Attention everyone! If you haven’t heard about me thrifting enough, I’m about to take it to another level…my Poshmark closet full of gently used, name brand clothes is live! You can easily check out what I have listed via the widget in the sidebar or see my Poshmark closet here.
If you haven’t heard of Poshmark, it’s a reselling platform with much more of a social media vibe. It’s mostly known for the reselling of clothes, and is THE place to get gently used name brand items. I’ve always been interested in Poshmark, but never actually bought or listed anything. As I became more involved in thrifting and found so many great items that weren’t necessarily something I wanted but knew others might, I started to do some more research.
It turns out there are people who resell on Poshmark as a full time job. Yes, you read that right, a full time job! There are also people who just like to resell their own items, and others who simply resell part time. It’s a really fascinating community!
Side Note: As I took a pause here in writing this post to check Poshmark, I found out I sold my first item! Hooray! Thank you to the lovely lady in Seattle for buying the striped Madewell sweater I listed 🙂
As I started to learn more about Poshmark, particularly becoming a part time seller, I had a lot of different feelings. First of all, how exciting to think about the possibility of extra income from something I’m already doing (thrifting)! But also, how scary…what if I don’t sell anything? What if it’s a lot of work and not as much reward as I’m hoping?
In today’s post I’m going to talk about some of the ups and downs with getting my Poshmark closet started.
Starting My Poshmark Inventory
It was Saturday, approximately 11am, and I was in the thrift store with a shopping cart overflowing with items I wanted to have as my Poshmark inventory. I spent forever going through the thrift store and checking comparable items on Poshmark trying to figure out what would be a safe bet, going over the pieces again and again for flaws, and mostly just wondering if I was actually going to go through with it all or not.
Many people start a Poshmark closet to sell gently used items that they already own, but to be honest I didn’t have that much that I thought would get me a good return. Generally items that are originally sold for more money (think J. Crew, Anthropologie, Madewell, and of course, designer items) will do well on Posh, not stuff from Walmart, Old Navy, or Target. It makes sense since you can already get those brands for a really good deal without them being used.
Anyway, with my full cart I was scared to take the plunge! I mean, if I checked out with over $100 worth of stuff I was really going for it, right? I was worried it wasn’t going to work out, or I wasn’t going be able to sell anything. But I thought a lot about how if you don’t take any risks then you never learn. Even if I did fail it would be an experience that I could learn and grow from. So I went for it!
Another thing that kept going through my mind was all the amazing items I had found thrifting in the weeks before and had just left for someone else to find. That beautiful Theory cardigan I didn’t get because I don’t like polka dots but retails for over $300. Or the silk Madewell blouse that I didn’t get because it wasn’t my size (both pictured below). Or that Moulinette Soeurs green floral maxidres, or those Everlane jeans. I could go on and on!
Honestly, you’re not going to find one of those super special pieces every time you thrift — I’m trying to accept that and think of all the other amazing things I will find in the future. And I bet that those items left behind probably made someone else very, very happy!
Listing Items on Poshmark
It makes sense that when you’re buying clothes online, especially with a no return policy like Poshmark has, that you want to see as much of the piece as possible. Having a great place to stage photos makes such a difference in being able to sell an item. I mean, would you buy a top if it was wrinkled, laid out on the carpet with a bunch of other stuff, and the photo was grainy? Probably not.
So I got excited to set up my ‘staging area’ for photographing my Poshmark listings. I wanted a white background so I put a command hook up in our bedroom and then placed a vase with fake leaves in it for a little more visual interest. Now in almost all of my photos you can see the fronds peeking out just a bit. And for when I’m photographing full length items, like maxi dresses, I place a sheepskin rug at the base of the garment.
Overall I’m really happy with how it turned out! After taking photos I edit them in Lightroom to get the colors and detail just right, and save them on my computer. Then I get ready to actually list the items on Poshmark, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. First I have to search around to see what other similar items are being sold for, if I can even find a similar item! Sometimes even with a popular brand like Free People I can’t find the exact item already being sold. I take into account the condition of the listed item and how long it’s been on the market for, while also what similar items have actually sold for (not what they’re listed as). So there’s a bit of research that goes into listing an item.
I track everything about my inventory (what it is, when I bought it, how much I got it for, when I listed it, how much I’m listing it for, etc.) so that I can see my earnings. Although I love to be organized this is more the ‘work’ side of Poshmark. I don’t necessarily love updating my spreadsheet unless it’s to see how much profit I’m making!
I downloaded the Poshmark inventory tracking spreadsheet from Ediza of Healthy Girl Fashion. If you’re interested in selling on Poshmark check it out!
Engaging with Others on Poshmark
What makes Poshmark so different from eBay or Craig’s List is how social the platform is. You need to follow other Poshers and share their listings, and other Poshers will do the same for you. Having your listings shared by more people means a larger audience that might ‘like’ the item. All likers on an item are given updates on price drops and can be sent private offers on the item. Likes are a great thing!
While it’s fun to engage with others, sometimes this aspect of selling on Poshmark is kind of annoying. You can’t just list an item and be done — you need to share your closet at least once a day and be on top of comments and questions posted to your item. On days when you don’t feel like responding to all the notifications Posh sends to your phone, it’s definitely one of the down aspects of being a reseller.
If you want to sign up as a buyer or seller on Poshmark, you can use the code KRISTIN_KOHLER to get a $5 credit towards a purchase. I’ll also get a $5 credit once you make a purchase.
In a nutshell, getting started as a seller on Poshmark has been quite a whirlwind of emotions! I’m excited to see where it goes, but also nervous about the investment of my time and money. It can be a lot more work than people realize, but the joy at finding out something has sold and will make someone else on a budget very happy is a great feeling.
I plan on posting more about thrifting in general and Poshmark in the future, so let me know if you have any questions!
Have you used Poshmark before?
