With the rise of the internet, there are now more ways to make money than ever.
You can sell your skills, services, and goods with ease.
And it isn’t all new products, either.
There’s also a large market for used goods.
eBay is one of the most famous marketplaces in this niche, but it’s far from the only one.
One newer marketplace that’s garnering lots of attention is Poshmark.
It’s a site that lets you buy and sell gently used clothing, accessories, and even makeup, all from the convenience of your smartphone.
But is that app worth your time if you’re looking to make extra cash?
In this guide, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of Poshmark.
Contents
What Is Poshmark?
The concept behind Poshmark is nothing new.
eBay has offered a marketplace to buy and sell used (and now new) goods online since the mid-1990s.
Craigslist offers something similar on a local level, and even Amazon now lets you buy and sell used goods in addition to their wide array of new items.
With so much existing competition, how has Poshmark managed to carve out a place for itself?
The answer is simple: Poshmark focuses on quality products and an excellent user experience.
They make buying and selling fashion a fun, social experience.
They ensure that all products in their marketplace are from upscale, quality brands, and they put a focus on staying up-to-date with the latest trends.
All of this sounds great, certainly.
But is the app worth using if you’re looking to make some money on the side?
Let’s look a bit closer, starting with how easy Poshmark is to use.
How Easy Is Poshmark to Use?
When you’re choosing an online marketplace to sell things in your spare time, you want to be sure it’s easy to use.
After all, if you spend more time trying to figure out the interface and settings than you do listing and selling items, it’s not a good use of your time.
Luckily, Poshmark has one of the easiest to use listing systems out there.
They’ve focused on being mobile-friendly from the beginning.
This means that all you need to list things is an iPhone or Android device with a good camera and a current operating system.
You can also sign up through the Poshmark website on your computer, but the whole experience is much easier if you use the Poshmark app.
Once you’ve downloaded the Poshmark app, you’ll need to create an account.
You can enter your own username, email address, and password if you prefer, but the app also lets you sign up with your Facebook or Google account.
After you’ve signed up, the app will ask you a few questions to help guide the items it shows you.
These have to do with your size, gender, and brands you’re interested in.
While these will help Poshmark show you more curated items, this information is completely optional.
Once your account is set up, you can start listing your first items.
This process is also quite easy. All you have to do is go to the “Sell” tab in the Poshmark app:
Then, Poshmark will prompt you to take photos of your item.
Once you’ve taken clear, well-lit pictures, you’ll then be able to add information about your item:
After that, you just set a price and publish the listing.
From there, you can promote your listing on social media and wait for the sales to roll in.
Overall, Poshmark is impressively easy to use.
Its mobile-first design means that you don’t have to bother with taking photos on your phone and then uploading them to your computer.
It also means that you can make a listing basically whenever you want, so long as you have your phone and an internet connection.
How Much Can You Make With Poshmark?
Of course, it doesn’t matter how easy Poshmark is to use if you don’t make any money from the app.
So just how much can you expect to earn on Poshmark?
As with any opportunity to make money, there are no guarantees.
What you earn will depend on how much time you’re willing to put in, what you’re selling, and how skilled you are at promoting it.
The quality of your listings (photos, description, responsiveness to buyer inquiries) also matters.
To get some real numbers, we turned to other outlets.
For instance, in this Reddit thread from 2018, self-reported earnings ranged from $82 per month to as high as $2,500.
Of course, it’s worth considering that these are just raw earnings, not profit.
What you will earn in profit from the service will depend on how you’re sourcing your items.
If you’re just using Poshmark to sell extra items you already have, then you’re certainly coming out ahead compared to donating the items or throwing them away.
Some sellers, however, will buy items at thrift stores, consignment sales, or even on other marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay.
They’ll then attempt to flip these items for a profit on Poshmark.
This strategy can work if you understand what certain brands and items are worth, but it’s also a way to lose lots of money quickly.
Therefore, it’s generally best to start with selling items you already have in order to get a feel for how the marketplace works.
Once you’re comfortable with that, you can move on to flipping items.
The final thing to consider in this aspect of Poshmark are the service fees.
Poshmark isn’t free to use.
They charge a flat fee of $2.95 for each item you sell that’s under $15 and a 20% commission on all items over $15.
Luckily, the Poshmark app will clearly show you what you’ll earn after a commission when you’re listing an item.
After you input the item’s original price and the price you’re selling it for, the app shows “Your Earnings (if sold)” right below:
We should also mention that Poshmark will give you a free USPS Priority Mail shipping label with every item you sell (the buyer pays for shipping).
This saves you the trouble of going to the post office or calculating shipping, as well as paying for shipping yourself.
