You find a denim jacket at a thrift store for $6. You list it on Poshmark for $30, and a week later it sells. The app shows a sale, and it feels like you made $24. You didn't. Poshmark took its cut, the buyer talked you down first, and you paid for the mailer.
This guide covers how to sell on Poshmark from your first listing to your first payout. It also shows how to write down each cost along the way, so the number you call profit is the number you kept.
How to sell on Poshmark in six steps
Selling on Poshmark is simple on purpose. There are six steps, and only one of them (pricing) takes real thought.
1. Set up your closet
Download the app or go to the website and make an account. Your shop is called a closet. Pick a username, add a photo and write a short bio. Buyers do look at this, mostly to check that a real person is on the other end.
2. Write down what you paid
Do this before you list, not after you sell. Record the item, the date, what you paid and where you got it. If you bought a bag of clothes for one price, split the cost across the pieces.
Most new sellers skip this step. This is a mistake. Three weeks from now you will not remember if the jacket was $6 or $9, and every profit number after that will be a guess.
3. Take clear photos
Use daylight and a plain background. Show the front, the back, the tag and any flaw. A photo of a stain feels like it will scare buyers off. It does the opposite, since it heads off a return case later.
4. Write the listing
Put the brand, the item type and the size in the title. In the description, give measurements, the fabric and the condition in plain words. Buyers search by brand and size, so those words matter more than a clever line.
5. Price it with room to come down
If you're weighing consignment against listing it yourself, compare ThredUp payout vs selling it yourself before choosing where the item belongs.
Buyers on Poshmark expect to make offers. If you list at the lowest price you can live with, the first offer puts you under it. The pricing section below shows how to find a list price and a floor.
6. Ship it and get paid
Before offering a discount, check who pays shipping on Poshmark and how Poshmark shipping costs affect your payout.
When the item sells, Poshmark sends you a prepaid shipping label. Pack the item, attach the label and drop it off. Use your own plain packaging, since the label is for USPS Ground Advantage and Priority Mail boxes are not allowed with it.
Your money is released when the buyer accepts the order. If the buyer does nothing, Poshmark releases it three days after delivery.
How much does Poshmark take?
Use the Poshmark fee calculator to check your accepted price, seller-funded shipping and costs against the fee structure below.
Poshmark has one seller fee, and it depends on the sale price:
| Sale price | Poshmark fee | What you keep |
|---|---|---|
| Under $15 | $2.95 flat | Sale price minus $2.95 |
| $15 or more | 20% | 80% of the sale price |
There is no listing fee and no separate payment fee. The fee is based on the final sale price, so an accepted offer lowers the fee along with your payout.
Watch the flat fee on cheap items. It takes a bigger share than 20%.
| Sale price | Fee | Fee as a share of the sale | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $2.95 | 29.5% | $7.05 |
| $12 | $2.95 | 24.6% | $9.05 |
| $14 | $2.95 | 21.1% | $11.05 |
| $15 | $3.00 | 20.0% | $12.00 |
Why is the fee this high? Poshmark handles the payment, the label and the buyer's claim if something goes wrong. That is what the 20% buys. Whether it's worth it depends on what you sell, and our guide to eBay vs Poshmark fees runs the same item through both.
Fees can change. Check Poshmark's own fee page before you count on these numbers.
What offers and shipping discounts cost you
The buyer pays a flat $6.49 for shipping on orders up to 5 pounds. You pay nothing for the label unless the package is heavier than that, or unless you offer a shipping discount. A shipping discount comes straight out of your earnings.
Poshmark also lets you send a private offer to anyone who liked your listing. The offer has to be at least 10% below your list price. The app will nudge you to send these, and it's worth asking why. Offers move items, and Poshmark earns its fee on every sale whether you made money or not. That's fine when the lower price still clears your costs. When it doesn't, that is your problem, not Poshmark's.
Here is the jacket from the top of this post, sold three ways.
