How I Made Over $2,000 Selling My Clothes On Poshmark

Oct 29

*This blog post was most recently updated on September 9, 2019

I joined Poshmark back in July of 2014 on the recommendation of my mom. She had told me several times about this "app that you can sell clothes on" but initially, I brushed it off thinking: would people really buy my clothes on an app?

Despite my hesitation, she continued to encourage me. "You're stylish and you keep your clothes in great condition. What can it hurt to try?" So I signed up. I didn't actually list anything immediately. Then I saw one of my friends on the app making a serious number of sales. That caught my attention.

It was encouraging to see because she wasn't selling name-brand clothes. Her listings weren't styled to be eye-catching. But clearly, people were buying. Maybe I had a real shot!

I set aside a couple afternoons to take photos, write descriptions, and upload listings to my profile. In March of 2016, I made my first sale. If you're doing the math, you may be thinking: it took you two years to sell something?! No. Keep in mind that when I signed up for Poshmark I didn't list anything for a while. If I were to guess, it might have taken up to a month after posting my first listing to make a sale.

To be honest, my first sale was kind of a nightmare. Mere minutes after I dropped the package off at the post office and marked it as "shipped" the buyer canceled the order, citing "accidental purchase". I freaked out. It was a nice dress and there was no way I could retrieve it unless the buyer decided to ship it back. I hurriedly contacted Poshmark, explaining what had happened. They responded promptly, assuring me they had added the earnings to my account (even though the order was canceled and the buyer had been refunded). They wrote, "Moving forward, we recommend shipping your sale within 2-3 days of order. Please note buyers can cancel their orders if they are not shipped by the 7th day after order placement."

The thing is, I HAD shipped it within the 2-3 day time frame. Poshmark's FAQ page states buyers can only cancel due to "accidental purchase" within 3 hours of the order being placed. The sale should've been final. So I emailed Poshmark again. If I was going to continue selling my clothes on their app, I needed assurance that buyers would not be able to cancel orders due to "accidental purchase" AFTER the 3-hour time frame.

Poshmark replied, apologizing for the confusion. "The buyer did reach out to us for assistance, and we therefore canceled the order for her as a one-time courtesy." I have not run into any issues with Poshmark since then.

Today, I have made a total of $2,104.05 and am proud to be considered a “Top-Seller” and a “Top-rated Seller” and Posh Ambassador on Poshmark! These are my simple, realistic tips to help you clean out your closet and make a little money on the side.

Get $10 when you sign up for Poshmark using my invite code: SHOPMOONTAYLOR

1. Sell clothes worth selling

If you're going to put in the effort to take photos, write descriptions, and drive to the post office, make sure the clothes you list are in good condition—quality pieces. If an item in your closet is only worth $8 in your opinion, don't bother listing it on Poshmark. You are better off donating your clothes at that point. For sales under $15, Poshmark takes $2.95. For sales over $15, Poshmark takes a 20% commission. Time is money!

2. Take pleasant photos

You don't need a fancy camera. All you need is your smartphone. Take photos during the day, not at night. Daylight looks 100x nicer. Some people go to a lot of effort to style their photos with accessories and flowers. I personally don't have time for that. I like to stick to a consistent background. I'll set my shoes on a white surface or hang my shirts on a white door. If you have a photo of yourself wearing the item, include that! It's helpful for people to see how it fits. If you scour the Internet, sometimes you can find the original photo from the website you bought it. If your photos look dull and need a little *POP!* I recommend downloading an app called "A Color Story" and throwing on some natural-looking filters. Nothing too bright—you still want the photos to reflect the accurate colors of the clothing.

3. Be honest

Do your shoes have a few scratches on them? Is there a small snag or stain on your shirt? Don't try to hide it. Include photos of any imperfections and be honest about it in the description. If you try to fool your buyer, they will receive the item in the mail and eventually find out (and give you a bad rating). Your rating is how you build trust with potential buyers. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

4. Fast shipping and presentation are key

Ship your orders quickly. The sooner your buyer receives their package, the happier they will be and the more likely you are to earn a glowing review. Make sure your clothes are freshly laundered and not wrinkly. Wrap them neatly in tissue paper and include a short + sweet handwritten thank-you note. In your note, you can even politely ask your buyers to leave a review. 5-star ratings are what you're aiming for. Leave a good impression!

5. Show all angles

You can include up to 8 photos per listing. Take advantage of that. Make sure you have photos of the front, back, bottom, or any little details. Think about the areas of clothing that receive the most wear-and-tear: armpits, the bottom of a maxi dress or pants (if they touch the floor), the inside collar of shirts (check for any foundation/makeup residue!), the crotch area of jeans, etc. If you can show your buyer that these areas are in mint condition, it reassures them and they will have less hesitance pulling the trigger.

