Poshmark Guide for Buyers: Everything You Need to Know Before Buying
I’ve been selling my pre-loved clothes, shoes, and accessories on Poshmark since May 2015. I started as primarily a seller (and still am) but have placed a few orders of my own during these past few years. I lurk often on the Poshmark subreddit and see lots of complaints from buyers, so I thought I would put together my best tips for BUYING on Poshmark as someone that primarily sells!
Below I share all of my top tips for purchasing pre-loved clothes on Poshmark as primarily a seller myself, including ways to avoid the bad/inactive sellers!
First thing’s first: If you don’t yet have a Poshmark account, you can sign up using my referral code HURRICANEKIMI and receive a credit to use on your first purchase (and I’ll earn a credit, too). You can currently earn a $10 credit. Check out my Poshmark closet!
Interested in selling on Poshmark? Read my best tips for making sales + answers to your most frequently asked questions about selling on Poshmark!
Poshmark Guide for Buyers
Top Tips for Buying Items on Poshmark
1. Read the FAQ
Before you do anything, you need to know what items are compliant and what items are not. I have seen people buy and sell noncompliant items, but remember that you will not have Poshmark protection if something goes wrong with the purchase or sale. This list is ALWAYS changing; Poshmark adds new categories fairly regularly! ALSO: As of October 2024, there is a fee for buyers making purchases on Poshmark.
2. Set your size
Be sure to set your size when you set up your account. Unfortunately, you can only pick up to 4 sizes per item type (this is annoying if you wear regular and petite or regular and tall sizing, for example) but it’s still a good starting point because when you search for items, it’ll default to your size. You can always turn this off when searching if needed.
3. Browse your favorite brands
Once you make your Poshmark account, you can follow your favorite brands! Tap on any of these brands or search by brand in the search bar to browse the most recent listings. You can also switch to “Just Shared” to see the active listings and narrow down by type of item, etc. I do recommend sticking to brands you KNOW already since clothing sizes are all over the place and it’s extra tricky when shopping secondhand online.
4. Use the search bar
This might seem like a no brainer, but I wanted to make sure to mention it because you’ll see listings show up in your home feed if you follow sellers, and often they won’t be quite what you’re looking for. I bet 90% of sales come from buyers searching for a particular item and being specific with the search filters. Keep in mind that Poshmark likes to mess with the search algorithm, so the same items might show up over and over again and there might be items showing up at the top of search from inactive closets.
5. Be thoughtful with the “like” button
When you find something you like and might want to buy, hit “like” to bookmark it! Once you hit like, often times the seller will send a private discount to try to get you to buy. It’s fine if you ignore this offer if you’re not ready to buy just yet. I just recommend not liking an item unless you’re really interested in it, and be sure to clear out your likes periodically so you don’t receive offers on items you no longer want.
Using the Poshmark like button like the Instagram like button is not useful for you or for the seller. It’s not there for “liking” cute items. If you like a seller but aren’t interested in any of their current listings, you can “like” their Meet the Posher listing or an old sold listing!
6. Ask questions before buying
Before buying, look at ALL of the photos in the listing and read the entire description. I also recommend checking out the seller’s profile for additional info; if they have a Meet the Posher listing, there could be interactions with others that will tell you if they’re a good seller or not.
If you have any questions about the item that weren’t answered (for instance, if you need specific measurements, or if you’re allergic to pets and need to confirm if something is from a pet-free home), comment on the listing and ask before buying or making an offer. Good sellers will respond to your question. If you’re ignored by an otherwise active seller, feel free to make another comment to get their attention; sometimes comments get lost in the sea of all the other notifications. If you do have allergies, be extra vigilant when shopping online!
7. Don’t buy items with only stock photos
Some sellers list NWT items with only stock photos. I advise against purchasing any item when you cannot see the actual item you’re buying. Always expect the seller to share photos they’ve taken of their items themselves, even if they are brand new.
8. Make reasonable offers!
The vast majority of sellers LOVE offers! (I do!) Things to keep in mind: If a seller writes “price firm” in their listing, they’re likely not open to offers. If a seller likes “reasonable” offers, that basically means any offer that isn’t more than ~50% off of the listed price. I would highly advise against making offers below 50% off of the price set by the seller. Some sellers will counter, and some will get upset and decline/block (the latter are not good sellers; HOWEVER, if you always offer low then don’t be surprised if this happens to you).
9. Use the bundle feature
If you are interested in more then one item in the same closet, bundle them! Often times sellers will offer an automatic discount on bundles, and you can also make an offer if you want. You can also communicate on bundles. (Note that bundle messages are not technically private even though they appear that way.)
