I Tried Martie — the TJ Maxx of Shoppy Shops
The online retailer has crazy-good deals, but is it actually legit?
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In the last few months, my Instagram feed has become overrun with ads for a retailer calledMartie, offering impossibly deep discounts on brands I actually recognize — from shoppy-shop lines like Areaware and Fishwife to grocery-store mainstays like Kodiak and Ziploc. I’m no stranger to the overstock brand. I’ve shopped at e-commerce stores likeThrive MarketandOffe Market, and while their prices oftenlooktoo good to be true, they are not scams. Their websites are nicely designed and feel as normal to shop at as my local grocery store. But Martie’s offerings are impossibly cheap. You’ll findOlaplex shampoo for nearly 40 percent off,Bonne Maman jam for half off, andPoketo pens for 70 percent off. And the range of options is beyond anything I’ve seen on similar sites. Mixed in with Betty Crocker cookie-dough mix andMomofuku noodlesare high-end items likeByredo body lotionand Jo Malone perfume, plus random (yet delightful) items like Martha Stewart rubber gloves,Areaware Christmas-tree ornaments,Barbie-themed pasta, and even aGoop vibrator.
It’s delightfully dizzying, and everything is seemingly a great deal. The deals editor in me is both intrigued and dubious. Does the DripDropelectrolyte powdertaste … fine? Does the Glossier Cloud Paint look and feel and work the same as the stuff I buy from Glossier proper? I placed an order to find out.
What I Tried
I ordered a mix of items from the main categories Martie provides — pantry, beauty, home décor — and aimed for as many Strategist-approved brands as I could find so I could compare products purchased from Martie to their non-Martie counterparts. (I had not yet talked to the co-founder of the brand, and they did not know I was ordering, so my order received no special treatment.) There were so many options, with varying levels of stock, that it took me a long time to land on my items. Martie co-founder Louise Fritjosson later told me they add over 300 new products to the inventory in a given week, and based on my experience shopping the site, I don’t doubt that.
Below is what I bought (some items are no longer available, but I’ve included them in case they come back in stock later).
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About once a week, Martie also has flash deals where one specific item will besuper-discounted or even totally free with your purchase. I was determined to try one of the free deals, so I kept a close eye on the site, and, finally, a banner touting a free bottle of caramel-flavored cold-brew concentrate popped up. I had to download the app to get the deal, but I found the user interface easy to use and the app nicely designed. It only took a few minutes to sign in and place my order. It’s worth noting that there’s a cart minimum of $30, and youcan’tcheck out until you hit that. Shipping is free after your cart hits $50; otherwise, shipping is anywhere between $2 and $16.
All in all, I purchased 16 items for $145.12. Most of the discounts ranged from 20 to 50 percent off, with the best deals in the beauty section. TheTrue Botanicals moisturizerwas only $25, down from $80, which is a discount of 68 percent. And the travel-size Supergoop sunscreen mist (now sold out) was $11.90, down from $20. Lower-ticket pantry and kitchen items, likeMrs. Meyer’s dish soapandHeyday chili, were only a dollar or two off, but still a good deal. The site also conveniently lists expiration dates for everything, and true to Martie’s word, nothing was expired. All the food I ordered said it wouldn’t expire for several months (usually six, at a minimum) and the beauty wouldn’t expire for at least a year. That’s shorter than what you’d find elsewhere. New beauty and cosmetic items generally have a shelf life of three years, and pantry staples like the ones Martie sells often have a shelf life of nine months or more. But Martie’s expiration dates are still long enough to use the product up before it is past prime, in my experience.
What I Received
Getting products from Martie felt no different than any other online order. Everything arrived promptly, well packaged, and, most important, unexpired. I placed my order on a Wednesday morning and it arrived at my doorstep on Saturday evening. (Since Martie uses Shopify, I was able to track the entire journey.) Boxed items came in their original packaging, and everything liquid was wrapped in plastic to prevent leaking. It was honestly very nice and one of the better shipping experiences I’ve had.
