Thrifted, vintage, up-cycled, and secondhand clothes are all the rage right now– and this growth in popularity also means a massive boom for online clothing and accessory retailers.
Every day there are new platforms that let you buy, sell, and trade your new and well-loved clothing; but there’s a few staple websites that we always talk about.
Today, I'm covering two of the biggest players: Poshmark and thredUP. The goal is to figure out which platform is best for clearing out your closet and home to make some extra cash.
Let’s dive into our Poshmark vs thredUP breakdown!
About Poshmark
Poshmark was founded in 2011 and quickly gained massive popularity in the resale community. It's now one of the most popular places to resell apparel, shoes, handbags, accessories and more. In fact, it has over 80 million people across the United States, Canada, and Australia.
It’s a highly social app, meaning you’re buying and selling within your community of followers.
This means you have to promote yourself and your fashion sense quite a bit, join Poshmark parties, and basically build a following in order to have an audience for your closet.
However, the variety of items you can buy and sell is massive, meaning you can find just about anything on the site. It’s a great place to go if you have shoes, clothing, home goods, and even pet supplies to sell.
Poshmark also caters to sustainable and second-hand shopping, especially with its social media presence. As more people have started buying recycled clothing, the site saw natural growth and has continued to gain popularity over the years.
But, it’s not the only resale site out there– so let’s check out thredUP!
About thredUP
thredUP has also become super popular in recent years. This buy and sell site is widely known for offering up to 50% off retail price for many big brand name and designer label items.
Many influencers have done big brand deals with the site where they show off the designer clothes they were able to find on the site (for half the price).
As a Poshmark seller, you decide on your own prices and manage most parts of your resale business. In contrast, thredUP gives you individual prices for your clothes, shoes, and accessories and then handle the sale and listing process.
This makes thredUP a more passive selling option, whereas Poshmark is much more hands on.
Poshmark vs thredUP – Features
So which one is the best? Poshmark or thredUP?
Well, there’s a few things to consider when choosing where to devote your time. Even if you’re just doing a simple closet purge, you want to make sure you won’t be burned by hidden fees, painful customer experiences, and pricey shipping.
These key details are exactly what we’re going to cover in this Poshmark vs thredUP showdown. So, keep reading as we walk you through both platforms, what you can sell, how you get paid, and everything in between.
What Can You Sell?
Let’s start with the basics: What can you sell on thredUP vs Poshmark?
Poshmark
Poshmark encourages sellers to curate their “closets” with new and gently used items that fall within any of these categories:
- Women’s clothing and accessories
- Men’s clothing and accessories
- Kids clothing and accessories
- Home Goods
- Electronics
- Pets
- Jewelry
- Shoes
- Makeup
Women's fashion is definitely the most popular Poshmark category, especially when it comes to apparel, shoes, handbags, and sneakers. But it's still a very diverse marketplace.
thredUP
thredUP doesn’t have as much variety as Poshmark when it comes to selling categories, but you can still sell just about anything you might find in your closet, such as:
- Women’s clothing and accessories
- Kids clothing and accessories
- Designer clothing and accessories
- Maternity clothing
- Plus size clothing
- Shoes
Both thredUP and Poshmark have similar brands, including the likes of Adidas, Nike, Lululemon, and other brand names. Poshmark does have more brand variety however and some more luxury brands as well.
Winner: Poshmark has more variety than thredUp for what you can sell.
Selling Process
The selling process is quite different on Poshmark vs thredUP and it might be a key factor which helps you decide which platform is best for you.
Poshmark
Poshmark lets you curate your “closet” (that being your storefront) with all of your own listings. Posting an item is simple and takes five steps:
- Upload a photo of the item you wish to sell.
- Add a description, the original price, your selling price, and any additional details about the item.
- Buyers can negotiate pricing with you through the site.
- Once you make a sale, print off a pre-paid label and pack it off to ship.
- Once the item delivers, the buyer will have 3 days to accept the purchase before the money deposits into your account
Easy as that! And the nice part is that Poshmark sellers don't have to pay for shipping!
thredUP
thredup’s process is easier since you don’t have to list all of your items individually or manage your own storefront like Poshmark sort of makes you do.
