Buying and Selling Clothes on Poshmark

If you’ve considered checking out Poshmark to sell your clothes but aren’t sure that it’s worth your time, please allow me to be your test subject. I offer myself as tribute.

Of all the ways to get rid of old clothes, selling them is definitely the way I’d like to do it. Who doesn’t want money?! Selling your clothes is a closed-loop, sustainable way to keep playing the fashion game. Clothes come in, get worn a lot or a little, then go out to get sold for money that you use to buy new things. Fun!

Secondhand sites are becoming more popular, and I’ve bought & sold clothes on ThredUp before which is great for inexpensive clothes and basics, but I always kind of end up feeling like I’m rolling the dice when I send off my more expensive or valuable items to be evaluated by someone else. I’d be lying if I said I’ve been happy with every dollar amount I’ve received after sending off some of my most cherished items, but thems the breaks. This is how we learn.

…More specifically, this is how we learn to stop giving our really nice shit to secondhand stores and start selling it our damn selves!

That Time I Tried Buying & Selling on Poshmark

Poshmark is a marketplace less like Goodwill, where you just hand over your stuff to either be thrown away or resold, and more like eBay, where you list your own garments and set your own prices. But unlike ebay, they don’t let it get out of control – they have standards, ok!? It’s like eBay, but always on-topic, and that topic is fashion & beauty. Control freaks, rejoice!

After years of baseless reluctance, I finally took the plunge into the much-hyped world of Poshmark, armed with things I’d deemed “too nice” to send off to ThredUp. Poshmark has been around since 2011 so it had plenty of time to die out if that was it’s destiny. It’s definitely, definitely not, though, because instead it’s vibrant and awesome.

The now-discontinued ShoeDazzle “Exceptional” Wedge Sneakers I bought on Poshmark.

As for the result of my trial(s)?

After the first purchase I made for myself, the first purchase I made as a gift, and the 3-4 items I’ve sold on Poshmark: I love it. In fact, after a couple months of transactions and shopping I felt immense regret about sending some of the nicer things in my closet to ThredUp, where they frequently never saw the light of a laptop screen for being too off-trend or otherwise unworthy. That’s cold, hard cash that I just gave away for free.

I would have gladly sold those items on Poshmark, and not only that, I’m almost certain that they would sell. People who shop on Poshmark aren’t looking for camera-ready clothes, they’re looking for something to add to their personal style arsenal. If it’s wrinkly, they know they can steam it, so whatever. The buyer uses their best judgement, not the selling platform.

This also means that the variety is way more expansive than other curated second-hand clothing websites. Many of the items on the site are new with tags, and since there are no limitations on what brands can be sold, you’ll see perfectly new items from lesser known brands and designers at incredible prices.

My Poshmark Closet & How It Works

This is my Poshmark closet. It displays all of the things I am currently selling, as well as an “About This Seller” listing that looks like I’m just selling a picture of my face. I’m not. (Unless you have the $22,000 it’s listed for. Then we’ll talk.)

Poshmark on the Web vs. Poshmark, The App

There are two ways to cruise Poshmark – through the mobile app, and the web. You can easily shop from both locations, but you can only list things for sale with the mobile app. Unfortunately, you can’t list items for sale from your computer, nor can you edit your listings – everything involved with selling items must be done through your smartphone or tablet.

Shopping, on the other hand, is extremely fun and easy from mobile and web browsers. Poshmark provides you with a bunch of different ways to sort through listings, including a powerful search engine and well-defined categories. You can also browse the closets of your friends by using the Find Your Friends tool and share items to a timeline-style feed where you can comment, like, and share products together.

One of the best search functions is the ability to filter the results to only display products in your specific size. Get all that other clutter out of there and avoid any not-my-size heartbreak when you stumble upon something glorious. I like to shop through the web browser because I need to be able to have multiple things open for comparison purposes, and obviously the screen is much larger. That being said, laying in bed at night and scrolling through Poshmark listings on my phone is definitely a thing that happens.

The most important part about shopping on Poshmark, at least from a #BrokeLife perspective, is the ability to make offers challenging the listed price. In fact, while I was writing this, someone offered me $3 less for that mascara I mentioned earlier – each offer expires after 24 hours, so if I don’t respond it will be cancelled. Luckily, I’m counter-offering! Let’s make a deal!

The Social Poshmark

In search listings, you’ll see two options on how to view them: gallery style, with just the image, title and price, or “social view,” which includes the likes and comments from other users. You can also browse the closets of your friends by using the Find Your Friends tool and share items to a timeline-style feed where you can comment, like, and share products together.

Liking an item adds it to an easy to access list, basically your wish list. Additionally, for items you’ve liked, you’ll be notified when the price drops and you’ll receive a discounted shipping rate when items you’ve liked go on sale.

Parties are a unique feature of Poshmark – also only available on mobile devices. Three times per day, Poshmark selects “hosts” from the community who encourage sales, select high-value items, and generally keep the energy up. This is a huge opportunity for sellers to promote their own products while sharing good finds to their own personal product feed, visible by people who follow you.

Selling Your Clothes: Is Poshmark Worth It?

As a seller, Poshmark encourages you to quickly snap a picture of your item to-be-sold with your smartphone, and then upload it with the option of using one of their four, low-level Instagram style filters. Then you fill out the description, list how much you paid for it, and how much you’re selling it for. Then, pick a category, and choose what social networks you want to share with and you’re done. It’s literally a 2 minute process.

When it’s time to ship your sold items, you’re encouraged to include little extras like beauty product samples, small gifts, etc. If this seems overwhelming, don’t worry, it won’t ruin your seller rating. Encouraging users to include fun extras is just another way Poshmark is trying to foster a friendly community of second-hand sellers. (Also, if you happen to be buying from a certain beauty & fashion blogger, you will probably end up getting more than you bargained for WINK WINK PANDER PANDER.)

Speaking of shipping your items, don’t even worry about factoring shipping prices into your product costs because Poshmark instantly sends you an expedited 2-day shipping label to put on a box or envelope of your choosing. Just drop it into a local mailbox within 7 days of the sale and as soon as the recipient receives it, the cash is released into your Poshmark account. From there, you can withdraw it to a bank account, or spend it on Poshmark things (my personal favorite choice).

My Invite Code Gives You $10 Free!

You’ll get an invite code when you sign up and download the app, as well, but in the meantime, get yourself a free $10 by using my code when you sign up:

PVTUJ

Have you used Poshmark? Do you like it more than other places you buy and sell second-hand clothes?