The resale industry is experiencing massive growth, and it's expected to reach $64 Billion this year.
A major platform in this resale industry is Poshmark, a resale app which uses a social media type interface to help you to list and sell your new and gently used clothing.
The platform is one of the most popular ways to sell clothing, jewelry, shoes, and accessories online. And if you want to clear out your home and closets by selling used and vintage clothing, Poshmark is definitely up your alley.
But is Poshmark worth it? And can you actually make decent money selling on this platform?
In this post, I'm going to break down how to make money on Poshmark, how you sell, and what it all costs. And I'm also going to include tips and testimonials from other Poshmark sellers so you know what to expect.
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What Is Poshmark?
Poshmark is a social commerce platform that's a popular marketplace for selling shoes, clothing, handbags, watches, handbags, and accessories online.
In recent years, Poshmark has also expanded into other categories, such as home goods and pets. However, clothing and accessories is where the platform shines.
There are also plenty of apps like Poshmark out there, so selling your clothing for extra cash isn't anything new. However, Poshmark is undeniably one of the most popular platforms, meaning it's a robust marketplace for both buyers and sellers.
On Poshmark, you curate your ‘closet’ with images and descriptions, as well as build a community around you, by following and interacting with people that have similar taste and style as you.
People can then ‘like’ items in your closet while browsing, and you can even send them an offer if they haven’t made the purchase themselves yet.
Whether you're just selling your old clothes, or thrifting and flipping clothes for resale– Poshmark makes it easy and convenient to make some extra cash.
Is Poshmark Worth It?
Poshmark is worth it if you want an easy way to sell clothing and accessories online and want fast online sales. However, it's not worth it for sellers if you don't want to pay high sales fees and prefer local cash sales.
In my experience, using local selling sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist is a better way to get quick money for your clothing and other merchandise. And you don't have to worry about Poshmark fees eating into your profits.
However, Poshmark has a massive audience. So, it's still a useful tool for regular resellers or anyone looking to start a flipping side hustle.
How Does Selling on Poshmark Work?
If you want to start making money on Poshmark, the process is actually pretty streamlined and takes four steps:
- Source clothing and items to sell
- Build your closet
- Grow your Poshmark following
- Make sales
Let's take a look at how each step works in a bit more detail!
1. Source Clothing
On Poshmark, you really have two options for selling your clothing for cash.
Firstly, you can empty out your closet and find clothing you want to get rid of for extra cash.
Just note, Poshmark states “In general, pre-owned items can be listed on Poshmark if they are clean and in good condition. All items must be clearly and accurately represented. Makeup and personal care products must be new, never swatched, alcohol-free and aerosol-free. Any liquid products must be new and in their original sealed packaging.”
Aside from selling clothing you already own, you can turn this into a legitimate side hustle by thrifting unique items and reselling them for a higher price.
Many people looking to buy used items are not willing to do the grunt work themselves. So, if you love sifting through racks at the thrift, you can charge extra for the work you put in.
Better yet, if you have an eye for fashion and a creative side, you can ‘flip’ clothing by cropping, sewing, or adding your own unique design– which will allow you to charge even more.
2. Build Your Closet
Once you curate the clothing you plan on selling on Poshmark, it's time to build your digital closet!
Poshmark encourages you to have a solid 5-10 items to debut in your closet, but I recommend adding closer to 30 to maximize your exposure.
However, don't be afraid to start out with just a few pieces if you're intimidated and want to take it slow!
All you need to do is take photos, write up a description, set your price, and you’re ready to make a sale.
As with any e-commerce site, the photos and descriptions you include in your listing will be one of the biggest things driving your sales.
This means good quality images (consider lighting and modeling the items) and detailed information on the product, including size, style, material, condition, and any other keywords you can think of that will improve your standing in search results.
3. Grow Your Following
As I mentioned above, Poshmark has built their platform with a social aspect, meaning you can share your items, gain a following, and have people ‘like’ your items.
It helps if you seek out users with a similar style and size as you and build a community, as well as update your closet frequently so potential followers know you will always have new items for purchase.
Poshmark also has other social features like Poshmark Parties (which we'll cover later), that can help you interact with buyers and sellers, potentially boosting your sales if you’re featured.
4. Make Sales
So, you might still be wondering: “can I make money on Poshmark?” After all, so far we've just covered gathering clothing and posting pictures online.
