I’m a big believer in keeping a well-edited closet, and that means selling off some of the items that aren’t working for you anymore. I’ve been selling on the secondhand market for years, and Poshmark has become one of my favorite platforms to sell on. It’s a fast-moving marketplace where listing is quick and simple, and sales tend to happen faster.
Over the years I’ve been using Poshmark, I’ve made 60 sales, so it’s been a really productive place to sell for me. In the process, here’s what I’ve learned about how to make the selling process smooth and (relatively) painless.
Take great photos
The absolute most important part of selling online is to have enticing photos. They need to accurately represent the item but also portray it in its best light. You might have a beautiful top, but if it’s all wrinkled up in a dimly lit room, it’s not going to look very appealing. Your photos sell your item.
My recommendation for the best photos is to take them in natural light laying flat on the floor or a tabletop. Activewear usually looks bad on a hanger, so I don’t recommend that option. I also don’t recommend laying it on a soft surface like a bed, because then it doesn’t lay flat.
Opt for a solid-colored, neutral backdrop (hence why tables and floors are nice!) since patterns and colors tend to distract from the item. Natural light is important for depicting the color accurately as well as creating the most appealing photos. I know which room gets the best light for photos, so I always take my listing photos there. Some colors are a bit stubborn and difficult to photograph accurately, but just do your best!
When I don’t feel a photo I take portrays the item at its best, I’ll search for a stock photo from the manufacturer’s website and use that as the listing’s cover photo. Besides showing the true color and style, another advantage of using a stock photo is that you can show how the item fits. That said, don’t use a stock photo unless you’re certain it shows the exact item you’re selling, otherwise it can confuse buyers. And if you do choose to use a stock photo, always make sure you include at least one photo of the actual item the buyer will receive.
Be thorough and accurate
Write a description for your item with as much detail as you can think of. Make sure you include any information about condition, including signs of wear or flaws. If necessary or helpful, I’ll include measurements such as the inseam or fit advice like “relaxed fit” or “fits similar to lululemon size 4”. I try to keep my descriptions thorough, professional, and helpful, while still being fairly short and to the point.
Also: I always add in my description that I do not accept trades. I recommend putting that in there unless you’re ready for about a hundred “trade?” comments on all your listings.
Sell in season
If you want the most bang for your buck, you need to time your listings right. Selling seasonal items during the wrong time of year makes a huge difference in how much you can expect to get back. For example, I often see winter outerwear go for less than half the price in the summer as it would in fall or winter. Unless you’re really desperate for cash, be patient and wait for the right time to sell. It literally pays off.
Use keywords
Here are an example of bad listing titles, all of which I have actually seen:
“Not my color”
“Selling this tank for $30”
“New lululemons”
No good. Make sure your title is both informative and searchable. Here are examples of some helpful, searchable titles:
“Sweaty Betty black winter thermal running leggings”
“Lululemon harbor blue pace rival run crops”
“NWT lululemon bark berry scuba hoodie jacket”
“Athleta black/white stripe chaturanga yoga crop leggings”
Be as specific as possible by using the brand, the style, and color name, if you know it. If I have space, I will sometimes include extra keywords such as “running” or “purple”, which will help people find my listing if they don’t search for an exact style or color name. Basically: try to put yourself in the shoes of a buyer, and imagine what words they’d type into the search bar. Put those words in your title!
You don’t necessarily need to include the size in the title (unless you want to and you have extra space) because if you include it in the size field as well as the description, it will automatically come up in search.
Share listings
Poshmark is a socially-oriented selling app, which can really help getting exposure for your listings. Every once in a while when I’m bored and I have 2 minutes, I’ll open the app, find a few good deals, and share them with my Poshmark followers. Often, this will trigger users to check out my closet, follow me, reciprocate by sharing some of my listings, or some combination of those.
I also will periodically share my own listings to my followers. On multiple occasions, I’ve made a sale on an old listing right after I share it.
