Earned + Learned: My First Month Selling on Poshmark
It’s been a month or two since my desires to focus on sustainable fashion have re-emerged. I’m happy to say that it has led to a new side-hustle – clothing reselling on the Poshmark app. Shopping secondhand whether on this app or somewhere like eBay, is a great way purchase clothes from brands that may not have the most ethical practices – while not directly supporting them, and keeping the clothes from being thrown away.
I began to dabble in selling on Poshmark in December, but between winter vacations and only selling things from my closet, I in no way consider that my first official month. However, in January – while taking a break from design work, I began getting out of the house a few times a week to thrift and source. I also took the time to do research, purchase supplies, and of course – sell and ship. This sounds more like a first month to me!
WHAT I EARNED MY FIRST MONTH SELLING ON POSHMARK
Okay –
SHAMELESS PLUG: Here’s my closet @lindseysustain
WHAT I LEARNED MY FIRST MONTH SELLING ON POSHMARK
ONE: Know When + Where To Source
Looking back on things, I totally cringe at the sourcing trips I took at the end of December. One was a trip to a regular Goodwill where I spent about $100, one to a Value Village where I spent about the same, and one retail arbitrage attempt from Nordstrom Rack. Why the cringing? Let’s start with the thrift trips.
- The first mistake I made was spending too much without knowing enough. I hadn’t done any real research on brands that sell well. You can do this by watching other re-seller videos on YouTube (I let these play in the background while I complete other tasks). You can also do this by looking up SOLD comps on your phone, which can be done using the Sold filter on both eBay and Poshmark in searches.
- I also did a lot of purchases solely for style vs purchases for brands – which may work once you have a large
following, but doesn’t work great initially. Within those style purchases, I picked up a lot of low-end mall brands such as Forever 21 or H&M, where things are cute BUT already cheap and resale value is low. I also picked up a lot of Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and J. Crew. While a lot of these pieces have sold – I now realize how common they are at the thrift store and that I need to be careful in my selections. - I didn’t take advantage of the best PLACES or DAYS to
source . Going sourcing where and when things were “full price” hurt my profit margins. It’s best to go to thrift stores on days where things are half price, only purchasing items that are on tag color sales, or go to where clothing is sold by the pound.
TWO: Don’t Get Too Caught Up In The Social Aspect
The difference between selling on Poshmark and other platforms is that the app has a social media aspect to it. There’s following, sharing, attending “Posh Parties” and a bunch of other social actions. Even early on, when I only had about 30 items listed, I spent a lot of time caught up in these features. I had daily goals such as “follow 1000 people” and “share 100 listings from other closets”. In all actuality, I should’ve been more focused on researching and sourcing good items for my closet. Now, I self-share my closet 2-3 times a day during peak or party times and leave all of the other activities to a more leisurely pace. While having more followers does help items get seen, most sales come from a search for items, not from buying on the feed!
THREE: Price Higher Than What You Want + Don’t Be Greedy
Buying and selling on Poshmark is all about giving and getting good deals! Only about 25% of my sales were straight up, the rest were via offers. At the end of the day, people want to feel like they got an even better bargain than what you list an item at. So, instead of getting annoyed by this, list all items with about 10-20% of wiggle room to account for offers! For example, if I want $20 for an item, I’ll most likely list it at $25-28, so that I can offer $20 to “
On another note, don’t be too greedy and know when to let go. You have to be realistic about those “great” brands you found. Some items just don’t re-sell for a ton of money, even if they were really expensive at retail. If an item has been sitting for a while and hasn’t been getting attention, don’t be so quick to decline “low” offers when in actuality they’re pretty reasonable.
FOUR: Crosslist On Other Platforms
If you want to solely focus on Poshmark, that’s totally fine! But for me, I found that at this time – cross-listing on other platforms is my best option for meeting my daily goals! Eventually, I believe that my Poshmark closet will become more “curated” to fit my style and things I’d actually purchase for myself. This is even more of a reason to sell on other platforms, because I still find awesome stuff and brands that may be outside of that bubble, such as beautiful career-wear. I sell modern and trendy items on Poshmark,
I keep track of my inventory and where things are listed and un-list items as soon as one sells. However, if this makes you nervous, you can implement a method where you keep one thing on a platform for a certain amount of time, then try another if its sitting!
FIVE: Create Processes and Systems
This may be the most important lesson of all! Luckily, not having these, in the beginning, didn’t lead to any errors, lost items or cases – but I could’ve saved a lot of time! I recommend finding a way to batch and streamline your processes, from sourcing to measuring to photographing to listing to shipping (yay, sales!).
At the minimum, I recommend an inventory spreadsheet where you track
IN CONCLUSION
I did a lot of earning and a lot of learning during my first month selling on Poshmark and other avenues! As a freelance designer, I think it’s very important to give myself mental and creative breaks from time to time. So,
Any questions or things you’d like to see elaborated? Let me know!
xoxo,
Lindsey
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