Well, you can certainly make money on Poshmark. However, it might take some time and testing to get your first bite.
Plus, when someone expresses interest in an item, you’ll want to respond quickly so the sale happens fast. Some customers will offer a lowball price and it’s up to you if you accept that– don’t be afraid to negotiate!
Once you receive confirmation of a sale, you can print off your shipping label and say goodbye to your item, before dropping it off at your nearest USPS (where boxes are free!).
What Are Poshmark's Fees?
Poshmark is definitely one of the more expensive selling platforms. There’s no listing fee but it charges 20% of sales over $15, and items under that threshold have a flat commission fee of $2.95.
This is considerably more than other sites. For example Mercari only charges 10% and eBay costs you about 13% after transaction fees.
The platform is intended to be used for selling higher priced items, so anything under $15 isn’t really worth the sale– especially since flat rate shipping comes out to over $7 and customers are unlikely to pay that for low priced items.
However, the advantage of Poshmark is that you can access a massive marketplace of people buying used and new clothing; if you get more sales on Poshmark than other ecommerce platforms, the fee is probably worth it.
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Does Poshmark Pay For Shipping?
No, Poshmark doesn't pay for shipping. As mentioned above, customers pay a flat rate of $7.11 for shipping, which is good since you don’t have to eat the cost.
However, this can be harmful to sales, since it's an additional amount for customers to consider. Plus, thanks to Amazon, most people now consider free shipping a given.
So while Poshmark makes shipping easy for you, it doesn’t allow the opportunity to wave the cost for customers– which is a pretty simple tactic to drive sales.
When a sale is confirmed you will receive a prepaid, completed shipping label for the package, which saves you time and the hassle.
Just remember to factor in the cost of shipping into your pricing if you decide to go this route for customer service!
How Does Poshmark Pay You?
The money you make from a Poshmark sale appears in your account once the customer has received the order and confirmed it arrived.
If they don’t do this in 3 days, the payment will automatically appear in your account on the fourth day.
Your earnings can be withdrawn at any point from the app, simply check your balance and hit redeem to receive a direct deposit (2-3 business days) or have a check sent to you (2 weeks).
How Much Can You Make With Poshmark?
Like any good side hustle or gig job, what you make on Poshmark depends on what you’re willing to put in. If you’re looking to make your online store profitable, be patient– building a solid customer base and a reputable store takes time.
The amount you make will depend entirely on the kinds of items you are selling.
Higher priced items obviously mean more money in your pocket, especially if their items you already have in your closet.
If you're sourcing items from elsewhere, you will have to consider that cost when pricing your items, and be prepared for items not to sell at all.
Some sellers are making very good money, and there's scores of income reports on Reddit that show results like this:
As you can see, this seller has $17,810 of available listings but has also generated $10,0002 in sales from 392 different items.
Now, if this is just a side hustle for you, you can expect to make much less.
If you’re invested, you could work up to about $500 a month, but that’s if you’re consistently updating your store, staying on top of current trends, and sharing items in your store multiple times a day.
This is similar to selling on eBay or another ecommerce platform where you're trying to flip products…keeping up with inventory is the true challenge!
Granted, if you’re just trying to clear out your closet and make some quick cash, expect to make less.
Without the followers and reputation, you’re going to receive mostly lowball offers and many items may not sell if you’re not putting in the time to reshare them.
Extra Reading – How To Earn Passive Income From Home.
Poshmark Selling Tips
If you want to turn Poshmark into a legitimate money-making business, here are a few tips to improve your store and secure the most sales possible.
I'm including some of my favorite Poshmark tips for sellers as well as advice from experienced Poshmark sellers who sell on the platform full-time and make thousands of dollars per month.
1. Learn How To Source
Staying up to date on the latest fashion and trends is the best way to make sure you’re not filling your closet with items that won’t move.
Follow fashion bloggers and YouTubers, research next season's trends, and focus your efforts on what will move quickly.
People often make impulse buys on Poshmark or haggle a bit before making a snap decision, so if you're selling something trendy, the customer is probably eager to get their hands on it fast.
Once you get a feel for what sells, it'll also take time for you to find good ways to source inventory in your city.
Explore different thrift shops and vintage stores, places like Value Village, garage sales, and other clothing retailers that have clearance sales.
