What I learned from my first few sales on Poshmark and Mercari

What to avoid and what to do when you sell on Poshmark and Mercari.

When we moved, we realized that we had a whole lot more stuff than we realized. For over a year all of this stuff had just been hanging out in our basement and now it was going from one basement to another. It was time to let things go. After getting nowhere on Facebook marketplace, I turned to Poshmark and Mercari to sell off some of our extra items.

I have been selling on these platforms for just over a month now and have learned a few tips and tricks I wanted to pass along.

Pictures Matter

For my first listing, I threw a shirt on the back of my bathroom door, snapped a photo, and listed it. I QUICKLY realized that this didn’t look the best, and I might as well use my photography skills to level up my listing.

Bright photos, a light-colored background, and good details are what you want when it comes to listing photos. Use a well-lit area next to a window for the best light (or you can always add a ring light for a bit of extra lighting).

I add a command hook to the wall for my photos and so far it is working out great.

One last note on photos, sometimes items look best on the floor. However, just throwing an item on the floor is not a flat lay! Style it up a bit to add something extra to your photos.

Watch the shipping

Poshmark makes shipping so easy! Grab any box, throw the label on it, and ship away. The only exception is when the item or bundle is more than 5lbs, then you have to upgrade. You also can’t ship anything more than 10lbs on Poshmark.

Mercari is a little more complicated though. They will give you an “estimated” shipping rate when creating your listing. It is easy to go with that rate, but be careful because it is not always right. One item I listed it gave an estimated charge of $5 for shipping, but shipping was $11. So it is a good idea to measure your boxes and weigh items before listing on Mercari.

Activity Counts

Poshmark is not just a list it and forget it app. They reward activity, so plan to share your closet at least once a day (and ideally 3-4 times per day). Plan to spend about 30-60 minutes on the app a day. Share your closet, send OTL (offers to likers), and list and relist items.

Mercari is a lot more laid back. Basically list and wait for it to sell. If an item doesn’t sell in about 30 days though, I will either drop the price or relist it. For Mercari, when you relist, change up the description a bit though, add keywords and phrases.

How you list matters

On top of taking good photos, a good listing matters too! A good listing will include
-Item Description
-Item Sizing with measurements
-Description of all flaws

Not only will a good listing help your item be found, it will also save you from returns!

My First Listing:

• Not the best photo
• No measurements
• Weak description

A more recent listing:

• Multiple good photos
• Descriptive title with SEO words
• A descriptive caption with sizes and keywords

Don’t Settle

When I first started selling, if an item didn’t sell in a week I would instantly lower the price and send our crazy offers just to get it gone. However, after more research, I realized that items can take up to 90 days to sell. So, while you should price reasonably and within the market value–don’t rush to lower prices because it takes a bit of time to sell. You always have the option to relist items as well.

Also, take fees into account! Poshmark takes 20%, plus whatever shipping discount you offered.

Mercari takes 10% selling fee, 2.5% + $.30 processing fee, plus whatever shipping discount you offered. Mercari’s fee works out to be roughly 13%.

So there you have it! Just a little bit of what I learned from my first month selling on Poshmark and Mercari!

Feel free to visit my poshmark closet HERE

Or follow along on instagram HERE