I’m now a pro when it comes to using Poshmark, and I keep telling everyone I know how great it is, but no one listens to me (except my mom…thanks mom). But I know it will gain popularity; it will be just like when I read Twilight. No one I knew had ever heard of it. And everyone thought I was crazy. Then of course they all read it and loved it. My friends, my family, my coworkers. This was before the movies, btw.
So you can believe me when I say Poshmark is at least worth a try. You don’t have to buy anything…just get the app and poke around on it.
My original post about Poshmark gave 2 quick tips to get you started. But now I can share my expert tips to take you to the next level…a dozen of them! Just call me Posh Spice.
1. Follow your favorite brands, and update them if needed.
I follow Old Navy, White House Black Market, and 48 others, because you can follow up to 50. To follow a brand, enter it in the search, select it from the list that appears below, and tap the blue ‘Follow’ button. You can also unfollow the same way, but if you want to see all the brands you follow and update them, there doesn’t seem to be a simple way to do so as of the date of this post. But to see the brands you follow, tap your name (on the lower right), My Likes, Brand, then My Brands. If you have items you have ‘Liked,’ they will show when you tap the brand. Then you can tap one, and tap the brand name under the photo, then ‘Unfollow.’
2. Keep your top favorites at the top.
If you’re like me, you have about a zillion favorites, so some that you’re more interested in can get buried. As of the date of this post, there’s not a way to reorder your favorites (remember when Pinterest finally added that feature?), but if you scroll back to your buried favorite, tap the heart to unfavorite it, then quickly tap it again to re-favorite, it will move to the top of your Favorites the next time you open it.
3. Sell fashion you no longer wear.
I’m great at buying, but it’s easy to sell too. It’s so nice because it gives you a credit and goes toward your next purchase. Poshmark does take about 20% though, so keep that in mind when setting your price. Your ‘trash’ is someone else’s treasure!
4. Make lower offers to those interested in your items.
You’ll get a notification when someone favorites an item from your closet. If you want to, you can help them make the purchase by sending them a lower offer. To do this, tap your name (on the lower right), My Closet, tap the item, ‘Offer/Price Drop,’ ‘Offer to Likers (private),’ and enter the amount. It has to be at least 10% below the listing price and have a shipping discount ($4.99 instead of $6.79).
5. Change your sizes as often as you need to.
My sizes vary from brand to brand. I love Lularoe but I wear a small Carly, Medium Marly, and Large Nicole. So when I’m searching for something specific, I update my size temporarily. You can change it back to your standard size when you’re done. Go to your name (lower right), and My Size.
6. Check that the seller of the item you want to buy is active.
Unfortunately, sellers can go inactive. Above the item photo is the seller’s username and a date tucked right underneath, which is the date it was posted. If it’s an old date, I like to comment on it with, “Hello! Still available?” If there’s no reply, they aren’t paying attention to their notifications, which means if you buy it, you’ll probably end up having to cancel, which you can only do after 10 days.
7. Oops…need to cancel an offer you made?
This is sort of a hidden button, but as long as the seller hasn’t accepted your offer, you can cancel it. Go to ‘View Offer’ on the item, and tap ‘Need Help?’ and ‘Cancel Offer.’
8. Use comments for communication (and keep it positive).
There’s no ‘inbox’ in the app, so to communicate on items, use comments. And if you have a question specific to an item, comment on the item, not on ‘Meet Your Posher.’ Always keep it positive too, even if there is an issue. Kindness goes a long way and things won’t go your way with negativity.
9. Include a thank you note and small gift to your buyers.
It’s easy, inexpensive, helps you get the 5-star rating, and it’s just nice! Most sellers send me a handwritten thank you note, and a tiny surprise gift. As long as you’re under the 5 lb. package limit, it’s all good. Some gifts I received were a coaster, zipper pouches, face masks, and bath salt. They are all cheap but so thoughtful.
10. Try different words when searching.
Unfortunately, not every seller knows that style of sweater is called ‘fair isle,’ and maybe they didn’t even select the color(s). Maybe they spelled ‘burgundy’ like ‘burgandy,’ or maybe they called the color ‘wine.’ Or maybe they did choose a color from the list, such as blue, but the skirt you want is navy. So try searching for ‘blue pencil skirt,’ then try ‘navy lace skirt,’ and all the combinations possible (if you really want to find it, that is!). You’re much more likely to find that treasure.
11. Follow the Poshmark blog.
I didn’t know there was a blog (The Posh Life) until I saw a notification about it in the app. At first it was about PoshFest, and then there was an interesting contest for a thank you note design. I wish I had done it! There are just some neat extras there you might find interesting, such as how to use new features and participate in giveaways.
12. Know the lingo.
HP = Host Pick (the host of a Posh Party picks favorite items to share)
NWT = New With Tags (eBay users know that one)
ISO = In Search Of (someone wants this…it’s not for sale. If you want to do this yourself, enter zero for the price and it will be marked Not For Sale. I saw a seller do this once just to say that she loves offers and there’s no such thing as a bad offer. So I made one, and she accepted!)
EUC = Excellent Used Condition
HTF = Hard To Find
I hope these 10 tips help you become a posher who knows exactly what to do! I really adore Poshmark (if you couldn’t tell already), as it has made almost all of my fashion dreams come true. It’s like my fairy godmother. I even found a necklace that my grandmother offered to buy for me a long time ago (as shown in the photo). It’s pretty incredible what you can find, and for great prices, especially if you know how to use it. Happy poshing 🙂