We don’t typically cover the sample sales market, but because some publications are taking a hard look at it as a potential source of online revenue, we would be remiss not to cover the entrance of a prominent player to the red-hot sector. Mark Vadon, who co-founded online jewelry giant Blue Nile, along with former Blue Nile executive Darrell Cavens, have raised $4.6 million from VC firm Maveron, along with other investors, to fund the launch of Zulily, a sample sales site aimed at “kids, babies and busy moms.” It will launch early next year.

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Cavens, who will serve as CEO, tells us that he was attracted to the market because of the strong growth at other sample-sales sites, which typically offer short-term sales of high-end goods; some analysts have said sales at the top sample sale sites will be up as much as five-fold this year. “As we stepped back and looked at what was going on in the retail space, the consumer response to the private sales model is one of the first revolutions in e-commerce we’ve seen in quite a number of years,” Cavens said.