Something you will hear me mention a lot is the importance of diversifying. Poshmark will always (I hope!) be my one true love, but there are ebbs and flows in reselling, and to ensure a consistent income, I find it is vital to sell on more than one platform.
In this post I am going to review my top 5 reselling platforms, why I love them, why I hate them, and explain their fees so that you too can diversify where you sell.
This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase from my link, I may make a small commission at no cost to you.
1.POSHMARK
No surprise here! I have been selling on Poshmark since 2017 and have enjoyed the social aspect of the platform since day one. You can build real connections with buyers and other sellers, online and in-person at a live “Posh & Sip” event. Poshmark has given me the ability to build a real business buying and selling new and pre-owned fashion and keeping tons of textiles out of landfills!
Pros: no customer returns with the exception of items not as described, flat shipping fee for the customer up to 5 lbs, growing categories (hello, Poshmark Home!), it’s FUN!
Cons: constant sharing of items is required to bring them to the top of the search, time commitment to remain active on the app.
Fees: flat 20%
2.ETSY
I opened my Etsy shop in 2019 to support the growth of my vintage & antique consignment business. I sold on Etsy a few years ago as well, but that’s a story for another day! Etsy has all of the independence of a private e-commerce website, but with the tools, marketing and existing customers of an international e-commerce giant.
Pros: rather easy listing, seamless customer communication options, brings a great level of professionalism to your business, marketing and advertising tools, reporting functionalities including compatibility with quickbooks, a fantastic dashboard of your shops statistics including daily views and SEO information, free and premium store subscriptions.
Cons: pay per listing ($0.20 for 3 months), mind-boggling shipping that is not for the faint of heart, getting a store running requires some setup and may be too complex for some.
Fees: $0.20 per listing, 5% transaction fee, 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee
3.THRED UP
*As of 2019, the Thred Up Luxe program was discontinued.
(Specifically, Luxe), I started selling with Thred Up Luxe in October of 2018. I made a personal goal to send one box per month as I learn what works and what doesn’t work best on this platform. The process is simple; you request a Luxe shipping label directly on their website which you will receive via snail-mail in 1-2 weeks, you pack any box with no required weight minimum and affix the provided label, ship via USPS or Fedex, wait for the team at the warehouse to process your box, and then you wait for the sales to roll-in.
What I want to emphasize is the amount of time between each step. The box will ship via USPS smart post (service shared by the USPS and Fedex).Shipping can take anywhere from 1 week to 5 weeks depending on the mail carrier and which warehouse your label is addressed to PRO TIP: Drop the box off at your closest Fedex store for quicker shipping! Once the box is under processing it can take up to 1 week, you have 1 day (24 hours to be precise) to adjust pricing, and then the item is live for 84 days. In the case that the item does not sell after 84 days, you can request it back again via Smart Post at your cost (typically 2 weeks shipping). That means from beginning to end your item can be out of your hands for 20 weeks and still not sell! It’s risky for any business to have inventory (money!) tied up for 20 weeks without promise of a sale.
Pros: passive income, free shipping label and free return shipping of rejected items, access to their wide client base.
Cons: lower commissions than other platforms, about 40-50% acceptance rate of items sent in, large time commitment required, necessary monitoring for mistakes made by the employees, return shipping fee for unsold items, long wait times for payouts.
Fees: Based on commission structure, additional fee for form of payout chosen.
4.FACEBOOK
This one is not technically a reselling platform, but rather a social media platform. I often feel like selling on facebook is a super-secret club that no one knows or talks about. In particular, I am referring to private BST (Buy, Sell, Trade) groups that can easily be found and joined. There is one for EVERYTHING. There are ones for specific brands (ie, Lilly Pulitzer), ones for specific categories (ie, Athletic Apparel), and even ones for specific niches like Moms who are looking to swap children’s clothing. Seriously, there’s a group for everything. You can find them by doing a quick search on Facebook and apply for the ones that entice you. Each group has their own lengthy set of rules to be followed, but aside from that it’s pretty easy. Payments are invoiced and shipping labels are created through PayPal.
Pros: easy to do, you’re probably browsing Facebook anyway, low fees.
Cons: any issues with an order are to be managed privately between you and the buyer, most groups require shipping to be included in your price so educate yourself so you don’t get burned and pay too much, must have a PayPal account.
Fees: just PayPal fees of 2.9% + $0.30
5.MERCARI
This one is at the bottom of my list because I have a love/hate relationship with Mercari. I started selling here in 2017 and have had my fair share of discouraging returns and items lost in transit with zero support from the platforms customer service. In 2019 they have put some more structure into place when it comes to shipping and returns procedures that have brought my trust back to the platform, for now. Also, you can sell basically anything on Mercari, which makes it cluttered, hard to shop and really, very much like a junk-filled garage sale.
Pros: a wide array of selling categories, low flat fee, clear shipping structure including free shipping and “ship on your own” options, rather easy listing.
Cons: shipping rates are not the best depending on what you’re selling ($11 for a pair of jeans is a hard pill to swallow), ability to ship via USPS or Fedex for packages over 1 lb., and to mention it again, the app is not exactly aesthetically pleasing.
Fees: flat 10%
Sign up for Mercari and get $10 OFF your first purchase using my link.
Did you notice which platform I didn’t mention? eBay. I LOATHE eBay. And yet, it keeps drawing me back in.
I also have items listed on Tradesy, Vinted, Vestiare, Depop and local reselling platforms like Letgo. I use these sparingly and try to focus my energy on my top 5 only.
Get out there and DIVERSIFY!
xx, Shari
Want to read more reseller tips? See all blog posts here.
