January is the start of the year, time for resolutions, new goals and the promise of something better. This year get on the path of financial independence with a new hustle, clothing reselling on Poshmark. I will walk you through starting as a newbie Poshmark seller to scaling up to a pro seller on the platform in a series of articles.
What is Poshmark?
Poshmark is one of the “app first” reselling platforms in the market. It primarily focuses on women’s clothing, shoes and accessories, but you can also sell cosmetics, home decor and more. Unlike some of the other reselling platforms like eBay, there’s no set-up costs or monthly fees. You just need your phone and some stuff you want to sell.
Why start your reseller journey on Poshmark?
It’s easy. Poshmark has a very low barrier to entry. You just need a smartphone and a few clothing items to get started. No special skills with graphics or websites needed. No special supplies to buy, just a bit of tape and scissors. You don’t even need a printer. It’s perfect for beginners.
It’s free. Poshmark doesn’t charge monthly membership fees or advertising fees. There’s also no postage to buy, as that’s included and paid by Poshmark. You can join for free and start posting your items for sale right away. Poshmark takes a percentage of each sale to cover their costs.
No returns. On Poshmark, returns are not allowed except for special cases (item not as described, etc.), so no building the cost and hassle of returns into your beginner plans.
It has a mature buyer base. This is important. Poshmark has been around for a while and has a pretty active and large buyer base. This means lots of eyes on your items and the potential for quick sales. Plus, Poshmark cooperates with the major search engines so your items will appear in search results, allowing potential customers that aren’t Poshmark users to find your item and buy.
How to get started
January is the perfect time to spin up a clothing reseller hustle. You may have a few sweaters and ugly tops you received as gifts that you won’t wear, and retailers are starting their winter clearance sales.
Start small with your own stuff. Look around your personal closet. Pull out those those jeans you only wore once because they’re too tight. Grab those unwanted Christmas gifts, the ugly pajamas, the too big sweaters and the cheap slippers and put them in a pile. Try to gather at least 20 items to start. These should be your first postings on Poshmark. They cost nothing and will be pure profit for you.
Price low to go. Your goal for your first items is to sell fast and get good ratings (more on the importance of ratings in our next articles), and get cash to buy clearance items to sell. If your item is new with tags attached (NWT), try for about 75% off the ticket price. Example: Calvin Klein sweater with a regular price of $69, post it for sale between $15 -$20. Poshmark will take 20% on sales over $15 and a flat rate of $2.95 on sales under $15. The app will show you exactly what you will receive as you post the item for sale.
Ship fast. This is important (more on this in later articles). Once you receive a sale, act quick to package your item and take it to the Post Office. Always ship before 2 days. The Post Office has free shipping boxes, and you can even use the QR code in the app to print your Poshmark shipping label for free at the Post Office, so all you will need is your phone, tape and scissors to start off.
Getting paid
Poshmark protects both sellers and buyers by holding the cash from each sale in escrow. Poshmark buyers have 3 days from the time their item is marked “delivered” in the system to inspect and accept the item. If the buyer doesn’t accept the order in 3 days, Poshmark will auto-accept the item. After acceptance, the seller’s sale proceeds are released and placed in a Poshmark account.
You can easily view your seller account balance in the app. From there, you can request your sales proceeds. There are multiple options for this, Paypal, check, direct deposit. I recommend the direct deposit method, there are no additional fees, and the wait time is short (depending on your bank).
I also recommend setting up a new checking account just for your Poshmark hustle. This will make it easier to keep your business money separate from your personal money and also make it easier to transfer into a new business bank account as your Poshmark hustle grows into a business.
Capital One 360 is a good option, offering fee free checking with no minimum balanc. They also tend to clear payments quickly.