Set your price intelligently
Simply put, the right price is crucial to making a sale.
In my experience, people on Posh are more likely to pay $50 for something if that was the original price than if it’s an old listing that gets reduced to $50 from $60 or $70. That means getting price right when you initially list the item is especially important.
If you buy and sell frequently on the secondhand market, you may already have a pretty good intuition for what is or isn’t a good price. If you’re pretty mystified by price, the best way to gauge it is by searching sold listings. Live listings aren’t helpful because they only show what people are asking buyers to pay, whereas sold listings show you what buyers actually paid.
I made this YouTube video to walk you through how to search sold listings on eBay and Poshmark, which are in my opinion the two best places to gather price data. If you can’t find enough info on one site, search the other one to get extra info.
Be willing to negotiate
I’ll be blunt: poshers can be insanely cheap. When setting my price, I try to choose something reasonable, but also something that’s a little higher than my minimum/ideal price. Most Posh sales happen via the offer button, so if you’re firm on your price, you might be waiting a LONG time to make a sale. You don’t have to take every lowball offer that comes your way, but if you’re willing to flex by $5-15 on your price, it can go a long way toward getting your listings out the door.
Another good reason to be flexible on price is for Poshmark’s “closet clean-out” promos. The deal with the closet clean-outs is basically that if you lower your price by >10%, Poshmark will give buyers discounted shipping for 6 hours. These promos always help get sales done, so make sure your price is has enough wiggle room for you to drop it by a few bucks to take advantage of these periodic promos.
Have shipping materials ready to go
There’s nothing that makes selling stressful quite like making a sale and then having to scramble to find shipping materials. Make sure you have access to a printer, packing tape, and an appropriate shipping envelope. As an add-on, I like to put the item in a plastic bag or tyvek envelope inside the mailing envelope to add an extra layer of protection.
I recommend going to the post office and picking up a handful of tyvek Priority Mail envelopes and keeping a stash on hand for Posh sales. The post office will ship them to you for free if you order online from the link above. They’re free, so you don’t have to go out and spend your own money on mailers. You’re also allowed to use Priority Mail flat rate envelopes and boxes. Just make sure your shipping materials are regular Priority Mail (red borders), not Priority Express Mail (blue borders).
If you like to add a little more flair to your shipments, you can purchase poly mailers with just about any fun print you can imagine from Amazon.
Another free option is to save packing materials from other shipments. I frequently save boxes or reusable mailers and simply pack my sale up with what I already have. Plus, it’s a little less waste going into my garbage can!
If you’d like to get started selling on Poshmark, I’d love if you use my referral link to create your account, or enter my referral code SLNOBLES when you sign up!
I gave up on Posh. I swear the cheapest, most ridic people seem to be on there. Doesn’t matter what I have listed at what price, I get offers for $5 on $100 nwt Lululemon run crops. God forbid you don’t wrap your item in tissue paper and enclose a handwritten note or card, because that’s the total expectation on there now. I’d gladly take $5-$15 less for real offers but most people don’t do “real” offers and want this stuff for $5-$20 total on $150 Lulu jackets already priced at $60 or $100 crops priced at $50 or even less (I know market on my stuff and price it well). Posh also takes WAY too much in fees. I went back to ebay where my stuff has sold quickly, priced the same as posh without all the idiots, where I can control shipping cost and pay less fees.
Glad you are able to sell on Posh but I got SO tired of cheap $5 offers and constantly blocking the weirdo’s on there. Posh is more work than it’s worth. I will still buy from Posh but I will no longer sell on there.
Ugh, I’ve heard similar complaints about posh elsewhere, sorry it sounds like you got the worst of it! The way I see it, ebay and posh fees are within a couple dollars of each other (last I used it, ebay shook out to ~13% including PP fees), and I’ve gotten unreasonable offers and difficult buyers on ebay just as much as I have on posh. Secondhand shoppers can be onerous no matter where you go, sadly.
