6 Tips for Successfully Using Poshmark to Downsize

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Happy Monday! (is that even a thing?)

Even as a stay-at-home mom, Monday’s hurt. I think the kids feel the change of D going back to work for the week after a couple of days at home. It’s our adjustment day for sure and I find it easier to not try to take on a whole lot and ease into the week.

As usual, our weekend involved some sort of purging. I feel like every time I look in the kids’ drawers and closet they have outgrown something new.

I know – from all my researching – that it is important to get those things out of the house as quickly as possible, but sometimes that is hard, especially when it is something new or pricey.

When you begin or are in the process of clearing out things from your closet – you can often be faced with the issue of getting rid of that little black dress that still has the tags on it, that pricey boutique outfit you needed for your 3 month old or those jeans with the rhinestones that you spent far too much on and wore once before realizing they just weren’t for you.

As much as I love to donate and see things go to someone who can truly use it – I wouldn’t mind trying to get a little bit of that spent money back.

Much of what you read when it comes to decluttering will tell you to just call it a lesson. The money is already spent and you now know to think things through a little bit better before you make another purchase.

Agreed. But, I also believe it can be worth it to see if someone out there is willing to pay for it.

Poshmark is a fantastic tool for downsizing as well as earning a little bit of income on the side.

I was skeptical of using the Poshmark app at first – saw a ton of ads for it but never felt like I had much that would be worth selling.

The big concern with trying to sell things when you’re downsizing is that those items will not sell right away and may find their way back into your closet. Also, the pile of things may sit, taking up just as much space and remaining a burden on your goal of a  simplified life.

Another concern with Poshmark in particular is – you may be tempted to shop for things you don’t need. This is especially an issue if you are on a tight budget and are trying to use this side hustle to pay down debts.

I follow a few simple rules to ensure that I am getting the maximum benefit from this useful app while avoiding some of those drawbacks.

This is not a sponsored post – its 100% my own opinion. I did include my referral link throughout and my code at the end of the post if you want to add $5 to your Poshmark account, though!

6 tips for successfully using poshmark

1. Be sure to keep a full Posh Closet

Many shoppers on Poshmark prefer to “bundle” items – bundling means they can buy several items from one closet and pay the same shipping cost as they would for one item.

Buyers foot the cost for shipping (which is great for the seller – Posh does take fees of 20% from your sale but often those will be lower than the cost to ship) so bundling ensures they are getting the best deal possible. If you only have a couple of listings in your closet a buyer may look for the same item in another closet that has more items to bundle.

2. Grow your Poshmark following by following others

Poshmark is similar to social media in that you can “follow” other Poshers. A lot of followers will often follow back. Many will also look for similar closet and follow their followers in hopes to get some follow backs – so if you’re on someones follow list, expect to gain some followers looking for a followback. If you’ve spent any time trying to grow an Instagram following you are familiar with this process.

I have also found that following many Poshers reduces the likelihood that something will catch my eye on my feed and I will be tempted to spend. When I followed just a small number of accounts that sold brands I like I would often see an item pop up on my feed that I didn’t need, but it was a great deal. By growing the number of closets I follow, I see lots of items worth sharing – but seldom something I feel the urge to buy.

I have found it particularly helpful to follow users who shop the brands that I have listed in my closet. By using the Shop feature you can find People by clicking All People > My Brands.

3. Share Poshmark listings from other users as well as your own

The Poshmark community relies on and values sharing items from others’ closets. When you share an item from another Posher’s closet it will show up on your followers feeds as well as on your profile under “Shares”. Many times users will return the favor by sharing one or more of your items with their followers – which is a great way to get more exposure for your closet and gain more followers!

It is also important to share your items frequently. As I said before, when you share an item it will show on your followers’ feeds. If you want items to sell it is important to keep the visible. Just as something I need or love will call to me if I see it on my feed – the same goes for other Poshers! Share everyday, every other day, multiple times in one day – whatever works for you and whatever you have time for. I do my sharing once the kids go to bed.

4. Price your items to sell

Yes, it hurts to list those $175 jeans for $15, but doing so will ensure that they are more likely to sell fast and not find their way back into your closet out of guilt. Someone else will be so happy to get a great deal and give them the love they deserve. Plus, the $12 you will earn for the sale (Posh takes 20%) is more than the $0 you had with them sitting in your closet for the past 3 years.

You may find others listing the same items for more. Sure, you can try to make more. You can even turn Poshmark into a job – there are a lot of people out there who have done it! But that is not my goal and not the focus of this particular article – our goal here is to get the unused items out of our way and into a new, loving home. Let it go.

5. Make packaging and shipping an easy task

Not only will this earn you a great seller rating on Poshmark, it will keep you from getting discouraged from selling items. Poshmark uses USPS Priority for shipping – which is great news because you can easily order packing supplies FOR FREE from www.usps.com and have them delivered right to your door. You can also enter any post office and find a kiosk with all sizes of priority mailers for you to choose from and they are 100% free. I use the soft, Tyvek mailing envelopes for most things but there are also boxes of all sizes – including shoe boxes! Posh does allow you to use “Flat Rate” and “Regional Rate” boxes as well – just make sure it doesn’t say “Express Mail”.

A few other items that are helpful to have on hand are:

A printer – this is actually a must have unless you have somewhere you go to print things easily. The labels are emailed to you and, if you have a wireless printer can be printed straight from your phone.

Label Pockets – if you don’t have a label printer (which I don’t) I found these self-stick pockets super easy for labelling my packages – which saved me on tape. You can get 100 for under $9.

Tissue paper and thank you notes – Poshers love to get items that are nicely wrapped and have a little note – it will greatly help your seller ratings if you take an extra couple of minutes to wrap everything and say thanks!

When all is wrapped and ready to go you can simply leave the package at your door or mailbox and schedule a pickup! Check www.usps.com to see if package pickup is available for you. Once you get the email that you’ve made a sale, hop on and schedule a pickup – since it will have to be scheduled the day before – and you don’t even have to set foot in the PO/forget for a few days that you have a package in your backseat that needs to be dropped off.

6. Set a time limit

Probably the most important rule as it pertains to downsizing – set a time limit for how long you will keep an item listed. If it has not sold in a month – it is time to let it go. Or maybe less, or more. It all depends on your goals and your value on an item. But definitely set a time constraint and stick to it. If it has not sold by that time then it is time to donate it and at least you can feel like you tried to get something for it. Just know, that by donating it will likely find a happy home and bring someone else joy!

If you’re not already on Poshmark, you can sign up on Poshmark.com or download the app and use the code CHRISTYLGRACE to automatically have $5 credited to your account. If you make a purchase I will also receive $5, but if you don’t – you still get $5 so its a win-win in my book!

That also means when you sign up you’ll be given a code to share with your friends so you can earn the same!

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