Three people have liked the sweater you listed for $28. Poshmark shows you a button to send them all an offer, and the offer screen has a spot for a shipping discount. One of the choices is free shipping. It sounds like a small favor to the buyer. You tap it, the sweater sells that night, and the payout is about $6 less than you expected.
So who pays shipping on Poshmark? Most of the time the buyer does. This post covers the times it lands on you, and what each one does to your profit.
Who pays shipping on Poshmark?
The buyer pays. Poshmark adds a flat $6.49 to the buyer's total at checkout for any order up to 5 pounds. You get a prepaid USPS label by email. You print it, pack the item and drop it off.
That $6.49 never touches your earnings. It goes from the buyer to Poshmark, and Poshmark pays for the label. Your seller fee is based on the sale price alone, so the shipping charge doesn't raise it.
There are two ways the cost moves to you.
- You offer a shipping discount. Poshmark takes the amount of the discount out of your earnings.
- Your package weighs more than 5 pounds. You pay for a bigger label.
Here is the full picture.
| Situation | Buyer pays | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| Standard order, up to 5 lb | $6.49 | $0.00 |
| You discount shipping to $4.99 | $4.99 | $1.50 |
| You offer free shipping | $0.00 | $6.49 |
| Package is 5.01 to 10 lb | $6.49 | $5.00 |
| Package is 10.01 to 15 lb | $6.49 | $10.00 |
The discount choices in the app can change, so treat the $4.99 row as an example. Rates change too. Check Poshmark's shipping page before you count on these numbers.
What a shipping discount costs you
A shipping discount is your money. Poshmark doesn't chip in, and it doesn't lower your seller fee to make up for it. You still pay 20% on the sale price (or $2.95 flat on sales under $15), and then the discount comes off the top of what's left.
It's worth asking why the offer screen puts a shipping discount in front of you at all. Discounts close sales, and Poshmark earns its fee on every sale whether you made money or not. That's fine when the lower payout still clears your costs. When it doesn't, that is your problem, not Poshmark's.
Here is the sweater from the top of this post. You send an offer of $25, which meets Poshmark's rule that an offer to likers be at least 10% below your list price.
You paid $7.00 for the sweater and $0.50 for a mailer. Your total cost is $7.50.
| No discount | $4.99 shipping | Free shipping | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $25.00 | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| Poshmark fee (20%) | $5.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 |
| Shipping discount you pay | $0.00 | $1.50 | $6.49 |
| Payout | $20.00 | $18.50 | $13.51 |
| Your costs | $7.50 | $7.50 | $7.50 |
| Profit | $12.50 | $11.00 | $6.01 |
| Profit margin | 50.0% | 44.0% | 24.0% |
Same sweater, same sale price. Free shipping cut the profit by more than half.
The $1.50 discount is a small cost. You give up $1.50 of a $12.50 profit, and a lower shipping price may be what gets a liker to buy. Free shipping is a different size of decision. You handed over $6.49 on an item that only had $12.50 of profit in it.
Free shipping costs more than a price drop
Say you want the buyer to pay $25.00 in total. There are two ways to get there.
First, you can keep the price at $25.00 and offer free shipping. The buyer pays $25.00. Poshmark takes $5.00, then takes $6.49 for the label. Your payout is $13.51.
Second, you can drop the price by $6.49 and leave shipping alone. The price is now $18.51. The buyer pays $18.51 plus $6.49 shipping, which is the same $25.00. Poshmark's fee is 20% of $18.51, or $3.70. Your payout is $14.81.
The buyer spent the same amount both times. You kept $1.30 more with the price drop. The reason is the fee. With free shipping, you pay 20% on the full $25.00. With a price drop, you only pay 20% on $18.51.
Free shipping is the expensive way to discount.
There is one honest case for it. Some buyers respond to the words "free shipping" more than to a lower price. If that turns a stale item into a sale, the extra $1.30 may be worth it. Just know what you're paying for.
When the package is over 5 pounds
The standard label covers 5 pounds. Above that, you have to upgrade the label in the app, and the upgrade fee comes out of your earnings.
| Package weight | Label upgrade you pay |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 lb | $0.00 |
| 5.01 to 10 lb | $5.00 |
| 10.01 to 15 lb | $10.00 |
One label tops out at 15 pounds. An order heavier than that needs a second label, which you also pay for.