You paid $6.00 for the jacket and $0.75 for a mailer. Your total cost is $6.75.
| Full price | Offer to likers | Buyer's low offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $30.00 | $27.00 | $22.00 |
| Poshmark fee (20%) | $6.00 | $5.40 | $4.40 |
| Shipping discount you pay | $0.00 | $1.50 | $0.00 |
| Payout | $24.00 | $20.10 | $17.60 |
| Your costs | $6.75 | $6.75 | $6.75 |
| Profit | $17.25 | $13.35 | $10.85 |
| Profit margin | 57.5% | 49.4% | 49.3% |
The offer to likers is 10% off, plus a shipping discount that lowers the buyer's shipping from $6.49 to $4.99. That $1.50 comes from you.
Look at the last column. The price fell from $30 to $22, which is a drop of about 27%. Your profit fell from $17.25 to $10.85, which is a drop of about 37%. Your costs didn't shrink when the price did, so each dollar of discount takes a bigger bite of what's left.
Set your floor before the first offer comes in
An offer shows up on your phone, and you have a short window to say yes, no or counter. That is a bad time to do math. Work out your lowest price when you list.
Pick a profit margin you want to hold. Then use this:
Lowest price = total cost ÷ (0.80 − margin goal)
For the jacket with a 50% goal: $6.75 ÷ (0.80 − 0.50) = $22.50. An offer of $22 is just under your floor. You can counter at $23 and still hit your goal.
This formula works for sales of $15 or more with no shipping discount. If you plan to discount shipping, add that amount to your total cost first. For more on picking a goal, see profit margin vs ROI.
You know your list price is too low when a single 10% offer puts you under your floor.
Free calculators to check your numbers
Run your price through Upcyclist's Poshmark calculator linked above before you list. Enter your accepted price, item cost, seller-funded shipping and supplies to estimate profit.
Thinking about listing the same item on eBay? The eBay fee calculator estimates supported US fees and profit with your category, shipping and cost assumptions, so you can compare the same item.
Track your profit after every sale
A sale isn't finished when the money lands. It's finished when you've written down what happened. For each sale, record five things:
- The final sale price (after any offer).
- The Poshmark fee.
- Any shipping discount or label upgrade you paid for.
- Your supplies (mailer, tape, tissue).
- What you paid for the item.
Payout minus supplies minus item cost is your profit. The app shows your payout, and it's easy to treat that as profit. It isn't, since Poshmark doesn't know what you paid at the thrift store.
A notebook or a spreadsheet works for this. Our guide on how to track reseller inventory and profit shows a simple layout.
FAQ
How do I start selling on Poshmark with no followers?
List a few items anyway. Buyers find listings through search, so a clear title with the brand and size does more than a follower count. Share your listings and add new ones often, since both keep your closet active.
Who pays shipping on Poshmark?
The buyer pays a flat $6.49 for orders up to 5 pounds. You pay only if the package is over the weight limit or if you offer a shipping discount.
For a breakdown of Poshmark shipping costs, see the shipping guide linked in “Ship it and get paid” above.
How do I sell more on Poshmark?
There's no trick that works for every closet. Better photos, exact sizes and fair prices do most of the work. Offers to likers can help too, as long as the offer price stays above your floor.
Upcyclist lets you record each purchase and sale by hand, so your profit includes what you paid and what the fees took. Set a Margin Goal (50% by default) and Upcyclist suggests a listing price of cost ÷ (1 − goal). That suggestion doesn't include marketplace fees, so check it against a fee calculator. The Inventory Planner reads your past sales and shows how many of an item you've sold, your average selling price and a suggested buy price (40% of that average) for your next sourcing trip.
What's next
Shipping looks simple on Poshmark until a heavy pair of boots or a free-shipping offer changes your payout. Our next guide covers Poshmark shipping costs, who pays in each case and how your profit changes when you pick up part of the bill.
