Podcast #3 – Selling on Poshmark: Tips for Success

In this episode of the Ultimate Thrifting podcast, Ryan and I have a great discussion about the ins and outs of Poshmark, both in the U.S. and Canada. Here’s a list of some of the topics we cover:

• What clothing brands sell best
• How to optimize listings for quick sale and higher profit
• How to price items for resale
• Negotiating with customers about pricing
• How to leverage Poshmark features
• How to sell on Poshmark U.S. as a Canadian

Transcript

Ryan (00:00)
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Ultimate Thrifting Podcast. I’m Ryan and I’m an advisor at Ultimate Thrifting. I’m here with Kelly, the founder of Ultimate Thrifting, who has decades of experience with thrifting and reselling. Kelly has written several books on thrifting. Kelly, thanks for joining me today.

Kelly (00:18)
Hey Ryan, good to be here.

Ryan (00:21)
In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about selling on one of the most popular platforms in Canada and the U.S. for buying and selling secondhand clothes. Kelly, in case there are people joining us who aren’t familiar with Poshmark, can you tell us more about what it is and why you use Poshmark?

Kelly (00:39)
Okay, well Poshmark is a reselling platform, an app and desktop that is primarily in the U.S. and Canada, although they operate completely separately in the two countries. And I’d say it started out as more just for clothing and accessories, but they have expanded their options in the past few years to include home goods, electronics and other stuff.

Ryan (01:10)
Thanks, Kelly And how long have you been using Poshmark now?

Kelly (01:16)
I am coming up on five years on Poshmark. I started in 2020 during the pandemic. I was temporarily laid off from work, so I was looking for ways to make any extra money. So I started with selling some of my own clothing from around the house on Poshmark. And yeah, it just snowballed from there.

Ryan (01:41)
And Kelly, over those five years, what types of items do you feel like are selling best on Poshmark?

Kelly (01:49)
So definitely the main category is probably still women’s clothing and accessories like bags. Anything from, you know, high-end luxury items to just good quality, popular, timeless styles. Then there’s always niche items like limited edition pieces, stuff that, you know, you’re having trouble finding somewhere else.

Ryan (02:17)
Okay, that’s helpful. And if someone is just starting out on Poshmark, what can they do if they’re selling to try to optimize their listings so they get found, they get sold faster, just any ideas that might help with listings.

Kelly (02:31)
One of the things that’s good about Poshmark is that it makes it pretty easy to list an item. So I find a lot of people like it as opposed to some other platforms, that it is relatively simple and intuitive. So if you click Sell an item, you can take photos right in the app of your item and then basically just fill out the categories. So description, category, brand, price, et cetera. And then within that, there are certain things you can do to make your listing stand out more. So first of all, you really want your photos to be good. So well lit. I would say use as many of the photos as you can.

I think Poshmark allows 16 photos. I use almost all of those. You want to take pictures of every angle of the item, all of the tags. I always include measurements. So I have a flexible sewing tape measure that I put on the clothing, because a lot of people are visual and that’s easier for them to see the measurements than just including them in the description.

You want to use all relevant keywords and describe everything fairly. List any flaws that the item might have, and compare your pricing against other sellers and you can even check items that have sold on Poshmark to get an idea of where a good price point might be so that you’re not too high and not too low that people think something’s wrong with the item.

Ryan (04:16)
Since you mentioned pricing, maybe we can talk about that next. I know that on Poshmark, there’s a lot of negotiation that happens sometimes between the buyer and the seller. So how do you set that initial price that you list an item for?

Kelly (04:31)
Yeah, that’s right. On Poshmark, You can always expect as a seller or a buyer that the listed price won’t be the selling price. There’s “make an offer”. And I’d say almost all sellers expect buyers to make an offer. So I would say as a seller, it is rare for me to get a full-price sale. And I’m always super excited when that happens. And I hear other sellers say the same thing, so I know that it’s not a common occurrence. So knowing that, you always want to price your items a bit higher than what you actually want to sell for so that there’s room for negotiation. But of course, not too high; you might be putting it out of range for some buyers.

