How Does Moda Communities Make Money?

Shaan Puri says Moda Communities makes money by charging dealers for access to buyers. A dealer pays $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 a year to list watches, cars, gold, and jewelry, and only after an interview plus a second member's vetting.

The founder started a Facebook group for watch buyers and sellers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2018, because he had nowhere good to buy and sell a watch. Puri messaged him and heard the company now has more than a dozen full-time employees and 600,000 members across 20 or 25 communities. Watch groups split under $10,000, over $10,000, and, he believes, a super-fan group above $100,000. The page says Moda runs 23 Facebook communities. Puri guesses revenue lands between $5 million and $10 million a year.

He points to Pieter Levels on moats. Technology used to be the moat, and AI takes that away, while communities, networks, and marketplaces still hold. Sam Parr adds that Facebook can change the rules and cut reach or the ability to add members.