The Octopus Club launched with a unique design at a fraction of the time and cost of building from scratch

Standing in her six-month-old baby’s nursery, Ana was struck by the sheer amount of stuff around her. Clothes, toys, gadgets, furniture – the list was endless.

And it was expensive stuff too. Ana would spend hours researching and a small fortune buying it – all brand new, top-of-the-line products. Nothing but the best for her baby.

But it didn’t sit quite right with her. Ana had always been passionate about buying things preloved. Many of her own clothes and furniture were second-hand, but when she tried to buy used items for her baby, she was disappointed.

“I wanted to buy the best for my baby, but I didn’t always want to buy new: it wasn’t a sustainable option for the planet, my pocket, or my living room. But when I tried to buy secondhand, I couldn't find a place that felt trustworthy where I was sure things would arrive clean or that they had been well kept. There had to be a better way.”

The idea for The Octopus Club was born: an online marketplace for parents to buy and sell high-quality children’s clothing, toys, and accessories. A community of like-minded parents passing beloved items around.

“I’m a graphic designer by trade, so I knew I wanted our platform to be beautiful,” Ana says. “We wanted to launch fast, but it had to look amazing from the start."

Ana quickly decided that hiring a developer to customize the platform's design to match her unique brand was the best way forward. Development was fast, and in June 2020, Ana launched the site.

“Launching felt like rapid fire compared to building from scratch. Building it myself would have cost so much more. With Sharetribe, I knew I could launch quickly, get feedback, and then focus on making the platform better. I wanted it to be tested in real life by real people as soon as possible.”

For that first year, The Octopus Club was a one-woman show. Marketing, customer care, social media, taking product pictures, seeding supply – Ana did it all herself.

It was a crazy year, but looking back, Ana reflects on the moment she knew The Octopus Club could be a success: “When people I didn’t know started buying and selling from each other, it was a very powerful experience. That’s when I realized I had a business.”

However, for The Octopus Club to grow, Ana knew she needed help. She launched a crowdfunding campaign and in 15 days, she reached her maximum target of £150,000 pre-revenue.

This was another emotional moment. Ana comments: “At that point, we didn’t have any revenue. For the first two years, we didn’t take a commission: we just wanted to make sure everyone who signed up had a great experience. So to know that investors could see the business potential – it was very powerful.”

"To know that investors could see the business potential – it was very powerful.”

Despite the funding, Ana has stuck to growing organically. The Octopus Club has done little paid marketing, instead choosing to invest in building a better experience for their users.

Sharetribe has been an important part of that. “Working with Sharetribe has been great for us,” Ana explains. “We feel like Sharetribe really cares about our success; we’re always able to talk to a real person and get help when we need it.”

In 2025, Ana decided to put The Octopus Club on hold.

During its four years, The Octopus Club successfully re-homed over 45,000 items and built a community of over 25,000 registered users. Ana got her marketplace organic press from the likes of BBC, The Times, Vogue, The Guardian, and The Telegraph. The Octopus Club was named a Blue Earth company for its contributions to the fight against climate change and ranked #2 in GreenTech Europe.

"Building and running The Octopus Club has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. I’ve grown so much as a leader, met incredible people along the way — partners, customers, advisors — and gained a deep understanding of the industry and the complexities of building a marketplace. We are so proud of what we’ve accomplished. "

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