Poshmark Review: Is Poshmark Reliable And Safe?

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Poshmark is an app and web-based online marketplace that specifically targets fashion, homeware, beauty items and even pet products. This makes it a go-to destination for many shoppers to pick-up brand-name items at an affordable price point.

If you’ve been looking for a low-key side hustle, Poshmark is a great place to get going. It has over 8 million active buyers looking for their next fashion find. On top of that, the second-hand market is an at an all-time high and is set to double by 2026.

But is Poshmark reliable and worth it for sellers? This Poshmark review will look closely at the platform from a seller’s perspective.

We’ll discuss the fees, protections, and process of selling on Poshmark and how it compares to other popular resale sites. By the end of this article, you should have a good idea of whether or not Poshmark is right for you.

What is Poshmark?

In 2011, Poshmark launched as one of the first large-scale online marketplaces for (second-hand) goods. It began by selling predominantly women’s second-hand fashion, but has since evolved into a marketplace for new items as well.

Since then, Poshmark branched into Men, Kids, Home, Electronics, Pet Products, and Beauty & Wellness categories.

The Poshmark app has steadily grown since its release and now boasts 80 million users (buyers and sellers combined).

Users can buy and sell new or well-preserved second-hand items at any price, with a fairly hefty commission of each sale going to Poshmark in exchange for using the platform.

Popular brands you can find on Poshmark include Lululemon, Nike, American Eagle, Free People & Anthropologie – but hundreds more brands are being circulated and exchanged on Poshmark every day.

How does selling on Poshmark work?

The process of selling on Poshmark is straightforward. Here’s a rundown of the steps involved in selling on Poshmark:

1. Create an account: The first step is to create a free account on Poshmark. You’ll need to provide basic information about yourself, such as your name, email address, and phone number, and set a password. Then you’ll need to set up all your payment information to receive payment for your first sale!
2. Take photos of your items: Once you’ve created your account, it’s time to start listing your items for sale. First, take clear, well-lit photos of each item you want to sell. Take pictures at different angles and of the item in use for an idea of size. Take pictures of labels and defects too, for added transparency.
3. Write compelling descriptions: Along with your photos, each listing on Poshmark must include a detailed description. This is your chance to sell your items, so take the time to write something catchy and convincing. Include any relevant keywords so potential buyers can easily find your listings. It is also handy to include measurements and note any defects to avoid returns.
4. Choose a price: When pricing your items, keep in mind that Poshmark takes a 20% commission on all sales (more on that later). With that in mind, aim to price your items competitively yet profitably. Use the “Edit Price” feature to adjust your prices until you find the sweet spot.
5. Add style tags: Poshmark allows you to add style tags such as “vintage” or “90s” to increase the visibility of your listings when buyers are searching for specific items.
6. Publish your listings: That’s all there is to it! All that’s left to do is post your item and wait for the sales to roll in.

The best part is you can do all of this on their user-friendly app for selling anytime, anywhere.

Is Poshmark legit and reliable marketplace?

Poshmark is a legitimate online marketplace and presents an excellent opportunity for side hustles, potentially earning you a decent additional income.

The company posts regular press releases, which include a transparent overview of its finances, partnerships, attended conferences, and other company news. It has recently IPO’ed on the NASDAQ as well and is set to be acquired by Korean tech giant, Naver.

As with any reselling platform, encountering scammers is inevitable. Both buyers and sellers perform Poshmark scams, trying to trick each other to save or earn a few extra bucks.

The major downside of the platform is that you may struggle to resolve such disputes due to the difficulties of getting in touch with Poshmark’s customer service team. Fortunately, the Poshmark Protect Policy does offer security from the more common payment scams.

Poshmark reviews for sellers and buyers

Because its a popular app with plenty of users, thousands of Poshmark buyers and sellers have reviewed the company on various sites. Let’s look at some of the most common sentiments across Trustpilot, Sitejabber, and Influenster.

Trustpilot Poshmark review

Average rating: 1.4 stars out of 5

Here are a few quotes that reflect common complaints:

“No private chat function, so if you want to talk to a seller or a potential buyer, it is not possible, and there is absolutely no international shipping.”

“The support center of Poshmark does not give a damn about its sellers. I have sent countless emails about my sales and problems, and no one has reached out to me.”

“I sold only one item. And they deactivated 2 other listings sending me an email that I violated their rules. When I asked what did I violate – no answer.”

While most reviews on Trustpilot were quite damning for Poshmark, there were the odd few rave reviews, like this one:

“I’m actually shocked to see so many negative reviews! I have never had issues with PM customer support and I’ve been on both sides as a seller and buyer. They have been responsive, fair and timely.”

Sitejabber Poshmark reviews

Average rating: 1.5 stars out of 5

Sitejabber reviews weren’t much better than Trustpilot, with most reviewers giving less than two stars across all categories:

“Posh is the worst when it comes to protecting the seller! I shipped a pair of non damaged no scratches no scuffs designer Sunglasses Dolce and Gabbana, the buyer received the item and completely destroyed the item in order to request a refund.”

