It happens. You’re now looking to get rid of your luxury item after going back and forth about whether or not you should keep it. But so many luxury consignment shops online tend to charge crazy high commissions–up to 55%, leaving you with very little. And you definitely don’t want to get scammed selling yourself online. So what’s your option? If you need to sell luxury items, consider selling them on Poshmark. We’ll tell you why.
In this post, we will go over what you need to know about selling luxury items on Poshmark. We will go over the fees, what you can expect from the authentication process, and how long it takes to get paid. You will find this option to be more hassle-free than you thought so let’s get started!
Why You Should Sell Luxury Items On Poshmark
Before we get started, let’s go over why you should even consider selling on Poshmark.
Lower Commission
The first and most formidable reason to sell luxury items with Poshmark is the fee. At 20% commission, selling on Poshmark will leave you with a higher payout than any consignment store in person or online out there. You will get to keep 80% of what your item sells for!
Unless you are a frequent consignor at one of those online consignment shops, your total earnings from the sale will nowhere be at 80%. For example, we recently consigned a designer dress through the Realreal and their commission was 45%. commission. So that means we only received 55% of what the item sold for.
You Get To Decide The Price
Another reason to sell luxury items yourself, regardless of where you sell them is that you are in control of the sales price. Online consignment stores try to sell items as fast as they can. In order to do so, they may run promotions and discounts after a certain timeframe to get the item to sell. But that discount for the customer means again, less money for you.
With Poshmark, you’re in control of how much your luxury item sells for. You can choose to give a discount and how much discount to give. If you’re not in a rush to have your item sold, waiting a few days, weeks, or months for a better selling price could mean a lot of money.
Faster Pay Out
Many consignment stores have a waiting period before they pay you for your item. For example, we had to wait until the 15th of the month for a payout from the Realreal for the dress we sold with them. This is because Realreal allows a return for the item so the return window must pass for the customer before they pay you your share.
With Poshmark, you can get your payout within three days. And the best part? Sales on Poshmark are final. So once your buyer receives the item, they only have three days to report a problem. A problem would be if your item is not as pictured or as described.
That means the item has more damage like knicks, scratches, or other flaws that were not originally disclosed. That is why it is crucial to be transparent about anything that would be wrong. Otherwise, the buyer cannot return the item simply due to a change of mind like they can on other platforms.
You do have to put in a little work yourself by listing and pricing the items. And of course, once the item sells, you will have to pack and ship it. But don’t worry, it’s really easy to do. We will go over the whole process a little bit later.
Websites like Realreal, Yoogi’s closet, Fashionphile, and others offer a much more hands-off approach. They will authenticate, list, price, and ship the item for you. But that comes at a much higher commission, meaning less money for you.
What About Authentication?
The rule of thumb with Poshmark is that any item that is sold for more than $500 will automatically be first sent to Poshmark headquarters. This is where Poshmark authenticate will verify whether a designer item is authentic. Once they have verified that the item is authentic in the listed condition, it will be sent to the buyer.
This is great news for both the seller and the buyer. Why? Because the buyer has peace of mind that they are buying an authentic item. Meanwhile, the seller can feel confident that the item will not be returned once Poshmark inspects and ships the item to the buyer. It is extremely unlikely for the buyer to come back and report that the item is fake after Poshmark authenticates it to be real.
Large Active User Base
Another reason to sell luxury items on Poshmark is the amount of reach you can get. As of September 2019, Poshmark has over 50 million users across the platform. In comparison, platforms like the Realreal have 9 million users as of September 2018.
And while eBay has a much higher user base, Poshmark and other smaller platforms like Mercari and Depop are geared toward lower-priced fashion items. Poshmark listings can also be found when a buyer is looking for a particular item on Google. They can then go on the post and purchase the listing without having to join Poshmark as a guest user.
Poshmark allows people to do this by assigning them a temporary username with letters and numbers. They then have the option to create an account after. This means that your potential buyer base extends to Google search, which increases your chance of selling.
How Does Selling Luxury Items On Poshmark Work?
Listing Your Luxury Item(s)
The first step is to list. If you’re new to Poshmark, we go over how to list on this post here. We also go over all the basics you need to know about Poshmark. Otherwise, like with all other Poshmark listings, you will need to take clear pictures in a well-lit room.
Include pictures of all angles, brand tags, and or serial codes. Whatever you think a buyer would want to see. Make sure to disclose every imperfection. You would want someone else to do the same if you were to buy something as expensive. Also, check out other tips for how to get the most money here.
Shipping Once Your Item(s) Sells
Once a buyer purchases your item, you will get a notification the same way that you do with other listings. Normally, when someone buys an item on Poshmark, the shipping label will have the buyer’s information and address. However, when an item sells for more than $500, the shipping label is posted to Poshmark’s headquarters.
You can use any box, including a USPS box, as long as it doesn’t say “Express” on it. Grab one for free from any of your local post offices. Pack the item really well with padding to prevent movement. Use proper packaging like tissue paper or bubble wrap so that the item does not move around during transport. Make sure to include everything you posted in the pictures.
Some people may go as far as to record themselves packing, taking the item to the post office, and handing the package to the postal worker with a scanned receipt. For such expensive items, you can never be too safe.
Once it arrives at Poshmark’s headquarters, it takes about 2 business days for them to authenticate the item. Poshmark will notify you saying it has been approved by Posh Authenticate.
They then re-package the item and send it off to the buyer. This process does take longer than selling items under $500 because the package has to travel from you to Poshmark’s headquarter to the buyer.
Getting Paid
You may also have to wait additional 3 days for the payment to be released if the buyer does not actively receive the item. This is normal with all Poshmark sales. If the buyer doesn’t actively accept the item, your payment will be automatically released to you after three full days.
The only other delay is in between all the transportation. For example, if your buyer lives on the east coast, keep in mind that Poshmark’s headquarter is in California. If that is the case, it can take 10 days to two weeks from the day that you sell, ship, and have your funds released, given that there are no other problems.
Should I Sell Luxury Items Under $500?
If your item is below $500, it will not automatically go to Poshmark’s headquarters for authentication. It will directly go to the customer like any other order. In this case, it is a risk on both the seller’s and buyer’s sides that the item is authentic and as described.
That doesn’t mean you should never sell luxury items on Poshmark that are below the $500 threshold. You just have to keep in mind that Poshmark will not authenticate the item for the buyer. We personally have sold luxury items below $500 without any issues.
With any online transaction, there is a considerable amount of risk on any platform. Be aware of possible scams out there. Communicate with your buyers and answer all questions.