Here’s how selling on thredUP works:
- Order a clean out kit from thredUP or download a pre-paid label and use your own box.
- Fill up the bag with clothes and items you want to sell.
- Drop the package off at the post office.
- thredUP inspects your items, take professional photos, and upload them to the site (processing can take weeks or months).
- You have the chance to adjust your item's price if it's not selling.
- After an item sells you’ll receive the money in your account (as long as they don’t return it).
- When money is in your thredUP account, you can then choose to use it to purchase items or have it sent to a bank account.
This YouTube video from YouTuber NowThisEarth shares a first-hand experience of how to use a thredUP “clean out kit” to send your used clothing to thredUP for some quick money.
Winner: Selling on both platforms is simple, but Poshmark lets you run your own storefront. However, thredUP is better if you want more passive income from sending your clothing in and don't want to manage a storefront.
Selling Fees
Selling fees can range from sale commission and listing fees, to transaction fees– it’s important to know what you’re in for ahead of time so there are no surprises.
Poshmark Fees
Poshmark’s fees are a bit steep, but straightforward enough that you always know what you’re getting. There are two tiers depending on the value of goods you sell:
- Sales Under $15: Poshmark charges a flat commission of $2.95.
- Sales Of $15 Or More: Poshmark charges a 20% commission.
You don't pay any account fees or listing fees as a Poshmark seller.
thredUP Fees
thredUP’s fee structure is a bit more confusing than Poshmark which is one downside of the platform.
Premium and Designer brands will get you up to 80% of the selling price, while mid-priced brands can get you up to 60%. Any low-priced brand items probably won’t be accepted– but you can still send them in. There are no listing fees here either.
If you know the going price for your item, you can estimate how much you’re able to get back using the table below:
As you can see, thredUP pays sellers anywhere from 3% to 80% depending on the value of what you're selling.
Ease-of-Use
Getting a big paycheck is nice, but if you’re putting hours on end into listing, advertising, and selling, it may not always be worth it.
Finding out how easy it is to use a platform and sell your items is important, so you can decide if it's worth your time.
Poshmark
There’s a good deal of work involved with selling on Poshmark. You have to take good photos of everything, write descriptions, and ship them off (which is honestly the easiest part).
Your items can also sit for a long time, so it’s tough if you’re looking to get rid of things fast.
A good trick is to join Poshmark “selling parties” which are basically groups that are focused on specific brands or item categories where people can post what they have and buyers can come shop for that perfect item.
Again, this is a lot of extra work and time, but a bit necessary if you don’t have many followers on the app.
thredUP
ThreadUP wins over Poshmark in terms of how easy it is to sell your clothing. You just fill a bag with clothes and let them do all the work!
However, it’s important to note that you’re not likely to make that much money on thredUP, unless you’re selling some extremely high ticket items (but even then you’d probably get more if you wanted to put the work in on marketplaces like Mercari or eBay).
It can also take a few weeks to a few months to have your items processed, so don’t expect to see the money right away.
Winner: Selling through thredUP is easier than Poshmark, but you typically earn less per sale.
Shipping Costs
Shipping is another part of resale that can include additional costs. Knowing the process, who covers shipping, as well as whether a prepaid label and shipping protection are offered is key to making sure everything goes smoothly.
Poshmark Shipping
Poshmark charges a flat rate of $7.67 for expedited shipping on all orders, which is paid for by the buyer. Orders deliver in 1-3 days with USPS.
It’s super convenient for you as the seller, but can be a steep rate for buyers especially on lower priced items. We all know how difficult it is to justify spending almost double for shipping on a $10 item.
Buyers can bundle items in an order under the same flat rate fee, so long as the package weight does not exceed 5lbs. Be careful about this one, because overweight charges go directly to you as the seller.
Poshmark shipping also includes shipping protection, so sellers will be covered if anything is lost in transit.
thredUP Shipping
thredUP also offers flat rate shipping for $5.99, paid by the buyer. And since they do all the work, you don’t have to concern yourself with the process.