Ryan (05:19)
Okay, when you’re pricing then do you look at completed listings or sold listings on Poshmark? Do you compare with other platforms as well?

Kelly (05:27)
It depends. Honestly, when I’m selling on Poshmark Canada, I use that as my main reference. So when you look for an item, there is a filter of availability. So you want to go and toggle on the sold to be able to look at recent listings. And also it’s important to sort those listings by “just in” because Poshmark Canada has been around I think since 2017 or 2018 and you don’t want to see sold listings from that long ago. I mean we’re getting five to seven years ago now and those just won’t be relevant anymore. So you’ve got to make sure that you have it sorted by “just in” to see the most recent comparisons or “comps” as we call them. I will sometimes check eBay or Posh U.S. if Posh Canada is not giving me very many listings or I can’t find something similar or the exact item that I’m searching for.

Ryan (06:38)
And I know Poshmark is a pretty social platform with a lot of interaction, sharing, events, things like that. What role does sharing and following play on Poshmark?

Kelly (06:50)
Yeah, Poshmark is trying hard to make their app more like a community platform. So they really encourage sharing other people’s listings, sharing your own listings, following sellers. And there’s actually requirements to do that to reach certain levels of selling, like their tiers of being a Posh Ambassador, it’s called, as a seller that gets you some perks. You actually have to have made so many shares of other people’s items. No one knows 100 % how it works, but everyone talks about the Posh algorithm, and it is generally believed that the more you participate this way with sharing and following, that the more your items will be shown to prospective buyers.

Ryan (07:45)
Okay, and for someone just starting out on Poshmark, what are some common mistakes that you see that maybe they could try to avoid?

Kelly (07:52)
I do see listings all the time that definitely aren’t as good as they could be. So for a time when Posh was making changes to their algorithm, there was a belief that listings would perform better if you just typed in, for example, you’re selling a “jean jacket”. I see listings that still have “jean jacket” and that’s it in the title. Really that’s not going to help you, especially because some listings can show up on Google. So if someone’s searching for an item to buy, you want to include everything that might lead them to your listing. So it’s really important to include everything in the title like brand, size, a brief description what the item is. Because if someone just sees “jean jacket”, the chances that they’re going to click to see more on your listing, like what is it about that listing that’s going to interest a buyer? There’s not much there to go on, right?

Another one is terrible photos or hardly any photos. You know, I’ll see a listing. I just was looking at one this morning that I was interested in; a seller sent me an offer on something for me to buy and it has one photo of the item in its totality. And you can’t see anything close up, no detail. So you’re guessing really about the condition and taking their word for it that you assume that it’s in good condition. And again, it’s just not encouraging buyers to consider your item over others.

The one other major thing I see is sellers pricing items because of emotional attachment. So yes, maybe you have an item in your closet that doesn’t fit you anymore. You loved it. It’s time to let it go. Just because of how you feel about it or how much you loved it doesn’t mean that it’s worth a high amount in the marketplace. And that also goes for items that sold for a high amount at retail. So just because a brand is expensive retail or brand new doesn’t mean that it’s going to resell for a lot of money, unfortunately. And I can’t explain it, but there are just certain brands that are more popular than others when it comes to resale. And some brands, even though they cost a lot, I can barely sell them for pennies. So you really do need to check comparisons and price fairly, or you might start to wonder why your items aren’t selling.

Ryan (10:36)
Thanks, Kelly. With the negotiation that happens in other communications with customers, what’s the best way to interact with people? I know you’ve had some frustrating moments with people who do lowball offers. Is it better to just ignore them? How do you handle situations like that? What do you do in terms of customer interactions on Poshmark?

Kelly (10:58)
Well, people handle that in different ways. I’ve heard of people blocking buyers who make lowball offers, which I don’t really see the point of that. They’re still a prospective buyer, even though they may have offended you. But that’s something that’s really important is to separate personal from the business. You have to try to view it as a business transaction and not take offense when you get these types of things.