10. Keep your payment method and shipping address up to date
As a seller, it’s always sad when an offer can’t go through because the payment method isn’t up to date. And it’s also annoying when you have to print a new label because the shipping address was wrong. Do keep in mind that sellers must use the Poshmark label!
11. Take advantage of shipping discounts
During the Closet Clear Out promo (usually 2 to 3 times a week including Sundays), shipping is discounted on all orders if the seller drops the price by at least 10%. This is a great time to buy because Poshmark pays for the discounted shipping and not the seller. If there’s an item you’re interested in buying during CCO, let the seller know that you’d buy if they dropped the price to trigger the shipping discount. Most sellers will happily do that for you! Poshmark has also been running other random hours of discounted shipping that benefits both buyers and sellers.
12. Accept orders ASAP
The seller doesn’t get paid until the order is accepted, so they love it if buyers accept their order as soon as possible (orders are auto accepted after three days). If an item arrives and is not as described, you have three days to open a case.
How to Avoid Inactive or Bad Sellers on Poshmark
One of the trickiest parts to shopping secondhand on Poshmark is navigating listings from inactive closets and avoiding purchasing from “bad” sellers.
Check to see if a seller is active before buying!
If you found an item you’re interested in, you really need to make sure the seller is still active before you buy. That is one of the top complaints I see from buyers.
You can now scroll down to the bottom of the listing and find more information about the seller, including when they were last active. If it shows a month and day without the year, that means the seller was active recently. If the last active date also includes a year, well then you know they were last active in that year. I would avoid purchasing from inactive closets, as typically the items won’t ship and your money will be tied up for over a week until you’re able to cancel the order.
You can also see when a seller was last active by going to their profile, or you can leave a comment on a listing to see if they respond. Another option is to send an offer to see if that elicits a response.
Poshmark Seller red flags
One or more listings about their “rules”
If sellers make listings about their “rules” for buyers (including charts that describe what a reasonable offer is and isn’t), I would generally stay away from those. They’re usually the ones that will get mad if you make an offer that is $1 too low.
Ignoring comments
We all miss comments every once in a while, but if there are lots of questions on an item and no responses, that’s not a good sign and likely not a seller I would buy from.
Complaints in their Meet the Posher listing
Not every seller has a Meet the Posher listing (I don’t because I started my account before that was a thing), but I do recommend checking that listing if they do have one. Often times that’s where people will go to complain about that seller. If they don’t have a MTP, you can go through old sold listings to see if there were any complaints.
Low prices on high ticket items
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. There are a number of fakes on Poshmark so make sure to do your due diligence.
Other Things to Know About Poshmark
Poshmark seller fees are high, but buyers now pay a fee, too. As of October 2024, in the U.S., Poshmark takes out $1 for items under $15, $2 for items $15-$49, and $3 for items $50 and more PLUS 5.99% of the total order amount. I believe the buyer is charged the same fee except it’s called a “Buyer Protection Fee”. (Poshmark used to take $2.95 out of every purchase below $15, and 20% of orders that are $15 or more. They also did not use to charge buyers a fee.)
The buyer pays for shipping. Unless the seller offers free shipping (which comes out of their profit), the buyer pays for shipping. It’s a flat rate of $7.97 for up to 5 lbs (as of 2024), which is an incredible deal if you’re shopping for shoes in particular, or if you’re bundling a few items.
Poshmark is required to collect sales tax if your state charges sales tax on clothing. This is a recent change by the federal government and is out of seller’s hands.
Ratings are for the SELLER, not for the item or USPS. Please don’t leave a bad rating because USPS was slow with shipping. Once the package is with USPS, it’s out of the seller’s control. Also, don’t leave a bad rating because you don’t like how the item fits (or some other reason that is out of the seller’s control).
Don’t rate below 5 stars unless absolutely necessary. You do not have to leave a rating, but do keep in mind that five-star ratings are expected unless something went really wrong. If something really wasn’t as described, open a case. Only love notes left with five-star ratings are shown on a seller’s profile. Also, don’t rate low if a seller reuses packaging or didn’t write a handwritten note. As long as you got your item as described, it’s all good!
I hope this helps! Please let me know in the comments if you have any other questions about buying on Poshmark! 🤗 As I mentioned above, a great additional resource is the Poshmark subreddit. I’ve learned so much from it! If you want to search the subreddit for anything in particular, don’t use the Reddit search because it sucks and doesn’t work. Instead, go to Google and search for your question + “site:reddit.com/r/poshmark”!
Don’t forget: If you don’t yet have an account on Poshmark, you can sign up using my referral code HURRICANEKIMI and receive a credit to use on your first purchase (and I’ll earn a credit, too). You can currently earn a $10 credit. Check out my Poshmark closet! Happy Poshing!
This post was updated in October 2024.