“Not only does Poshmark take 20% of everything, they will also say every single designer bag is fake. It’s happened to multiple of mine (I know they aren’t fake).”

Influenster Poshmark reviews

Average rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Interestingly, the Influenster reviews were much more in favor of Poshmark:

“My favorite way to sell things. The update where they made sharing easier was life changing! I relied on this for money during the shutdown and I love how easy they make it to side hustle.”

“They offer tons of selling features and benefits. As long as you’re proactive about protecting yourself as a seller, there are no issues.”

Even so, Influenster users are also annoyed about the hefty commission fee:

“If you’re selling an inexpensive product (ex.- $10), you only keep $7.05, and when you send an offer to people in order to entice them to buy, you get even less of a commission & have to pay for the shipping discount. You are way better off selling through Facebook Marketplace.”

A closer look at Poshmark’s customer service levels

After browsing reviews across all three sites, both buyers and sellers appear to have difficulty contacting customer service. This has caused significant publicity issues for Poshmark. The company has gained a reputation for being slow to respond to problems.

All of that being said, we have to consider that people are more likely to leave a review if they had a bad experience than if everything went well.

Some people also exaggerate their experience, so verifying how truthful every review is is impossible. Poshmark would not have so many users if the average experience for every buyer/seller was more negative than positive.

Benefits of selling on Poshmark

Considering the critiques mentioned above, you may be hesitant to throw your hat in the ring.  Before you make a decision you might regret, let’s see why many other (re)sellers continue to sell on the Poshmark platform.  

Easy to use

One of the biggest advantages of Poshmark is it’s straightforward use. The interface is straightforward to navigate, even if unfamiliar with apps. Listing an item takes just a few minutes, and plenty of tutorials are available if you need help getting started.

No listing fees

Poshmark takes a 20% commission on sales over $15 and charges a flat $2.95 fee on all sales under $15. While it’s on par with other marketplaces, there’s no listing fee, so you can list for free.

On Etsy, for example, you pay a $0.20 listing fee, and each time the item sells, you pay a renewal fee if you’ve got more than one in stock. In addition to that, there are no hidden fees with Poshmark.

That being said, the commission on Poshmark is quite high compared to Mercari, Grailed or Depop.

If you want to calculate your profit and margin when selling on Poshmark, you can use our free fee calculator for Poshmark.

Broad audience

Poshmark has millions of users (8 and counting, to be exact), so your items will have a good chance of being seen by someone interested in them.

In charge of your pricing

Unlike other online selling platforms, Poshmark does not dictate how much you should charge for your items. This gives you the flexibility to price items at your discretion.

For example, Facebook Marketplace can flag listings as priced higher than other items and throttle traffic – they do this because they know low-priced items sell faster.

Not just second-hand items

Unlike some marketplaces, which only allow you to sell used goods, Poshmark allows sellers to sell both used and new items across a range of categories.

No ceiling for earnings

There is no limit to how much money you can make on Poshmark – it is proportional to how much time and effort you are willing to put into it, as well as the items you are selling.

Free shipping labels

Poshmark provides you with a free USPS Priority Mail shipping label with every item you sell, so there is no need to go to the post office or calculate shipping.

Features that are designed to attract buyers

1. The ‘Bundle’ feature lets you set preferences so buyers can receive a discount when purchasing multiple items at once and have all items shipped together to reduce costs.
2. The Poshmark seller can send special offers to people who have liked their products, encouraging shoppers to complete their purchases.
3. A comprehensive sales report shows your item selling trends so you can adjust your strategy going forward.
4. Poshmark Authenticate protects buyers who purchase high-ticket items to the value of $500 or more. For example, if you sell a Louis Vuitton handbag, it will first be shipped to Poshmark’s HQ for inspection and verification before it is shipped to the buyer so they can verify it is authentic Louis Vuitton.
5. Poshmark Protect allows buyers to receive a full refund if an item arrives damaged, is incorrect, is not as described, or is fake. This gives buyers peace of mind when shopping.

Negatives of selling on Poshmark

Sketchy customer service

Less-than-desirable customer service easily takes #1 on the list of complaints. Poshmark sellers and buyers alike report having to submit inquiries multiple times before getting a response, and that’s if they’re lucky enough to get one.

The app has grown unprecedently in recent years, and the Poshmark customer support team is under strain. Hopefully, they can grow their support staff to improve customer service levels to an acceptable level.

Commission fee

Sitting comfortably in second place is the 20% commission fee which can eat into your profits depending on the sale price. If you sell an item for $16, then a 20% fee is quite high. But if you sell for $1000, the 20% feels less bothersome and fair, considering you will have made yourself a cool $800.

Delayed payments

Some sellers have reported that their payments are only released once the buyer has marked the item as received, which sometimes takes a while. This, however, is in place to protect buyers from scam sellers or those trying to get a refund on damaged goods, for example.

Traffic tactics

Some users have also complained that Poshmark tanks their listing traffic when a listing has a lot of likes but no takers to force sellers to use the price reduction tool.

