I really don’t know how to start this post any other way than saying, “WOW!”
As of this month I have officially been reselling on Poshmark for 1 year! I vividly remember how scared I was to take the plunge when I bought a bunch of stuff at the thrift store with the intent of reselling, and having that thought cross my mind several times before I made my money back.
But here I am one year later and loving reselling for so many reasons…sustainability, extra income, finding thrift goodies for myself while sourcing, and the challenge of improving.
On that note, I wanted to take a look at my sales report from the last year and see what I could learn and focus on this year. So in this post I’ll go over some statistics about my sales from the last year, lessons learned, and common questions I get asked about reselling.
For $10 off your first Poshmark purchase, use code COUNTDOWNTOFRI. I’ll get $10 as well!
Statistics from My Poshmark Sales Report
Items Sold: 293
Poshmark Sales: $7,576.00 (does not account for shipping discounts, Posh fees, cost of goods, and business expenses)
Categories with Most Items Sold: Sweaters – 50, Dresses- 47, Shoes – 44
Categories with Most Items Sold over $50 – Dresses, Jeans, Shoes, Jackets & Coats
Highest Earning Brands: Lululemon, Anthropologie, Free People, J. Crew
Highest Sale: $100
Lowest Sale: $5
Average Sale Price: $25.86
Items That Sold in Less Than 24 Hours:
- Banana Republic Leather Heels
- Gymshark Leggings
- Anthropologie Printed Dress
- Boden Printed Medal Dress
- Current Elliott Tee
- H&M Dress
- Vintage Levi’s
- Lululemon Ruffle Jacket
- Lululemon Leggings
- Taylor Swift Sweatshirt
And a statistic that I find fascinating, if not at all useful, is thant I have sold two items to people in Alaska, but none to anyone in Hawaii, Vermont, South Dakota, North Dakota, or Rhode Island. The two items sold to people in Alaska were both dresses.
Some brands that have a high sell through rate for me are Smartwool, Alo Yoga (new label only), Mother denim, and vintage Levi’s jeans. Collectively those brands sold in under 14 days for me and had an average sales price of $37.71.
I could look into the data FOREVER and be amused at all the tiny little details about my last year of reselling, but I’ll leave it to those highlights!
Lessons Learned After One Year of Reselling on Poshmark
The number one thing I cannot stress enough to anyone looking into reselling more professionally (vice selling items from your own personal closet) is that you cannot be brand blind. Being brand blind means that you’ll pick up any item from a brand at the thrift store, regardless of what is is, just because the brand retails for a decent amount of money.
RETAIL VALUE ≠ RESELL VALUE
When I went sourcing with the intent to resell for the first time over a year ago, I found a Boden tank top and put it in my cart without doing any research on Poshmark on what the resell value is (or even retail for that matter!). All I knew was that Boden was a pricier brand, similiar to Anthropologie but more mature and less boho. It was only $2.00, and I figured since it was a nicer brand it would sell well.
WRONG.
Here it is still in my Poshmark closet as part of my 3/$15 bundle deal. Right next to this Nike top that I bought for the same reason. I have since sold Boden items for $50+, but not tank tops. What resells for a good amount of money with Boden are their uniquely printed dresses, not simple tank tops. Lesson learned!
The second thing I’ve learned is that there is a balance between the old adage ‘there is a buyer for everything’ and what’s worth your time. I’ve sold used sports bras, Walmart brand clothing, and stained/broken items on Poshmark. If you price it competitively, it will sell!
But generally I don’t want to pick up items from the thrift store that are low end or need mending, cleaning, or other work unless I know it will sell for a higher price. One reason I don’t like buying sneakers at the thrift store is that they usually require cleaning around the sole, which is just one more step (AKA barrier) to me getting them listed and sold. As a part time reseller I don’t have all day to be cleaning and preparing items for Poshmark, so I try and only buy items in excellent or very good used condition.
Spot treatments (dish soap is my favorite stain remover), polishing leather items with Dr. Marten’s Wonder Balsam, or a little de-pilling with a sweater shaver doesn’t bother me when I expect a sale price of around $30, but anymore effort than that and I should expect a higher resale price for my time and effort into that piece.
The last lesson I’ve learned is that when a reasonable offer comes along, JUST FRICKIN ACCEPT IT.
Note, I said reasonable, not lowball.
I used to go back and forth with potential buyers over a matter of $5 in price and it’s not worth it. I remember those offers every time I see those items still sitting in my Posh closet months later. At the end of the day, turnover of my inventory is way more important than an extra $5 on a sale. The faster you sell, the more room you have for more stuff to buy! Ultimately it turns into larger profits when you accept reasonable offers on many items vice waiting for full price sales on fewer items.
I had the new with tags Frame denim jeans pictured above listed in my Poshmark closet for around $80. As a pricier brand in new with tags condition I thought they’d sell quickly and close to listing price, but after 178 days I accepted an offer of $60 for them. Better to have my profit and them off to a a new home than waiting for an offer closer to listing price or a full price sale that may never come!
Common Questions about Reselling on Poshmark
What is Poshmark’s cut? Are there any quotas?
Poshmark takes 20% of all sales over $15, and a flat fee of $2.95 on sales under $15. There are no quotas, and Poshmark is NOT AN MLM. I dislike MLMs immensely and would not be using this platform if it was!
Should I sell X on Poshmark?
Depends. Go on Poshmark and search for the item you’re thinking of selling. If there’s already a lot of that item available in the specific size and color priced low, I would say no. If the market is not saturated and you filter by ‘sold’ listings are you happy with the previous sold prices you see there? If so, list it. If not, don’t.
How does shipping work?
The buyer always pays a flat rate for shipping via USPS. You can offer shipping discounts if you’d like to buyers, however that discount comes out of your profit. Once an item sells you get emailed a shipping label, and you can use free USPS shipping supplies to send the item or whatever shipping supplies you have on hand.
What’s your favorite and least favorite part of selling on Poshmark?
I love sourcing at the thrift (because I also shop for myself!) and packaging items for sale. I use tissue paper, thank you stickers, colorful yarn, and a customized card in my packages and I think it’s fun to put them together. I don’t like steaming and inventorying my stuff – BORING! But necessary!
How many hours a week do you spend working on Poshmark stuff?
Between sourcing, photographing, listing, packaging, and sharing listings on Poshmark I’d say I spend about 6-8 hours a week doing Posh stuff. It varies every week. When I’m very busy with my full time job and other things in life, the number of hours goes down, and when I have time to do Posh stuff I do more. Something that I love about doing this on the side is how flexible it is. There are days when I barely open the app and others when I’m doing a lot on it. Just depends!
And there you have it – my one year in review of reselling on Poshmark! As always, feel free to let me know if you have other questions about selling on Poshmark.
Pin this post for later ↓