I usually respond in one of two ways. I ignore it. And the one good thing about Poshmark is that say five people like an item of yours. If one person makes a lowball offer on that listing, the other four people who have liked that item get a notification from Poshmark that tells them an offer has been made on this item. They don’t know what that offer was. Poshmark doesn’t give them the amount. So you have a situation where the other four are now thinking this item might sell. So it might push one of the other four people to make a better offer. And offers last for 24 hours. So a lot of times you could ignore that lowball and wait for 24 hours to see if someone else who got a notification will make a better offer.

The other option is making a counter offer, which I will often do, and you can be petty and counter back at your full price or, you know, a dollar under your full price or something, but I’ll usually make a fair counter offer back, maybe a bit higher than what I’m still willing to come down. And there’s a lot of factors depending on, you know, how long I’ve had the item, how badly I want to get rid of it. Because I have had situations where buyers who initially make lowball offers come up to a fair price and we agree on a selling price and I get the item sold. So you just never know and you don’t want to write someone off just because they make an initial low offer.

Ryan (13:08)
That’s great insight. And I know too you place a pretty high priority on customer service. Like you respond quickly and professionally to customers. How important do think it is to respond quickly and work with customers to get that sale?

Kelly (13:23)
I think it’s important. One thing, a pet peeve that I have, is I see a lot of sellers complaining online that when a buyer asks for measurements of an item, they never end up buying. And so there are many sellers now who just won’t respond to those comments asking for measurements. And I see that again as turning away prospective buyers.

You know, buyers obviously want to make sure that something’s going to fit them. Poshmark does not allow returns for fit. So you don’t have any recourse if you order something and it doesn’t fit you. Again why I include measurements in all of my listings because you want your customers to be happy. You don’t want them to receive something and it’s a totally different size than what they expected. And brands, we all know different sizes, different brands, they can range dramatically and fit differently. So measurements are really your best way to help someone know if something is going to fit them. So I always just assume if I provide measurements and someone doesn’t buy, well, that item wasn’t going to fit them. So that’s a good thing because you don’t want them to be unhappy.

And that’s the same with any other questions. Again, if you try to include as many of the important details in your listing to begin with, you’ll hopefully avoid getting a lot of miscellaneous questions. But buyers are often in the moment and you want to engage with them quickly and respond to them quickly because a lot of times if you take too long to respond to a question they’ve moved on already to another item they’re no longer interested in your listing.

Ryan (15:08)
Okay, and we talked about the listings a lot, but beyond the listings themselves and how to set them up, I know Poshmark has a number of promotional tools and events. Can you talk about how sellers can use some of those tools to get better prices and sell their items?

Kelly (15:26)
Sure. So one thing I do want to mention first of all is that one reason people really love Poshmark is their shipping. So it’s so user friendly and easy compared to a platform like eBay. The seller doesn’t have to figure anything out. If you sell an item, Poshmark will email you in Canada, a Canada Post shipping label. In the U.S., it’s a shipping label for USPS, you just pack up your item, slap that shipping label on and mail it. So it’s so easy compared to a platform like eBay, where you have to figure out the weight and measurements of your item and calculate how much it’s going to cost to ship and try to charge the buyer the right shipping amount, etc.

As for promotions, Poshmark does have a lot of events, almost daily, and the best way to know is to just check your newsfeed and usually there’s notifications at the top every day that tell you what’s going on. I would say my favorite one is called Closet Clearout. And it usually happens on every Friday and Sunday, and then they’ll also hold it on special days, like a lot of holidays.

So what happens with Closet Clearout is that if you drop the price of an item by at least 10%, your buyer has access to discounted shipping for the next six hours after you’ve dropped the price. And in Canada, that can really be an incentive to buyers because in Canada our shipping cost on Poshmark is close to $13 where in the U.S. it’s $7.67. So on regular Closet Clearout days on Poshmark you can get $9.99 shipping for your buyers in Canada or $4.99 shipping in the States. And on Canadian holidays you can get an even better deal than that.