Once the 10% price reduction tool has been applied, Poshmark sends out a notification to all “likers” to let them know the item is on sale, which gives traffic a healthy boost.

However, considering the 20% commission fee, sellers feel this strategy eats into their profits.

Items not selling

Another gripe some sellers have with the platform is the average time it can take to sell an item on Poshmark. However, those complaints are only valid for specific categories like Skirts, which take a lot longer to sell.

If we exclude “Jackets & Coats” and “Skirts” from the analysis (which only account for 4% of total sales volume), the average time to sell an item on Poshmark is relatively short – under 11 hours.

It is not fair to only blame the platform for slow sales. You need to take an honest look at your store and decide whether you’ve optimized your listing to be found.

If you find an item sitting with little interest, read on for tips on selling your items faster.

How to sell items faster on Poshmark

If you are struggling with a few items that don’t seem to be selling, here are a few tips to help you sell items faster on Poshmark:

• Use descriptive titles and tags: This will help your listings appear in more searches. Be specific about what you’re selling, and use popular keywords that buyers might be searching for.
• Price items competitively: If you want to sell your items quickly, price them lower than similar items already for sale on Poshmark. But don’t underprice yourself too much – remember that you’re still trying to make a profit!
• Offer discounts and promotions: Buyers love a good deal, so offer discounts or promotions (like free shipping) whenever possible. You can also offer bundle deals if you have multiple items for sale. Or give the buyer control and use the Make an Offer feature to get bids on your items.
• Ship items quickly: Once an item sells, ship it out as soon as possible, so the buyer doesn’t have to wait long for their purchase. Prompt shipping is one of the best ways to ensure positive feedback from buyers.
• Promote your listings: Sales don’t always happen on their own, so there are several ways you can promote your listings to generate more interest. The first way is by sharing your listing on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram using the share button on the listing page. This will allow your followers on those platforms to see the listing and potentially share it with their followers as well, giving your listing greater exposure.

Another way to promote your listing is by taking advantage of Poshmark’s Party feature. Parties are essentially virtual shopping events where users can browse and buy items from various sellers in one place.

You can join existing parties that are happening or create your own party and invite other users to join. This is a great way to get more eyes on your listings, as people who wouldn’t normally see them will be browsing through the party.

You can also promote your listings by commenting on other people’s listings. When you do this, your username will be shown and a link to your closet, so people who see your comment can view your listings if they’re interested.

Poshmark vs Depop

Depop is one of Poshmark’s main competitors. While it gets less attention in the mainstream reseller market, Depop has a better reputation among Gen Z, who look at it as being ‘trendy’ with its retro and vintage listings.

Poshmark’s fees are straightforward, with a flat rate of $2.95 for all sales under $15 and has a 20% commission on all sales above $15. Depop, on the other hand, has a 10% flat rate on all sales, along with a PayPal fee of 2.9% + $0.20 for U.S. sellers. On average, Depop’s commission will be less intrusive.

Another notable difference is that Depop releases the payment as soon as your item sells, while Poshmark waits until the buyer receives your item.

Lastly, while both platforms allow you to message buyers, Poshmark users can only contact sellers on public forums. In contrast, Depop allows users to negotiate privately in DMs.

Below is a table of the key differences between the two platforms:

Also, in one of our latest articles, you can check the comparison between two of the most popular marketplaces out there: Poshmark and Mercari.

Is Poshmark the best platform for buying and selling online?

Based on reviews alone, it appears that Poshmark has some room for improvement. However, Depop has similar user ratings to Poshmark, as does Mercari. So, ratings alone do not paint a clear picture. 

What can’t be denied is that Poshmark has a vast and active audience that you will want access to. Those users obviously think that the platform is worth their time.

If Poshmark becomes more proactive about customer service and buyer/seller support, it could be considered one of the best places to sell unwanted goods online. There are many advertising options, the platform is intuitive and simple to use, and you can (re)sell items rather quickly, so it is a powerful platform for sellers.

Sell on Poshmark and other marketplaces with Crosslist

If you plan to sell items on multiple marketplaces, such as Poshmark, Grailed or eBay, start using a cross listing app. It will help you quickly crosspost your items on different marketplaces, saving the time you would spend recreating multiple listings.

You can instead spend the time you save adding value to your online business in other ways, such as sourcing inventory, marketing your store, or putting some effort into your packaging.

Luckily for you, we have the exactly the app you’re looking for. It’s called Crosslist and this is how it works in a nutshell:

1. Register a Crosslist account: Crosslist can be used on any device! Simply sign in to get started.
2. Create new listings: Start from scratch by selecting the marketplaces on which you want to list your products. You can use your mobile phone to take and upload pictures of your products.
3. Import or cross-list existing listings: Crosslist allows you to import existing listings from other marketplaces. This way, you can quickly crosspost your stock between two or more marketplaces.
4. List on your marketplaces: Click the Post button to list your product on multiple marketplaces at once!

With Crosslist, besides Poshmark, you can list quickly on seven more marketplaces (eBay, Mercari, Depop, Vinted, Facebook, Kidizen, and Grailed).