Jumei sold lipstick the way other sites sold concert tickets: a few deals at a time, gone when the clock ran out. Leo Ou Chen and his co-founders built the Beijing company around flash sales of makeup and skincare for young Chinese women. By May 2014, when Jumei listed in New York, Chinese e-commerce was booming. Alibaba was months away from its own record listing, and investors wanted a piece of every kind of Chinese shopper.

A Beauty Deal a Day

Chen and two co-founders, including Yusen Dai, formed the company in Beijing in August 2009 and opened the Jumei store in March 2010. It started with discounted beauty deals that lasted a short time, a group-buying format then popular across China. Shoppers came back each day for new offers. Jumei soon bought stock from brands and held it in its own warehouses, so it could promise real products and fast delivery. Chen kept control through a separate class of voting shares.

Twenty-Two Dollars Down to Twenty

Jumei priced its IPO at $22 per American depositary share on May 16, 2014, and listed on the NYSE as JMEI. Growth slowed as Alibaba and JD.com pushed into cosmetics, and worries about fake products hung over the whole category. The stock slid far below its offer price. In 2020 a buyer group controlled by Chen offered $20 per American depositary share in cash. The offer closed that spring, and Jumei left the NYSE in April 2020.

Cover: Lady at Her Toilette, Pietro Longhi. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a lady at her toilette (beauty).