6. Title and description

I always include the brand, color, style, and size in the title if I have room to fit it all (ex. J.Crew navy blue button down shirt size small). If I can’t fit all of the words in the title, I choose the ones I think are most important (i.e. what people will be typing in the search bar most). In the description, I write what condition it's in (new with tags, like-new, excellent, fair, etc.) and what the fabric is made of (80% cotton, 20% wool). If the item runs small or large, include that as well. Don’t forget to note any flaws.

I also incorporate as many key words that pertain to the listing as I can. Think: wide leg pants, 3/4 sleeves, crop top, flare jeans, cowl neck sweater. The Poshmark ‘search’ bar is a search engine. Buyers are looking for specific items like ‘brown wide leg pants’ so you want your listing to show up in their search results!

7. Price & Accepting Offers

This part is ultimately up to you. Factor in the time and effort it takes you to 1) list items and 2) take them to the post office. I always list my clothes for a higher price to start off because buyers have the ability to "make an offer" and they always offer lower (duh). I’ve had a couple instances where I “declined” an offer or “counter offered” and lost out on a sale, which I regretted afterwards. All because I was holding out for a couple extra bucks! My rule of thumb now? As long as the offer is not offensively low, hit that ‘accept’ button. If you’re not planning on wearing the piece ever again, it’s just taking up precious space in your closet. I still counter offer sometimes, but only for items that I’m on the fence about selling in the first place. FYI—anytime you lower the price of an item by at least 10%, those who have "liked" your listing will get an email notification.

8. Price Drop

This is one of my favorite new features. On all of your listings there is a blue “Price Drop” button in the lower right-hand corner. Click on it, then select the “Offer to Likers (private)” feature to give anyone who has 'liked’ the listing a discount on the price and shipping. If you want to sell an item more quickly, check your “News” tab regularly so when somebody ‘likes’ your listing, you can swoop in quickly with your discounted offer!

9. Closet Clear Out

Occasionally, Poshmark will have a “Closet Clear Out” special. During this time, if you lower the price of a listing by at least 10%, anyone who has ‘liked’ the listing will get discounted shipping on that item (at no cost to you!). Poshmark’s regular shipping charge is $6.79, so discounted shipping may make your buyers less hesitant to purchase.

10. Look at other profiles

Looking at profiles is a great way to find out how much other people are pricing their clothes for. You can also get inspiration for how to take your photos and what to include in your descriptions! Need a starting point? Take a look at my profile here: https://poshmark.com/closet/shopmoontaylor

11. Turn on notifications

Make sure you get email notifications, push notifications, or both! That's how you will know if someone has purchased from you or made an offer. Offers expire after 24 hours, so you don't want to miss out on a potential sale! Interested buyers will also occasionally leave comments to ask questions about fit/measurement/condition. The more responsive you are, the higher your chances are of making a sale.

12. Vacation hold

If you're going to be traveling out of town, utilize the "vacation hold" feature. You can set a start and end date to let buyers know that you are out of town and your listings will (temporarily) not be available for purchase. You can find this feature in your settings under "My Seller Tools".

13. Be active

Like any social media platform, the ‘algorithm’ responds positively when you are active on the app. Want to sell your items faster? Then share, share, share! If you are able to, try to share your entire closet 3x per day (once in the morning, afternoon, and night). Share your listings to parties when they’re happening. Share other Posher’s closets (they may just share your listings in return!). Upload a new listing. Browse around on the app. You want your listings to sell quickly, right? Then heed my advice: be active on the app!

14. Patience

I never know how long it's going to take for something to sell (or why some pieces sell and others don't). Your odds are better if you style your photos nicely, have popular brand names, and have currently trending styles. I have had listings sell in as quick as a few hours, while others took over a year! Just have patience. If you follow all of the tips in this blog post, I am confident you will make a sale.

Hopefully you find these tips helpful! FYI—this is not a sponsored post. I am not getting paid to say these things. I've just had a good experience with Poshmark. It's hassle-free and I like that they make it easy by emailing you a pre-paid shipping label.

That being said, if you're on Poshmark and have any tips that I didn't include, I would love to hear them! I also know there are several other apps out there to sell your clothes on. If you've had experience with a different app, I'd love to hear what the pros/cons are!

Shop my closet on Poshmark: https://poshmark.com/closet/shopmoontaylor

Get $10 when you sign up for Poshmark using my invite code: SHOPMOONTAYLOR

-Taylor