A How-To Guide For Buying And Selling With The Poshmark App

Have you guys heard of Poshmark?  Poshmark is a free app that allows you to buy and sell clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, household goods, electronics and more right from your phone.  Just download the app (available for android and ios), create an account and immediately begin buying and selling!

A How-To Guide For Buying And Selling With The Poshmark App

​Once you download the free app, you can sign in using Facebook or by using any valid email address.  Complete your profile by adding some details about yourself (your size, your location, your favorite brands, etc.) to optimize your buying and selling experience.  After that, click “sell” from the main screen and you are on your way!  

​Selling On Poshmark

• Open Your Closet.  Your account with Poshmark will be associated with your “closet”, i.e., the place where all of the goodies you are selling live.  Simply snap a few pics with your phone of the item you would like to sell, enter some mandatory details including a description of the item, name your price and add it to your closet!  You can add an infinite amount of items--the more the better!  As you add each item for sale, you can  share the listing on social media at the same time!
• Gain Followers.  Follow other Poshmark users and share their items and they will do the same.  This increases your closet’s visibility and you will gain more followers, too.  More importantly, sharing your closet exposes your items to more potential buyers!

• Monitor Your Listings.  Your listings will never expire.  The items you are selling can stay in your closet indefinitely, until they finally sell.  However, if you really want to move your merchandise, I recommend sharing your closet a couple of times every day.  This shows your closet is "fresh" and not "stale", or abandoned (Poshmark will show users the last time your closet was active).  You should also consider delisting and relisting your items every 30-60 days.  Delisting and relisting will act like the item is new to your closet, and will move its visibility higher up the Poshmark feed.
• Make Offers.  Unlike social media, if someone "likes" an item in your closet, it doesn't mean they're just admiring it--it may mean they're interested in purchasing it.  You'll get a notification from Poshmark when someone likes one of your items, which will give you the opportunity to offer them a discounted price for it.

• Bundle Items.  I highly suggest “bundling” multiple items for buyers interested in purchasing more than one piece from your closet. Not only can you sell more than one item at a time but you can offer them a bundle discount--which could make for a faster sale.  Buyers will also bundle items themselves, and make you an offer which you can accept, counteroffer, or decline.

• Join Parties.  Four times a day Poshmark will host “parties” which you can join and share your items to a wider audience.  For example, if you have a few handbags for sale in your closet, you might want to join their “Best In Bags” party and share your bags to that party.  This will give your closet exposure to those who are specifically looking to purchase handbags.  You can also gain more followers this way, too.

Some Tips For Having Successful Sales:

• Be Consistent.  List new items regularly, share daily and follow others often.
• Write Clear Descriptions.  When writing the description of the item you're selling, think about everything you'd want to know about the item if you were a potential buyer.  Include washing instructions and measurements as well.  The more information, the better!
• Take Good Pictures.  Be sure to photograph your items in good lighting, with a neutral background.  Take pictures from several angles, and if there's any damage, make sure you photograph that as well.
• Be A Pleasant Seller.  Remember the Golden Rule when interacting with others on the platform: do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  In other words, just be a nice human.
• Join Facebook Groups.  You can get a lot of really good advice from other sellers, share information and even learn some new tips and tricks along the way!

Poshmark seller "At Home With Daneen"--got it!

Buying On Poshmark
Buying on Poshmark is super simple.  On the main screen you will see a feed of recently shared items, which you can browse as you like.  If you'd like to check out a particular category, like Beauty & Wellness, simply click on the link in the upper toolbar.  If there's something specific you're looking for, enter it into the search bar.  Let’s say you’re interested in black heels, size 9.  You can enter that info in the search bar and all black heels size 9 that are up for sale will be listed.  You can narrow your search by entering additional search terms, such as designer labels, material, etc.

When you find an item you are really interested in purchasing, you can click "offer" and make an offer to the seller for a price you find more reasonable (many sellers will list an item for $5-$10 more than they anticipate actually selling it for, taking into consideration offer discounts, platform fees and shipping discounts).  Or, if you find the price acceptable, simply click "buy now".  Follow the prompts to complete your purchase and voila!  You've bought your first item on Poshmark!

You can also leave questions or comments on a listing for the seller before deciding to buy an item.  Active sellers should respond pretty quickly.

Items ship via Priority Mail and the one price you pay for shipping covers a package weight of up to 5 pounds.  So if you are interested in purchasing more than one item from a seller, bundle and offer:  you'll still only pay that one price for shipping.

Now there are a few things to consider when using this app.  Thankfully, I did my research before I began buying and selling on Poshmark, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already considered when using eBay or Amazon:

Buyer Beware.  Poshmark is known for  discounted, name brand merchandise, but I myself would NEVER purchase anything over $100 from Poshmark.  There are too many scammers ready to rip you off and while Poshmark does offer concierge service (for an additional charge they will act as a middleman and authenticate merchandise before you receive it), I do not want to buy anything name brand or designer without seeing it and touching it for myself first.  Of course, your prerogative may be different, but the complaints about being duped out of high end merchandise are too great for me to take that chance.

Retail Sales from Sketchy Merchants.  Much like eBay and Amazon, this site is starting to get inundated with knockoffs and cheap imitations, flimsy clothing and subpar handbags, jewelry and other accessories.  Check the seller’s ratings, ask questions and use your best judgment.

Commission Fees.  The biggest drawback to Poshmark is their high commission.  They take 20% straight off the top. Transactions are not handled between buyer and seller, but rather Poshmark and buyer.  Once payment is made to Poshmark for the cost of the item plus shipping, Poshmark will take their 20% cut, and credit the seller the balance.  The seller can then decide to either keep the funds in their Poshmark account or request they be direct deposited into their bank account.  It's been my experience that once you request direct deposit, receiving funds has been VERY fast!

All in all, Poshmark is a great place to buy and sell pieces that may just stay tucked away in your closet for eternity.  It’s a great place to be sociable, empower other women and dare I say, make a friend or two?

 

​EARN A $10 CREDIT JUST FOR SIGNING UP WITH THE APP!  Enter code ATHOMEWITHDANEEN when setting up your account.

Want more info?  Check out Poshmark's own "Guide to Poshmark", and browse their most frequently asked questions.  You can learn more about buyer and seller protection, becoming an Ambassador, contests, promotions and more.

Do you use Poshmark?  What do you think?  Let me know in the comments below!
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