Poshmark Is Lowering Its Shipping Fees for the First Time in a Decade

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There is big news brewing in the resale community, which I am an active participant in both as a buyer and a seller. Poshmark, my preferred resale platform, is lowering its shipping costs starting tomorrow, which means buyers will pay less for purchases—but sellers will have a very different process to go through to get their goods shipped out.

The Poshmark pricing change

One of the main reasons I have preferred using Poshmark over other apps like Mercari and Depop is the flat-rate shipping. Other apps charge shipping based on the weight of the purchase, which in a lot of cases is just a guess the seller makes, so you don’t know your true total until it’s time to check out. On Poshmark, whether you bought one item from a seller or a whole bundle of listings, you paid $8.27. But starting Sept. 12, that’s going down to $6.49, according to Poshmark.

This is major news for buyers, who will have to spend less. Sellers have the option of offering “discounted shipping” to buyers, with the difference between the free, $4.99, or $5.99 shipping coming out of their earnings. I’ve personally had a lot of success offering $5.99 shipping and getting sales out of it. Sometimes, the difference of two dollars is really all it takes to close a sale, so I am thrilled that my buyers will soon be more incentivized to make purchases.

Poshmark pricing, packaging, and problems

The $8.27 got you Priority Mail shipping, which was nice enough because it meant quick deliveries for buyers and a remarkably easy shipping process for sellers. All a seller had to do was go to the U.S. Post Office, grab a self-sealing Priority mailer, fill it with the sale, and take it to the counter. Poshmark generated a QR code for the attendant to scan, and the whole thing was on the way in just a few seconds. Crucially, sellers never had to pay for any packing materials or print their own labels, which is something you have to do if you sell on, say, Vestiaire Collective, and was always a hassle to me. It’s another reason I try to avoid selling on other platforms. I don’t have a printer and I don’t want to buy a box or tape. The flat-rate Priority shipping from Poshmark made my endeavor to sell off all my old clothes almost too easy. Even better, Priority envelopes and mailers are free to take, so I (and loads of other sellers) would just stock up on them at the post office. Just this Monday, I had to ship out eight sales. It took me no time at all because I had a stockpile of Priority envelopes and, again, never had to print any labels or do anything beyond walking the stuffed envelopes over to the post office.

The new $6.49 price does not qualify you for Priority shipping. Instead, it covers USPS Ground Advantage shipping—and the mailers for that aren’t free. In fact, starting tomorrow, USPS can refuse to ship Poshers’ sales if they’re in Priority mailers. Starting Oct. 12, anyone who tries to ship Ground Advantage goods in the Priority mailer will be charged $5, which will come out of their Poshmark balance. You’ll also have to pay a little more at the counter if your package weighs more than five pounds. That part sucks a bit for me, as I sell a ton of bundles, or multiple listings to a single buyer, but I’d rather pay a few dollars and get the old stuff out of my house to make room for the new stuff I buy with my Poshmark balance.

A lot of resellers have been annoyed about the packaging changes, though, because they also stocked up on Priority mailers and are worried that they may have to buy envelopes or boxes. Poshmark announced that sellers are eligible for free packaging through USPS, but resellers have been reporting long wait times when they call the number to request them (1-800-610-8734). After fielding those complaints, Poshmark produced an email address, [email protected], encouraging sellers to share their names, Poshmark closet names, addresses, and phone numbers along with their requests for materials.

For what it’s worth, I submitted my supplies request via email last night and haven’t heard back. I’m sure I will, eventually, and my boxes and envelopes will be shipped out to me, but to stay on the safe side, I’m ordering some mailers off Amazon. I found packs of 50 and 100 ranging in price from $10 to $40. They even have cute designs on them, which I find a little cloying but am choosing to see as an opportunity to enhance my customers’ buying experience. I don’t love this eating into my profits, but sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

The new selling process

This doesn’t go into effect until tomorrow, Sept. 12, so here’s hoping I get a couple sales today and can use up a few more of my Priority mailers. I assume there will be a little learning curve when it starts, though. Yesterday, while dropping off a sale at the post office, I asked the attendant for a rundown of Ground Advantage shipping. She told me that unlike with Priority, I can ship out my stuff in any vessel I want, like an old, re-taped Amazon box, a decorative mailer, or the brown mailers for sale at the post office. Beyond having to procure those materials somehow, the process with otherwise be the same for me: I’ll pack things up and have the USPS attendant scan my QR code. (Poshmark does allow you to print your own label, and that won’t change.) Buyers will get their goods after two to five business days, which also isn’t that unlike Priority shipping, so there’s no real disruption there.

I, for one, am delighted by this change, which is Poshmark’s first shipping reduction in a decade, even if it means I need to adjust my process and might end up paying for some envelopes and boxes. Poshmark partnered directly with USPS to create these prices and the system for ordering free materials after it was announced that Priority Mail prices would be going up across the country.