Picture a pair of work boots that sells for $45. In the box, they weigh 6 pounds. Poshmark's fee is $9.00, and the label upgrade is $5.00. Your payout is $31.00, not the $36.00 you'd get on a lighter item at the same price.
Bundles are where this sneaks up on people. A buyer who bundles several items pays one $6.49 charge for the whole order, which is a big reason bundles sell. But three pairs of jeans in one box can cross 5 pounds, and then the $5.00 is yours.
Do not ship a heavy box on the standard label and hope. Poshmark warns that a wrong label can lead to extra postage charges taken from your earnings. Weigh heavy items when you list them, with the box. A cheap kitchen or luggage scale is enough.
You know you forgot about weight when a bundle sale pays out less than you'd have made selling the items one at a time.
Set your floor with shipping included
The time to decide on a shipping discount is when you list, not when an offer is sitting on your phone. Use this to find your lowest price:
Lowest price = (total cost + shipping cost you pay) ÷ (0.80 − margin goal)
"Shipping cost you pay" is any discount you plan to give, plus any label upgrade. The formula works for sales of $15 or more.
Take the sweater again, with a 40% margin goal.
- With $4.99 shipping: ($7.50 + $1.50) ÷ 0.40 = $22.50. Your $25 offer clears it.
- With free shipping: ($7.50 + $6.49) ÷ 0.40 = $34.98. That is higher than your $28 list price.
The second line tells you something useful. Free shipping doesn't fit this sweater at this goal, at any offer price. For more on choosing a goal, see profit margin vs ROI.
To check what you would keep, use Upcyclist's US Poshmark fee and profit calculator. Enter your accepted sale price, acquisition cost, seller-funded shipping discount or label upgrade, and other direct costs to estimate profit. Enter only the shipping amount you pay, not the buyer's shipping charge. The calculator does not look up live shipping rates or discount eligibility.
Shipping collected vs. shipping paid
These are two different numbers, and mixing them up will make your records wrong.
Shipping collected is what the buyer was charged. Shipping paid is what came out of your pocket. On Poshmark, the buyer's $6.49 goes to Poshmark and never shows up in your payout. So your shipping collected is $0. Do not add $6.49 to your sales total.
Your shipping paid on Poshmark has three parts:
- Any shipping discount you gave.
- Any label upgrade for a heavy package.
- Your supplies (mailer, box, tape).
Write those down for every sale, next to the sale price and the fee. Our guide on how to track reseller inventory and profit shows a simple layout.
This works differently on eBay. There, the buyer's shipping payment is part of what you're paid, eBay charges its fee on the total with shipping included, and you buy the label yourself. If you sell on both sites, keep the two set up differently in your records. Our post on eBay vs Poshmark fees runs one item through each.
Use Upcyclist's US eBay fee and profit calculator to estimate the eBay side. Enter the buyer-paid shipping separately from the postage you pay, along with the item price, acquisition cost and other applicable costs. Choose the supported category and fee settings for your sale; this is an estimate, not a shipping quote or a guaranteed payout.
FAQ
Does Poshmark pay for shipping?
Not as a rule. The buyer pays the flat rate, or you cover part of it with a discount. Poshmark has run sale events where it covers a shipping discount for likers when you drop a price. The terms of those events change, so read the event details in the app before you plan around one.
What is the Poshmark shipping cost for a bundle?
A bundle ships for one $6.49 charge as long as the whole order is 5 pounds or less. If it's heavier, the buyer still pays $6.49, and you pay the label upgrade.
Can I use any box for Poshmark shipping?
Mostly, yes. Poshmark labels ship by USPS Ground Advantage, so do not use Priority Mail boxes. Your own plain box or mailer is fine. Poshmark also lets sellers order free Ground Advantage supplies. New to the site? Our guide on how to sell on Poshmark walks through a first sale.
Upcyclist's Margin Goal turns an item's unit cost into a suggested listing price, using unit cost ÷ (1 − your goal). The Inventory Planner shows the average selling price of items you've sold before. Neither one subtracts Poshmark's fee or a shipping discount, so use them to set your list price, and use the floor formula above before you send an offer.
Shipping on Poshmark is simple because someone else set the price. Buying online to resell is a different story, since you pay to get the item to your door before you ever list it. The next post looks at online arbitrage, and how to check the margin before you click buy.