What I Liked
Everything looked, smelled, tasted, felt … normal. I’d already tried several of the brands and products I purchased from Martie, so I could make a fair comparison between the Martie-sold items. I honestly couldn’t tell any difference between what I ordered directly from the brand versus Martie. The Glossier Cloud Paint had the same texture as the stuff I’ve gotten from Glossier in the past; the Mrs. Meyer’s soap was the same as when I buy it from the grocery store. TheYield Co. glassescame in the same packaging as the ones I bought a few years back and perfectly matched my existing set.
Of course, I also ordered some new-to-me items like electrolyte powder and a Poketo planner. Those, too, were in pristine condition and, dare I say, would even be worthy of regifting. There were a few items I wouldn’t order again (sorry, Heyday chili; it was fine but simply not for me), but it was nice to be able to try things out at a discount. Speaking of: The free cold brew was pretty good, which seems like key marketing for the brand, almost like when you get a sample at Costco.
The expiration dates were as listed online: far in the future. (The Supergoop sunscreen mist expires in 2027; the Fishwife tinned tuna in 2031; and so on.)
What I Didn’t Like
Very little, to be completely honest. The biggest pain point is that you can’t order at all unless you hit the cart minimum of $30. That means if I just want to buy some $4 Mrs. Meyer’s in the future, I can’t. That makes shopping at Martie less of an impulsive decision — which is both a pro and a con. But seeing as everything I ordered was legit, I don’t think I’d have a problem loading my cart up with other things I need until I hit $30.
So What Actually Is Martie?
Long story short: It is a liquidation company with good branding. It buys up overstock products from brands and resells them at a very steep discount. Before starting Martie, Fritjosson and co-founder Kari Morris had launched a few food brands of their own. After one holiday season, they realized they had a lot of inventory left over and tried to figure out how best to offload the excess products. But, like a lot of other vendors, they balked at the idea of offloading their products to liquidation companies that would just move their products to places they didn’t want their brand associated with (like a dollar store).
“We want to make sure that we work with the best vendors and brands in each category; make sure that they’re proud of the work and how we’re presenting their brands in the marketplace,” says Fritjosson. And on the flip side, customers will be able to find products they know and love as well as discover up-and-coming brands. “We’re making high-quality products accessible for more people,” she adds.
There’s also a sustainability factor at play. Fritjosson estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of products get sent to landfills, even when they’re perfectly fine to consume, simply because brands don’t want their stuff to be seen at a discount store. By offloading this extra stock to Martie, they’re keeping safe-to-eat, unexpired food from being turned into trash.
Is It Legit?
So how can Martie afford to sell things so cheaplyandsafely? “The reason items are so cheap is the reason that Martie exists in the first place,” Fritjosson says. “We are bringing on products that are overstock, surplus, open-box returns — basically the merchandise that doesn’t have a home. Because we get these items at an incredible price, we pass on that incredible price to our shoppers.” Martie has the same safety and quality standards as Whole Foods or Sprouts, Fritjosson says: “We never sell items that have passed their best-before dates or would be subpar in any other way.”
My Takeaway
Overall, I was surprisingly happy with the experience. The deals were legit, the products were legit, and the infinite scroll on the website was delightful. It’s a great way to try out those brands that you see on your Instagram feed or at Whole Foods but don’t want to pay a small fortune for. The site is easy to use, and everything arrived quickly, unharmed, and not expired. As long as you don’t mind the minimum $30 spend, you’ll save a decent amount shopping at Martie. And this may just be the deals editor in me talking, but I found the hunt through the swaths of products to be very fun — Temu-like without the fear that something I buy might kill me. And that product mix isn’t going anywhere. “We will always remain strong in everyday categories and staples,” says Fritjosson. But the sky’s the limit for what Martie plans to stock in the future.
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The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