What I like to do is not just willy-nilly drop prices on my items and hope that people will buy them, but I look at a lot of my recent likes that I’ve received I’ll just send bundle messages to those buyers, letting them know that, hey, it’s Closet Clearout today. I’m willing to drop the price to “this” amount and trigger discounted shipping for you. Would you be interested and then if they respond “yes” then I’ll go ahead and drop the price and the buyer is usually pretty happy So that’s probably my favorite one.

Poshmark does also offer a lot of contests daily, so you can win Posh credit if you list so many items on a certain day you’re entered, or if you send offers out to buyers on a certain day. Those I don’t really actively participate in. Like sure, I’m probably listing or sending offers on those days, but I’m not trying to win any contests because it’s few and far between. In my five years, I think I won a listing challenge once, a $50 posh credit, which was great, but it’s not something to strive for for me.

Ryan (19:05)
You’ve mentioned a few times now Posh Canada versus Posh U.S.. Why do you use both and what are some of the biggest differences between them?

Kelly (19:15)
Well, if you’re in Canada, you’ll know that we have a much smaller marketplace than the U.S.. There are what I think eight times more people in the States. So you’re just opening up to a much wider audience. And also with the exchange rate right now, as a seller, it works in our favor. So if I sell the same item on both platforms, let’s say for $20, I’m listing an item. I generally price my items the same in both Canada and the U.S. So I’ll list it for $20 in Canada, $20 in the U.S. If it sells for $20 in Canada, I earn $16 from Poshmark. In the States, the same sale earns me $16 U.S. With the exchange rate, I’m basically earning $20 Canadian, which was my original asking price. So It’s just making more money on every sale in general.

Ryan (20:15)
Okay, let’s talk more about Canadian resellers that are using Poshmark U.S. then. Is it hard on both platforms? Like I know you had some challenges and you recently published a book to try to help Canadian sellers. Can you talk more about that?

Kelly (20:30)
Yeah, well, it can be a bit overwhelming when you don’t know how to do it. And yes, Poshmark U.S. is the same app, the same platform as Canada. But the main thing is that you need a way to ship your items there. And like I said, in the U.S., they will provide you with a shipping label for the United States Postal Service. So you need to be able to get your packages over to the USPS.

So it can be confusing and a little bit daunting to have to deal with that. You need to have what’s called a cross-border shipper, which is a company that you pay
to take your packages across the border and drop them off at the USPS, unless of course you live right next to a border and you’re planning on crossing yourself regularly, which I don’t think many of us do. Once you get the hang of it, it is actually super easy and convenient. So my cross-border shipper is about a 10- to 15-minute drive from my house. And I go there two to three times a week to drop off packages. I pay them anywhere from 50 to 90 cents per package. So it definitely works out even just with the
current, the currency exchange rate, making it worth it to do this. And you do have to go online and fill out customs information. But like I said, once you’re used to it, it’s really not a big deal. You have to provide information on what the item is, how much it’s worth, and right now we are allowed to send up to $800 worth of goods across the border every day without having to incur any extra fees or duties. So as long as I stay under that $800, it’s really easy and luckily, depending how you look at it, I’m not selling luxury goods, so I’m not selling, you know, $1,000, $2,000 items, so I don’t have to worry about duties and stuff.

Ryan (22:44)
Okay, and if someone did want more help in this area, so a Canadian reseller wanting to expand into the U.S. market, where could they find more information about your book and other tips?

Kelly (22:57)
Yeah, I encourage anyone to look up my ebook on ultimatethrifting.com. It’s called Poshmark U.S. for Canadians and it has step-by-step instructions on everything you need to do to get started on the American side on Poshmark.

Ryan (23:16)
Okay, thanks Kelly. I think that’s a good place to wrap up and thanks so much for your time today to talk about selling on Poshmark both on the Canadian side and the U.S. side. More information about what Kelly’s talked about is on ultimatethrifting.com and we’ll have a transcript of this discussion as well as a video on our blog as well.

I just want to thank everyone for joining us today and we’ll post another episode soon. Thanks, Kelly.

Kelly (23:42)
Thanks, Ryan.