For the past two years, I’ve been on a mission to find a good side hustle. Not trying to make thousands here, just sometimes you need a little extra cash. I’ve tried Ibotta, Ebates, selling books on Amazon, Swagbucks, and once even attempted to walk dogs on Wag. None of those have ever been particularly fruitful for me, except for selling on Poshmark.
I am a huge fan of Poshmark. My little side hustle on Poshmark actually funded all my start up costs for this blog. My earnings on there also paid for a few aspects of my wedding, and can also be blamed for getting me to Starbucks Gold status. Poshmark also helps me rotate my closet whenever I please! While selling on Poshmark isn’t for everyone, if you love to thrift or have a lot of extra clothes, it might be perfect for you.
I first learned about reselling from my mom. My mom is an amazing steward of finances and has been good at reselling for like ever. Before Amazon she would resell at consignment stores and book resale shops. And as soon as Amazon was a thing she became proficient at reselling books. Together, we’d often haul in bags of my clothes to Buffalo Exchange. If you’re not familiar, Buffalo Exchange is a resale store where you bring in bags of clothes and they pick like two items that they’ll pay you not a lot for because they still need to make a profit too.
A little over a year ago, my BFF introduced me to Poshmark. I was tired of dragging stuff to Buffalo Exchange and getting very little for the few items they would take. With Poshmark, all I have to do is snap a few photos and write a short description. My pictures were HORRIBLE when I started. But my prices were super low because I was used to not getting a lot at resale stores, and I just wanted to make a little bit of extra money for coffee. I made my first sale within a week and I felt like Poshmark was the best thing ever.
The catch with Poshmark is designer brands are the only ones that seem to do well. While some people do sell items from Forever 21 or JC Penney’s, it has never worked for me. I’ve successfully sold ONE non-name brand item in the last year. You’re also going to need to adjust your expectations about what the items you’re selling are worth. The thing about reselling clothes is that clothes do not hold value at all. I always hear how cars depreciate in value the second you drive them off the lot. Similarly, clothes depreciate in value the second you take the tag off.
As of now I’ve been thrifting about 85% of my clothes for the last three years. And when I thrift, I pretty much only look for name brands because I know that when I get tired of it I can probably sell it. Fair warning: thrifting ruins you for shopping. It can also make you a little snobby. I don’t want to pay for Wal Mart clothes at Salvation Army when I can buy the same thing new for just a few dollars more. Conversely, if I can get a much better quality brand at a thrift store, I’m going to go with that option.
When I started out I primarily sold items from my closet that I was planning to donate anyway. This was particularly effective when I was getting ready to move across the US. After a while, I started thrifting, wearing things a few times, and then selling when I wanted the extra cash. This is a great way to carry a fancy purse for a few months!
Over the past year, I’ve resold items from Jessica Simpson, Under Armor, Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret (a lot of VS), Miss Me, Michael Kors, Dooney & Bourke, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Sperry’s, CAbi, Nike, Lucky Brand, Fossil, Steve Madden, Coach, North Face, and Lily Pulitzer. Some of those have done much better for me than others, and it’s not always what you’d expect.
Only recently have I started buying items that are not my size or personal style and attempting to flip them. It feels so risky because obviously they might not sell and I’m stuck with it! Because of this, I’m still pretty cautious. Recently I took a chance on some LuLaRoe–which is not my personal style at all. But, I follow some resellers that sell tons of LuLaRoe successfully. Two months later I’m still sitting on those pieces and may end up donating them. Reselling requires a lot of trial and error, but if you can find your niche it can be wildly profitable.
Four Things that Have Helped Me Make More Money:
- Take great photos with natural light. This is the most challenging part for me, but it’s the most important.
- Price reasonably and fair. When you search an item on Poshmark, if you slide the header all the way to the right you can change your search from “Available” to “Sold.” That gives you an idea of what other people have successfully sold.
- Share your items whenever you have time. I’m not religious about this, but I try to share my listings at least once a day. It only takes a few minutes and it moves your items to the top of the search results.
- Ship quickly when you sell. I print my labels at Staples and usually package in my car outside the post office. According to Poshmark you’re supposed to wrap and write a thank you note–I throw some cute tissue paper in when I have it. I used to write thank you notes, but I’ve given up on that, and no one’s ever complained.
A few women I follow on Instagram sell on Poshmark (& Ebay) for a living which I find super impressive. My favorites are @thedealqueen & @oscilatey. The Deal Queen recently started a blog and her first posts have great info on reselling if you want to learn more.
If you have clothes you need to get rid of, I definitely recommend trying out selling on Poshmark!
