So I signed up for the iPhone app poshmark months ago but decided a week ago that I would finally try it. I have so many clothes and shoes left from the clothes out, and so many things that I don’t wear so I figured I would give it a shot.
As of tonight I have made $100 in the past week! $60 from selling 3 items, and $40 from referring friends. If a friend signs up with my code we both get $5!
The only downside to selling on poshmark is that they take 20% of your sale. The good thing about this though is that you do not cover the cost of your shipping, they email you a prepaid priority shipping label when your item sells. Also, they guarantee your buying and selling to go smoothly as long as you follow their rules (no paying outside of the site via PayPal and no trading.) A lot of people ignore these rules, but I am choosing to follow them. Also, if you purchase an item and the item you receive does not match the description, they will make sure you are refunded. For example if I was to purchase what someone was saying was an authentic Chanel bag and the bag I received was not authentic, the seller would get in trouble and I would be refunded. Because of this, I think the 20% is worth it!
So far, I have purchased 3 dresses and 3 tops all for under $100 (birthday money sure is nice). The value of my items is well over $700. I have purchase 2 anthropologie dresses that were worn 1 time each, $350 new, a Kain label tank dress worn once that retails for $100, an anthropologie pullover knit sweater that would sell for at least $100-$150, an anthropologie top that would be at least $70, and a free people tunic that would also be about $100 or more. I am a bargain shopper, so poshmark is my new favorite thing. I have expensive tastes but cannot stand or afford to pay a lot of money for the things I love.
So here are some tips and tricks I have picked up in the past week. Hopefully they will help you become an expert posher!
1. Do not trade! I keep seeing people post about getting scammed from doing this. Posh does not back up any transactions done outside of their app which include trading or selling/buying your items via PayPal.
2. Barter with people! Most people are totally willing to negotiate. I have asked many times what the lowest a seller will let something go for, and most of the time a seller is more than willing to cut the price significantly. Of course you will encounter a ton of people who think that their tank top from target that has been worn 20 times is still worth retail price. I don’t bother with those people since they don’t understand reality.
3. Ask to bundle! Paying $7 for shipping every time you purchase something really adds up. Almost every seller is willing to make you a custom listing with all of the items you are interested in, so that you only pay shipping once. Also, most sellers offer a great discount if you buy more than one of their items. Today I purchased 5 necklaces, 2 j.crew cords, and a top from a seller for only $20. I didn’t include these items in my price breakdown up above since I have not received the items yet. But, the seller gave me a nice discount for bundling, and I only had to pay once for shipping.
4. Here is my biggest money saving tip. Warning: it takes time to get these deals. Luckily I am almost 7 months pregnant, so during my resting I have a lot of time to search for deals. Here is my secret tactic. I search for items or brands that I am interested in. Mostly it is j.crew, free people, and anthropologie, because let’s be honest buying forever 21 second hand is a terrible decision since their clothes are practically disposable outfits in the first place.
Make sure you filter your search to unsold items. From there I scroll and scroll looking for cute things that are in my size and modestly priced. Most things are not listed for cheap, so you have to look. If an item is listed for $35 or below I will check out the seller’s closet. Most of the time you will want to follow that closet because they have great items. I browse the closet and look to see if I am interested in anything else. From there I know if I am interested in striking a deal on a bundle or if I will just pursue a single item. A lot of the time, there will be other comments asking about the seller’s lowest price. I am currently loving a free people sweater that is listed for $40 but she offered to accept $28 from someone, so I may jump on that $28 but I think I will wait another week and if it doesn’t sell ask her to go lower. Most sellers will want to sell if their items have been listed a while. Every once in a while you will get very lucky, but you have to move fast when this happens. While scrolling your search results you will see something great pop up for super cheap. For example, right now I am purchasing 2 free people tops for $10 each because I stumbled upon a closet where the seller doesn’t care about trying to make a ton of money. These are very lucky finds, and if you look hard enough you can find these rich twenty somethings and trophy wives that wear things once and then list them for cheap to make room for their newest purchases. I have seen Jeffrey Campbell and Marc Jacobs shoes go for $20-30. You must purchase quickly though because these items do not hang around!
Oh, and just some info on how payment works when you sell something. Your money gets released into your poshmark account once the buyer clicks that they received the items as described. All poshmark shipping is tracked, so you will know if they received it or not. You can keep your money on poshmark which is what I am doing, or they will PayPal it to you, or you can request a check.
So, I hope that this helps you have a love affair as great as mine with poshmark! This is a deal hunter’s dream!
Some of my purchases!
the Sarabellum 