Founded in 2016, Public Goods is an interesting eCommerce or DTC (direct-to-consumer) startup.

It sells daily essentials like shampoo, soap, and conditioner that don’t contain any branding. That means the products don’t have logos and bright colours. It’s not just their product packaging that’s interesting, but also their ingredients. I mean their products’ ingredients are clean, safe and organic. Free of chemicals and add-ons.

Just simple products that do their work quietly. Why do I need 50 features in a normal shampoo? I’m happy with a simply shampoo that just cleans my hair well. So, minimalism not just in packaging but also in the product ingredients as well.

The product’s secondary packaging is also eco-friendly. But that’s something every brand claims these days. What’s interesting and truly applauding is that they plant a tree for every order they receive. To date, they’ve planted about 400,000 trees.

And since their products are minimal with no frills, they’re cheaper.

Talking about their business model, it’s pretty simple (yes, again simple). Customers pay an annual fee of $65 to access their low-price, high-quality and minimal essentials. Yes, quite similar to Costco.

Today, they’re 100,000 members strong.

Brilliant.

They develop most of their products in-house or with reputable manufacturers.

Since they sell directly to consumers and offer membership, they don’t need to make a profit from the products themselves. Instead, they earn most of their profit from the membership fee.

They’ve also expanded into new categories like food and home décor.

What also impresses me is their website. I mean, it’s clean. Their messaging is so calm. No over-the-top marketing. No aggressive upselling. In a world where every company is eager for more sales through loud marketing, Public Goods stands apart. We need more companies like this that focus on utility over hype.