If you can find a bargain and are willing to invest in inventory, take the plunge!
2. Find Your Niche
If you consider yourself fashion blind, but still want to turn Poshmark into a business, find a niche that sells well.
Whether it’s band t-shirts, vintage items, sneakers, or something else, you can build your audience around it and find the people that will always be interested in what you have to sell.
3. Share…And Then Share Some More!
I mentioned this before, but the social aspect of Poshmark means that they won’t promote your items for you– you’re expected to do it all yourself.
This means sharing your items multiple times (aim for twice a day to maximize exposure) so your items are getting in front of potential buyers.
Some sellers have different strategies, and some don't share at all.
However, this thread on Poshmark selling tips shares a ton of awesome insight on how to get more sales, as well as how to share the right way:
It can also help if you share other sellers items, as they are likely to return the love and get your items in front of their audience.
4. Target Poshmark ShowRooms
Poshmark curates items from sellers' closets that fit with the latest trends, which can bring you more customers if you can get featured.
To do this, you’ll want to check them frequently and make sure any qualifying items you have are marked with the appropriate keywords to get you in.
5. Join A Posh Party
Posh Parties are virtual buying and selling parties hosted on the app.
They focus on a certain theme or brand decided by Poshmark, based on current fashion or trends. To sell in a party, all you need to do is list an item once the party starts.
Some parties are hosted by Poshmark ambassadors, where the hosts are responsible for selecting 50-100 items listed on the platform to be featured in the party.
Getting featured by a host is extremely valuable to your store, so work to connect with ambassadors and make your closet appealing to any who might be searching for party items.
Extra Reading – The Best Things To Sell For Money.
6. Don't Be Scared Of Expensive Clothing
Want to see some crazy Poshmark selling success? Take a look at this Poshmark seller's earnings on Reddit!
This seller has earned $4,105 from selling on Poshmark. However, they only sold 66 items…meaning their average order value is roughly $62.
According to one seller, you shouldn't be “afraid to pay up. Sometimes you might have to pay 30 bucks for a dress or jeans but they can sell for 100+ There are certain brands that influencers wear on instagram that sell for a lot and very quick.”
The seller also states that you shouldn't “lowball yourself with offers to likers. In the beginning I was just being impatient and lowering prices too fast to sell the item. Now I wait for the competition to sell out of their product and then the right buyer comes to buy mine for a higher price.”
Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Get $500 By Tomorrow.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Easy prepaid shipping. Just print off your label when the sale is confirmed and drop your order off at any USPS location.
- No listing fees. Add as many items to your closet for no cost.
- Massive user base. More users means more possible customers.
- Easy to build a community. With such an active user base, it's easy to find people who share your size and taste.
Cons:
- High commission fees. The 20% Poshmark takes on every sale is quite high, especially compared to other selling platforms.
- Overly saturated market. A massive user base also means an excess of sellers, which can drive down your prices.
- Hard Work. The only way to make sure you’re making consistent sales is to be very active on the platform by sharing your listings and adding more to your closet frequently.
Final Thoughts
If you’re someone who has a passion for clothing and loves hunting for the latest trends or unique/one-of-a-kind items, Poshmark could be perfect for you.
There is definitely money to be made if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, but keep in mind that making a profitable closet on the platform takes work.
Since there is no listing-fee, there’s no harm in trying out the app–except losing the time it’ll take you to list.
If you find it doesn’t work out for you, you can always try another resale platform like Depop or use Mercari instead of Poshmark.
You can also read our post on Poshmark vs eBay and Poshmark vs thredUP for a detailed breakdown of these selling platforms!
If you’re looking to do a one-time closet clean out, you may have better luck on other sites with lower commission fees, especially if you don’t have any high-price or designer items.
Plus, Poshmark requires a lot of attention to make a sale, whereas with other apps you can list-it and leave-it, and still get some pretty good sales.
Whatever your motivation is for selling clothes, hopefully this review will help you decide if Poshmark is worth it for you!
Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout:
- Depop vs Poshmark – Which App Is Best?
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Poshmark Review
Name: Poshmark
Description: Poshmark is an online marketplace where you can sell clothing, shoes, handbags, and other apparel items to make some extra cash.
Operating System: Android, IOS, Desktop
Application Category: Shopping
Author: Selena Fulham
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Ease of Use
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Seller Fees
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Competiton
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Earning Potential