Sending your clothes to thredUP is completely free. It’s recommended that you order a label and use your own shipping materials, since the clean out kits can take a couple weeks to arrive.
Processing is also free, but if you want to have it expedited (3 weeks or less) you can pay an extra $16.99.
Winner: It's a tie here since sellers don't really have to worry about shipping costs for both Poshmark and thredUP.
Getting Paid
We’ve reached the most important part– getting paid. Each platform tends to function a little differently, so we’ll run through the details here.
Poshmark
Poshmark sends earnings from a sale to your account within 3 days of delivery.
To cash out, you select your redeemable balance in your account and have it transferred to your bank through direct deposit, which takes 2-3 days.
thredUP
Sold items have a 14 day return window, so you get paid on the 15th day if everything goes smoothly with the buyer. When it's time to cash out, your options are PayPal money or Stripe.
- PayPal: Funds reach your account in 24-48 hours.
- Stripe: Takes 1-3 business days to post, and up to a week if it's your first time using Stripe.
Winner: Poshmark pays sellers faster than thredUP.
Pros & Cons
Now that we know the details of selling on Poshmark vs thredUP, we should address the pros and cons of each– because no platform is ever perfect.
Poshmark Pros
- Total Control: You get to market your own products, interact with buyers, and build your own brand on Poshmark. If buyers like your style and have a good buying experience, they’re very likely to come back for more.
- Set Your Own Prices: You get to control your pricing and negotiate with buyers directly, meaning you can take home more money at the end of the day.
- More Categories: Poshmark lets you sell a wider variety of brands and items than thredUP does.
- Final Sale: With Poshmark, you don’t really have to worry about returns. Buyers can open a case if something isn’t right, but the majority of the time, once the item is sold it’s gone.
Poshmark Cons
- Time Requirement: It takes a lot of work to get your closet off the ground. Listing every item takes time, things can sit for a while, and you need to invest time into building a following before sales start pouring in.
- Buyer Negotiations: Buyers often try and talk you down from the set price– which can be frustrating. This happens all the time on websites like Poshmark or selling apps like the Facebook Marketplace, so be prepared.
thredUP Pros
- Minimal Work: The thredUP process is super simple and they do all of the work for you. You just have to sit back and wait for a sale.
- Expert Marketing: The thredUP team markets your products on its site, so you don’t have to worry about developing a brand and following to make sales.
- No Inventory: You send everything off all at once and don’t have to hold your own inventory while you wait for sales.
thredUP Cons
- High Commissions: No matter the quality or price of your items, thredUP takes a minimum of 20% on every item you sell. And some cheaper items don't earn sellers much money.
- Strict Selection: Not only does thredUP have limited item categories, but it also inspects every item very carefully. It also rarely accept low-priced brands, so there’s a chance part of your closet won’t qualify.
- Long Processing & Return Window: Processing of your items can take months and buyers have a 14 day window, meaning it can take a long time for you to see your money after sending clothes off.
- Limited Listing Time: thredUP only holds your items for 60-90 days. Afterwards, you have to choose either to recycle them or pay to ship inventory back to you.
Verdict: Should You Sell On Poshmark Or thredUP?
Whether you decide to sell on thredUP or Poshmark is ultimately up to you, but hopefully this article has made the right option for you clear.
Here's how you can make the final decision:
Sell on Poshmark: Poshmark is definitely superior to thredUP if you’re looking to make the most money off your items. You also get to control your store and build a social community, which can be fun if you have the time and are willing to put the extra work in to build your own brand.
Sell on thredUP: Selling on thredUP is better than Poshmark if you want to keep things passive and just get rid of some older clothing. It's way more passive, although you make less money per item you sell.
You can also choose to use both and see where you have the most success. If you have some high ticket items, send those to thredUP and then try marketing the rest on Poshmark– if you enjoy the process of the latter, you may find it’s more worth your while.
Looking for even more money-making ideas? Checkout:
- The Best Places To Sell Old Board Games.
- Poshmark vs Mercari – What's Best For Sellers?
- The Best Apps Like Facebook Marketplace.