So for me, it ultimately comes down to which I prefer from a user experience side of things. Whether it’s literally true or not, ebay *feels* like more of a hassle, which is why I’ve ended up on the posh side of the fence. But at the end of the day, as long as your stuff gets sold, it doesn’t matter where you sell. :)
I have never sold on posh. I’m kinda scared cause I have heard horror stories… particularly with regard to how their return policy is 100% on the buyers side. Like if the buyer decides they don’t want the item they just return it… flimsy or non-existent reasons don’t matter as posh always sides with the buyer and not the seller. Have you had this kind of issue?
As a seller on posh I’ve had 3 claims from buyers and Posh sided with me every time – out of 100+ sales.
Agree on the cheap part though, but I usually list multiple places and ignore silly offers! My other pet peeve is people who receive their item in 2 days and complain about shipping speed…eye roll.
But all in all, many buyers are respectful and pleasant and just looking for a good deal.
that is so interesting and good to hear! maybe the people i have talked to were just crappy sellers and so of course posh sided with the buyers. ha!
when they sided with you, did they make the buyer keep the item and pay for it, or did they refund the buyer but also let you keep the money you made?
I actually don’t know if they refunded the buyer, but considering how mad one of them was (blocked shortly after), I’d say they made them keep the item and pay for it! May depend on the situation?
Thanks!
I’ve only had one issue with a buyer on posh. I sold a NWT item and the buyer claimed it had a hole in it. I don’t know how this is possible because, like I said, the item was NWT and I had never worn it! I doubt I missed it when taking pics/prepping for shipping/etc, so it was most likely damaged in transit or damaged by a malicious buyer. She filed a case with posh and they sided with the buyer, but she didn’t want to return it (return is the only solution posh currently offers) and insisted I send a partial refund through PP. I obliged (which I COMPLETELY regret for a variety of reasons) mostly because I’m paranoid about my reputation as a seller, and I wasn’t going to risk it for a few bucks. But, I probably got played. Oh well! That’s my only posh “horror story” and it’s not even that bad. It only “cost” me $10, and I still made a few bucks off the transaction.
That said, I’m glad to hear from Heather that posh DOES side with the seller when it is warranted. Obviously you can’t always prove who was at fault, but it’s nice to know they don’t just automatically rule in the buyer’s favor.
To be honest, I have had a few returns which I thought was fair. But Poshmark is very good with their customer service. One day one of the buyer asked for return and the case was approved. My stuff was never sent back and I sent Posh an email, and guess what? I got my money back within a couple days. I feel so safe selling in Poshmark. Now, I’m a bit worried about Mercari I have heard horror stories.
Recently an item I shipped wasn’t yet received several days after it should have arrived. Poshmark sent me a message saying that even if it never got there I still got my payout. Eventually it got there but they paid me before it was received. I have had other reasons to contact Poshmark and they have been incredibly helpful.
Ebay is 100% on the buyers side too. Really, none of the selling platforms have US based support. All from the overseas centers and they are so afraid to not side with the buyer that it is a given. They don’t want to lose their jobs and don’t see that they are doing more harm than good.
I actually prefer Posh compared to ebay or facebook BST groups because of the ease of sales. Although shipping is expensive (for the buyer) I like how it’s a set amount and no haggling. In general, I’ve found my lulu gear sells very quickly on Posh compared to other sites. Interestingly @Carrie I’ve found Posh’s return policy tends to be on the seller’s side. It’s up to the Buyer to ask appropriate questions before a purchase. Although posh takes a high percentage, I find that it’s overall worth the convenience of the service.
that is good to know! I have heard lots of sellers b****ing about posh’s return policy but those are just anecdotes. thanks for your two cents :)
Yes, I have similar feelings about the fb groups. Listing on fb can be soooo time consuming, and there’s such a huge number of listings that unless you have a sought-after item or you price it very low, it usually takes a long time to sell. I agree with you that I’m willing to pay posh fees because it saves me so much time and hassle, not to mention usually gets my stuff sold faster!
