over costly in-house development
Against investors who pushed for in-house technical development, Camille firmly chose a SaaS approach — convinced that a marketplace's technical backbone requires constant evolution that would be prohibitively expensive to manage internally for a structure of her size.
MISE EN PLACE
A 3-phase migration toward a fully automated model.
Building the automation workflows
Co-designed with the Origami Marketplace team: automated listing validation, payment release after delivery confirmation, seller notifications when products are viewed, and parcel tracking updates at key shipping milestones.
Sendcloud logistics integration & returns management
Integration with Sendcloud to centralize shipments across multiple carriers at negotiated rates. A differentiated returns policy: 48 hours for standard products, 7 days for saddles — with a return rate kept below 3%.
Launch of the event-based concierge service
Deployment of the concierge service at national equestrian shows: sellers drop off their equipment at the start of the event, Preppy Sport handles everything else for a 30% commission — a key channel for new customer acquisition and premium inventory.
KEY FEATURES
A platform built for the specifics of the equestrian C2C market.
End-to-end automation workflows
Pre-configured processes automatically trigger every key action: listing validation, seller notifications, payment release to the PSP after delivery confirmation, parcel tracking updates at critical moments. Zero manual intervention required.
Simplified listing form with preview
The listing form favors dropdown menus over free-text fields to minimize seller effort. A pre-publication preview lets users check photos and descriptions before going live — reducing errors and the need for manual moderation.
Instant messaging with photo and video sharing
An intuitive messaging system lets buyers and sellers exchange messages and share photos or videos of the product before purchase — essential for technical items like saddles whose fit depends on the horse's morphology.
Virtual wallet for customer loyalty
When a seller completes a sale, the amount is automatically credited to their on-platform wallet, available for future purchases. This drives repeat buying and retains the 20% of users who are both buyers and sellers.
Event-based concierge service
At equestrian shows and national competitions, Preppy Sport manages the sale on behalf of riders who don't have the time to list items themselves. Sellers drop off their gear and collect unsold items — Preppy Sport handles the rest for a 30% commission.
Anti-bypass policy and community moderation
Filters block messages containing contact details or references to other platforms (Vinted, Leboncoin). The community flags problematic listings for efficient post-moderation — with no dedicated resources required.
RESULTS
A founder freed from operations, a platform that keeps on growing.
From a team of 6 to Camille alone. Workflow automation allowed Preppy Sport to drastically reduce its staffing costs. Tasks that once required a full team are now handled without any manual intervention whatsoever.
Time reclaimed to grow the business. Freed from time-consuming, low-value tasks, Camille has been able to focus on strategic developments: site redesign, mobile app launch, buy-now-pay-later, and expanding the professional B2C offering.
A model that's finally scalable. Where operating costs once rose in lockstep with revenue, the SaaS solution decoupled these two curves, allowing the platform to grow without hiring at every new volume threshold.
Optimization, Automation, Support. The three words Camille chose to sum up her partnership with Origami Marketplace. A relationship that goes well beyond the technical, toward a genuine long-term collaboration.