Given this, the service fees make more sense, though a 20% commission can still be a large chunk of change when you’re selling luxury items.
Overall, we think that Poshmark is a platform with great earning potential.
The key things that will determine your success are the amount of time you’re willing to devote, the items you’re selling, and your knowledge of luxury goods (as this helps you set a fair price and source items well).
Poshmark Customer Support Review
The final aspect of Poshmark to evaluate is their customer support.
To be upfront, this is the one category where Poshmark falls short.
They’ve received lots of complaints about their customer service over the years, and while they’ve worked to resolve these issues, their customer service is still a bit lacking.
To start, let’s look at the customer service options that Poshmark does offer.
To reach Poshmark customer service, you’ll first need to go to the Poshmark Support Center.
To access this, tap on your profile in the Poshmark app.
Then, scroll down to and tap on “Poshmark Support Center”:
Finally, tap on “Contact Poshmark Support”:
You’ll then be able to see Poshmark’s customer support contact form:
As it says at the top, this form is for email support inquiries.
Email support is currently the only form of support that Poshmark offers to both buyers and sellers.
Even for reporting more serious issues related to copyright violation, your only option is to send an email.
While email is a perfectly good way to conduct customer support, the lack of other customer support options is out of line with Poshmark’s otherwise tech-savvy operations.
Why, for instance, don’t they offer support via Facebook Messenger or text?
These are both much easier to access than email if you’re already on your phone, and they would make sense given how much Poshmark encourages its users to promote products on social media.
And then, of course, there’s the lack of phone support.
While offering phone support is a monumental task, it would still be nice if the company at least offered a special support phone number for successful sellers or particularly loyal customers.
It’s not as serious of an omission as other messaging-based customer support options, but it’s still an issue.
Overall, the lack of customer support options is our only reservation about recommending Poshmark.
We hope the company will eventually expand into more modern customer support platforms, but for the moment, customers will just have to make do with email.
Poshmark FAQ
To finish this review, here are answers to some common questions that first-time Poshmark sellers have:
Is Poshmark only for women’s clothing?
No, not at all.
You can certainly buy and sell men’s items on Poshmark.
That being said, the service does tend to skew toward women.
Can I sell items I make on Poshmark?
No, you may not.
The whole purpose of Poshmark is to sell second-hand luxury items from name brands.
If you’re interested in selling clothing, jewelry, or other goods on Poshmark, then we recommend looking into Etsy.
What are Posh Parties?
According to the Poshmark blog, “Posh Parties are real-time virtual shopping events where fashion lovers (like you!) meet up in the Poshmark app to shop, share, and sell clothing and accessories.”
The parties each have different themes centered around particular brands, fashion categories, and current style trends.
They can be a great way to gain additional exposure on Poshmark and connect with people who are looking to buy.
What’s a Posher?
A Posher is just the term Poshmark uses for someone who uses the Poshmark platform.
Do Poshmark items have to be brand new?
Certainly not.
The idea behind Poshmark is that you can buy luxury goods at a discount.
Items should be in good condition and without any serious defects.
Naturally, if there are any issues with your item, you should mention them in the description.
Who are Poshmark’s competitors?
Poshmark isn’t the only player in the used luxury clothing space.
Of course, you’ll find big names like eBay and Amazon, but there are also some smaller companies.
One company is thredUP, which takes more a consignment sale model.
They don’t focus solely on designer and luxury items, but they do have offerings in these categories.
There’s also Tradesy, which is overall quite similar to Poshmark.
The main difference is that Tradesy focuses less on the social component of their app, operating more like a marketplace such as eBay.
Swap.com is also worth mentioning.
In addition to luxury items, they sell a large range of non-luxury clothing and also offer used toys.
If you’re looking for an in-depth comparison of the different services in this niche, we recommend this guide from EarthsFriends.
Summing Up: Is Poshmark Worth It?
In the end, we can comfortably recommend Poshmark as a way to make extra money.
Your earnings from the service will vary, and they’re unlikely to reach a level that will replace your full-time income.
However, as a supplement to your full-time job or in combination with other gig economy jobs, Poshmark is an excellent choice.
This is especially true if you’re interested in fashion and have some name brand, designer items in your closet that you’d be willing to part with in exchange for cash.
The only downside of Poshmark is its lack of customer support methods.
Hopefully, the company will take steps to improve this.
In the meantime, it’s not as if the customer support they offer is bad.
It’s just that the methods are lacking.
If this article has made you excited about Poshmark and you’re looking for tips on how to get started as a seller on the platform, check out our Definitive Guide to Poshmark.