As a buyer, their shipping costs 100% keep me away from purchasing. Just too high.
It was manageable when it was $5 flat rate. That was a bit higher than elsewhere, but only a couple bucks. The current rate of $6.50 is definitely harder to stomach. :\
Hmm, I tried eBay and Tradesy after reading your blog posts on selling early last year. I like both platforms but have had much better luck selling on eBay. I have been intrigued by Posh so your post is timely again :). I have some experience with people trying to low ball my items on ebay. Even after dropping the price a little from a very reasonable BIN price, I have not had one successful sale in my limited one year tenure with those people. Not sure I will have the time and patience with many more, lol. I think I will stick to eBay.
BTW, what is your opinion of the new speed up shorts. I like it since it does not flare out in the back but I always size up from 2 to 4 in speed shorts and have a small butt. However, it does feel a bit shorter probably because the back is shorter. Maybe I will like the fit and coverage of the 4″ short. Unfortunately the store does not have it yet.
Yeah, I’d say the prevalence of lowballers on ebay and posh are pretty similar, I’ve gotten them on both platforms! Sorry you haven’t had good luck selling, though. Hopefully your luck will turn soon. :)
Re: the speed up shorts, I ordered them Tue night last week and they finally arrive today! So, I’ll have to get back to you on that. :)
I have sold TONs on ebay but no sales yet with lowballers which is just fine :).
I have never sold on poshmark. I have only purchased from there. I have had 2 instances where I needed to return items that were not described as well as I would have liked. Most sellers are great about packaging and shipping promptly. I have found some really good deals on there too. Obscure brands go for a great price because not a lot of people are aware of them.
Honestly I could see how a seller could get nickeled and dimed pretty easily… I think I would sell on there for items that I know I would not get a better price on eBay. Personally I prefer ebay for selling, poshmark for buying.
Thank you for the tips though. They have been very helpful for resale of my items!!
Yes, shopping for obscure brands on posh is fantastic! I’ve found a few great deals that way. :) I used to use ebay almost exclusively, but I’ve found that I prefer posh mostly because I feel like it saves me time and hassle. I don’t know if it actually *does* save me time (I haven’t exactly timed it, lol) but it feels like less of a pain to use, so that’s mostly why I’ve made the switch. Both platforms can be great in their own way.
“I’m a big believer in keeping a well-edited closet”
……and herein lies my problem!
It’s a shame there’s no Poshmark in the UK so eBay tends to be my place to sell which has been quite successful so still working on the art of the edited closet:-)
Love reading these posts!
Yes, I wish there were more options for reselling outside the US other than ebay. Ebay is a great platform, though, so I’m glad you’ve had some luck on that front!! :)
I haven’t been that successful with eBay and posh is tons of work. Manually sharing each and every item in my store is so tedious. Does any one know of an easier way to do this? I peep other closets and these people are selling tons of mediocre clothing at high prices while my closet that has on trend, awesome clothes at lower prices just sit there. I’m obviously doing something wrong because I can’t understand why they are selling and I’m not. My pics, descriptions and everything else is on point. What gives? Are people paying for those auto share bots?
Same thing with Ebay; my items just sit there. I’m following all the rules and tips on selling and I’m getting nothing. I don’t get it. Can someone help?
I’m late to the game here, but one thing you could try is deleting your listings and re-posting. Oftentimes people browse the “just in” section, so it can be a way to get more visibility on your listing, albeit not exactly something you want to do every day.
Also: I’m not sure what sort of clothes you’re selling, but in general I’ve found that it’s REALLY hard to sell things unless they’re from very popular brands. For example, my old, crappy lulu is way more likely to sell than a brand new, gorgeous, deeply discounted style from a lesser-known brand. Just how it seems to go. There are some people who’ve figured out how to very successfully sell non-name brand stuff on Posh, but I don’t know what they did to get there.