Growing up in a resale environment for most of my life, the concept of selling the clothes I didn't wear any more felt very natural to me. I would shop often, wear once or twice, then upgrade by trading my clothes with friends or selling secondhand at consignment stores. Blogging made a huge impact on my shopping tendencies, and I started to shop even more frequently and found myself holding onto things I really didn't need because "what if I need that for an outfit later?"
I discovered the Poshmark app in May 2013 and slowly started listing a few items to sell... During my first year I only sold one item! Poshmark at the time did not feel like a side hustle or prominent income driver for me, nor did it feel like a way to quickly cycle through my closet. Admittedly I didn't give it much time or thought and that reflected in my sales and Poshmark closet status.
The following year, 2014, I sold 13 items which doesn't sound all that impressive... but I made a profit! This was extremely motivating to me! See, most of my clothes already came from Goodwill or discount racks, so when I listed these items for 'market value' I actually came out above my original investment into these pieces! I sold at least one item a month and I made more money than I would have bringing it all to Plato's Closet or the consignment stores like I used to. This was the year I got my mom to join me on the Poshmark app and she too started to see success!
And you know what? The next year was even better!!!
I made 100 sales on Poshmark in 2015!
In 2015 I was downsizing my life to make a major move across country, and I quit working to focus more on reselling and blogging. I absolutely dedicated the most time to Poshmark during this year and it really paid off! During that year Poshmark introduced their newest feature, bundling. Bundling enabled shoppers to buy multiple items from a single user's Poshmark closet. Since the launch of this feature I have made 50-80 sales a year including multiple bundle sales, but I have dedicated significantly less time to my reselling side hustle. I went back to working full-time in 2016, got married, moved a few times, and I ultimately let life get in the way.
But, I have new goals this year. I got really comfortable in our current house and let my closet get wayyyy out of hand... One of the spare bedrooms is currently my closet space and I literally can not walk into that room right now. Physically can not walk in. Yes, it's embarrassing, but it is real life. I need to make a change and take reselling on Poshmark seriously again, and I'm starting now.
And really, what better time? Sustainable fashion is on trend this year more than ever before. Reselling your clothes gives them a new life, saves them from hitting landfills, and helps the environment. Read Michelle's post from Making Sense of Cents on Thrift Store Reselling, and the article How A Booming Resale Business Could Lead The Future of Sustainable Fashion from Refinery29 to learn more about the environmental impact of reselling.
My Closet
Over the last 5 years my Poshmark closet has gained increasing popularity, I now have over 80K followers and get about 100+ more a day! I did this by becoming a Poshmark Posh Ambassador. Essentially, I shared a bunch of other accounts and listings to my followers and got engaged on the platform, sold reliably and shipped quickly, and received over a 4.5 star average purchase rating. You can find my closet on Poshmark by user searching for me (@rachaelq) or by clicking here! I highly encourage you to sign up for Poshmark to sell or buy secondhand. Save money, save the environment, and make a little extra money! If you enter the code RACHAELQ at sign up you will get a $10 credit added to your account, and I will get one too if you make a purchase. If you're already on Poshmark, come say hi on my About The Seller profile and share how you found me!
Here's How I Resell on Poshmark
Sourcing
This term may be new to many of you, sourcing is what folks in the reseller community call shopping for inventory. In many ways my sourcing habits are similar to my personal shopping habits, but they still differ in others.
I will always have a love for shopping at Goodwill. In fact, I hit Goodwill every Monday (which is probably a big part of why I can't step into my closet right now). Sourcing resell items at Goodwill takes time, technique, and patience. Successful sourcing days can't be predicted but sometimes you just hit the jackpot! Other thrift stores can bring you equal success, but I have found that in my area Goodwill has been the most consistent sourcing location.
Clearance and sales racks at retail and discount stores are also excellent sourcing locations! This style of shopping is considered "retail arbitrage." This style of sourcing requires a little bit of research though, I like to check the available listings for these items to find current market price and determine market saturation.
