Poshmark
Strengths
- $5 off your first purchase (code: MISSMARTHAR)
- Fully featured app
- Save on designer fashion
Weaknesses
- High seller fees ($2.95 / 20%)
- Reportedly slow customer service
- US only
If you're looking for gently used designer clothes, shoes, and accessories, Poshmark is one of the most popular marketplaces online.
Founded in 2011 by Manish Chandra, Poshmark is a marketplace that lets you buy and sell clothing, accessories, handbags, shoes, dresses, and even makeup on online. It's a great way to buy products at a discount and becoming more and more popular every single day.
You can visit the Poshmark website but if you want to sell, you'll need to download their free app. Once you download the app, you can become a seller and post an item in thirty seconds.
How Poshmark Works
Poshmark is a lot like eBay in that it's a marketplace matching buyers and sellers.
When you buy on Poshmark, you get their Posh Protect guarantee. Every sale is final but if you never get the item or it doesn't match the listing, they will give you a full refund. You have three days after the shipment arrives to notify Poshmark of any problems.
You can report it directly in the app and provide photographic evidence. If the item is damaged, incorrect, fake, or not as described, you can get a refund. The only thing not covered is if you change your mind or it doesn't fit.
When you sell on Poshmark, they make it really easy to complete the transaction. You get a pre-paid, pre-addressed label that you stick on a box. You can drop it off at your local post office or have them pick it up for free at home.
If you sign up and want $5 in your account to spend, use the Poshmark invite/promo code MISSMARTHAR to get $5. My lovely wife will get $5 off too. 🙂
Poshmark Pros
Poshmark has a lot of advantages, whether you're buying or selling your designer fashion.
Useful app
There's a lot to love about the Poshmark app. What's different about Poshmark is that it's more of a buyer and seller community, like eBay, unlike other secondhand sites like thredUp or StitchFix.
The app is easy to use on both the buying and selling side. The photos and pricing are easy to see and there are no surprises. The app's filters are also a great way to pick out your favorite brands. Poshmark Parties let you create your own curated fashion feed. You can choose certain styles, colors, and sizes to help you find items more quickly. You can set up different Poshmark Parties, too. For example, if you want to switch between shopping for yourself and for your teen daughter, you can easily switch between filters.
Because it's a selling app, Poshmark gives buyers and sellers public chat options to communicate (and even haggle on prices). It also gives you protection in the event a deal goes belly-up. It's a much safer alternative to shopping on eBay or Craigslist.
Sense of community
Poshmark is truly unique because of its community. Unlike other secondhand clothing apps, Poshmark isn't focused solely on transactional details. You can use this app to communicate with fellow fashionistas and even gain followers to share your love of fashion.
Sellers have a lot to gain from using Poshmark. Instead of just shipping off items for consignment, you're actively managing sales from the Poshmark app. It's a great way to build your business acumen while making a quick buck from your already-worn luxury items.
Save tons of money on designer fashion
This is the reason people love secondhand! Items on Poshmark are up to 70% off retail. If you're trying to score Lululemon, Torrid, or Marc Jacobs without the heart attack-inducing price tags, Poshmark is where it's at.
They also offer flat rate shipping for $5.95, so there are never any nasty surprises when it comes time for checkout.
Refer a friend invite codes
You can invite your friends to join Poshmark. They get $5 off their first purchase and you get $5 whenever they make their first purchase.
If you need an invite code for Poshmark, ask a friend. Or you can use this Poshmark referral code – MISSMARTHAR.
Poshmark Cons
Although Poshmark does a lot of great work, there are a few sticking points for this platform.
High fees for sellers
This is the worst part of Poshmark. Their selling fees are significantly higher than other online selling platforms.
If you sell a piece that's under $15, Poshmark takes a $2.95 fee. For anything you sell that's over $15, Poshmark takes a 20% fee.
It's more expensive than other platforms, but it's because they bring so much to the table. You get access to a buy-ready audience, their platform, and readymade shipping labels. It's just about as easy as you can get. You do get something in exchange for the fee, but remember that it will cut into your profits if you choose to sell here.
If you were to go with eBay, you have to handle a lot more yourself. You have to coordinate payment via PayPal, then pay for postage separately, then have to deal with any instances of fraud. Poshmark takes care of all those parts.
And if all you're doing is buying, you don't have to worry about the fees!
Slow customer service
Customer service is the lifeblood of business.
Unfortunately, many users have complained that Poshmark's customer service moves at a glacial pace. If you anticipate dealing with customer service to handle disputes, know that it may take some time to reach a resolution.
US-only
Aw, what a bummer!
Much to the annoyance of the rest of the world, Poshmark is only available in the US right now. You'll have to use other apps to sell your designer items if you're outside of the US.
It's all on you
Poshmark is an app that connects buyers and sellers. It doesn't sell the clothing: you do as a seller. That means there's a certain amount of hustle required on your part to know what will sell, and to make sales happen. There's a good chance your item might not sell, too. If you don't have your pulse on the latest fashion trends, you might have a hard time selling on Poshmark.
The other difficulty with Poshmark's setup is that you might have to deal with difficult buyers. Of course, 99% of the people you'll meet will be lovely, but there will be an odd bad apple to deal with.
Poshmark’s customer service is an unreasonable liability from a buyer AND seller viewpoint. They have no direct customer service – your only option is to email them and wait. If you don’t get a helpful response, you have to wait again for another reply. They say email allows them to keep better track of issues, but my last 2 emails about website/technical issues went unanswered for almost a full week. I’ve also alerted Poshmark to numerous fakes I absolutely knew were fakes (SO many things were wrong about them). They often failed to pull the listing and, when I’ve been… Read more »
BUYER BEWARE! I bought a pair of 28″x34″ women’s jeans. The waist clearly was misprinted as a 28″ and I wrote customer service. First they ask me to send a picture and I do. Then they ask for another picture in natural light with a tape measure. So I send in three photos in natural light that clearly illustrate the problem. This does not satisfy them and they said I have 24 hours to send in additional photos of all measurements. They know there is no issue with the inseam, but they continue to gaslight, drag out the problem and… Read more »
There was a misprint on the piece of clothing? I’m not really following your story and it seems it escalated quickly. Gaslighting?
I sold a like brand new Mont Blanc pen in Poshmark – the buyer obviously exchanged my unused pen for another scratched one and returned it complaining about the scratch. WORST? Poshmark approves it ! It is a expensive item ! And I see this is happen to most people selling expensive items in Poshmark – there is other site ( Pilot) showing dozens of them. There is not customer service to phone contact only through the shadows of emails.. I am staying with the king EBAY plenty and ready people to take your call or call you back. Don’t… Read more »
I had worst, the customer did not like the necklace and broke it saying I shipped it broken. I now take photos of items before shipping. I take multiple photos of the items and listed with a lot of photos, and advertise it as photos are from actual item. I also remind buyers that priority mail include insurance , but filing an insurance claim with the postal service is complicated and takes a long time.
Poshmark allows buyers to say you as the seller sent them something in poor condition and they get a refund even though you have proof you sent something in perfect condition.
In 2020 and 2021, Poshmark has become a haven for scammers. Just be sure to check how long someone has been on Poshmark and that they have more than a few purchases or sales that went successfully.