ThredUp co-founder and CEO James Reinhart said he was "both surprised and didn't care at all" about the costs of scaling AI use across the organization, despite token usage increasing faster than originally projected (Retail Dive - Technology). Speaking at the RetailClub AI Festival in Huntington Beach, California in September, Reinhart emphasized that nothing should be done to slow employee adoption of AI tools because the benefits will eventually outweigh initial costs.
Reinhart told analysts during ThredUp's Q2 2026 earnings call that he is "confident that advancements in AI technology will provide significant cost savings for the business by reducing the need to grow headcount as fast and by helping our teams to be more productive" (Retail Dive - Technology). As a public company, he acknowledged that ThredUp needs to improve its ability to project AI-related costs more accurately. To demonstrate his commitment to an AI-first organization, Reinhart presented a slide deck he had never seen before that was built using Claude and quality-assured by his assistant.
ThredUp's second quarter 2026 revenue increased approximately 17% year over year to $90.8 million, while operating expenses jumped more than 17% to about $78.6 million (Retail Dive - Technology). The company reported growth in both active buyers and orders despite a 15% increase in net loss to $5.9 million.