Aside from these, I still like to visit other secondhand shops like consignment and Plato's Closet. I might bring slow moving inventory here or items that are difficult to photograph and trade up for deals that would resell better!
Anywhere that I am sourcing I consider how quickly the items will sell and what margin I will make when they do sell. It's not worth it to me to buy something that will sit around for a long time (out of date styles, etc) or that I won't make a decent profit margin on. I want to at least double my money!
Listing
I've personally done a lot of personal online shopping, I like to share all lot of the deals I find here on the blog or on IG. Understanding what is available on the market, where brands are sold, and how much for is really important in reselling. If I know where a brand is sold I can easily check that retailers site to look for stock photos or retail value of an item.
Every time I list an item I try to spend a brief moment online to grab a stock photo and MSRP. I think these add a lot of value to a listing!
Listing is the least exciting part of reselling in my opinion. Prep work for listing can be time consuming and photography is time consuming too. Some items may require wash, spot treatment, steaming/ironing, or some photos may require editing based on lighting.
"Processing" items for listing will look different for each piece. My listing procedure is fairly the same for any item though. I start with taking pictures with my phone's camera outside of the app. Doing this means I am able to control brightness and have the opportunity to edit these photos before I upload them to my listing. Types of pictures that I like to capture include: flat lay, styled flat lay, detail shots, front and back, and flaws. I recently purchased a "halo" ring light stand that has been really helpful for capturing colors accurately in photo. It's only $35 on Amazon Prime too so I highly recommend! Most items I'll take photos of near a source of natural light too, like a window, on a rug or ottoman for a nice background.
After pictures, I open the Poshmark app and choose "sell." To upload the pictures I just took I'll select the file folder icon and all of the pictures I want to use. From there it's just a matter of following the prompts and filling in the blanks. It's actually really easy and quick to do! If I have spent an hour capturing photos I could probably list everything in another half hour or so. Again, depends on the items and if I have already done research for pricing and stock photos.
Once items are listed on Poshmark I have to store them until they sell. For me right now that isn't very easy when I keep my inventory in my disaster of a closet... but I do my best to keep all of my inventory separate from my personal items! What I have found works best for me is folding items and stacking them on bookshelves. There are a lot of ways to organize, so if you want to start reselling I suggest experimenting until you find what works for you!
Shipping
When an item sells I do a little happy dance and tell my mom, haha! Then I tell my husband how much money I made. More importantly though I retrieve the item(s) from storage, print the shipping label from my email, pack, and drop off at the Post Office.
As far as printing goes, I have a compact laser printer that just prints on standard paper. This printer is practical to me for multiple reasons. I happen to be a printer expert as a function of my full-time job, and I would be happy to make a recommendation personal to your needs, but the printer I purchased is available for only $80 on Amazon right now and it's great!
Getting a package in the mail is so fun, so I like to package my sales with love. Tissue paper is such a small investment but it protects my items and looks really nice when my buyers open their packages. I always include a thank you note with each sale and attach it to my neatly wrapped bundle with cute washi tape before sealing up the box. I'm aiming to "suprise and delight" my buyers. Poshmark gives buyers the opportunity to rate their transactions and who doesn't want a perfect 5 stars?
Type of packaging will vary depending on the items you are selling, but Poshmark ships via USPS Priority Mail so sellers get to use the FREE Priority Mail shipping boxes and envelopes. I order bundles of each size to my door from the USPS website and keep on hand to be prepared for sales. Alternatively, you can run to the Post Office and hope that they stocked their display of Priority packaging every time you make a sale, but that is way less convenient!
My supplies:
If you have any questions regarding reselling or Poshmark I would be happy to answer them! Shoot me an email, leave a comment, or ask me in the app!
I hope you loved this post, let me know if you would like to see more like it!
xo,
RachaelLabels: Poshmark, resell, Sustainable Fashion
