How to Grow Your Poshmark Closet While Sheltering at Home

With the rise of COVID-19 and mandatory sheltering at home over the past several weeks, life has turned upside down for many Americans. Many Americans now face unemployment or at least financial uncertainty.

It’s a blessing that Poshmark sellers can continue to work and make money from the safety of their homes. But you might be experiencing slow sales right now, or difficulty replenishing inventory for the sales that you do make.

What can you do to grow your Poshmark closet & sales right now?

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Check off which ones you’ve done and post this to IG stories!

1 | List that money pile!

Most sellers (including me) have a pile of unlisted items in their house. It’s the curse of liking to shop and coming across lots of great finds to resell. It’s much less enjoyable listings items, which is why most people fall behind in this area.

I’ve heard of sellers with hundreds of pieces of unlisted clothing. We’re talking about bags and closets, even rooms full of items waiting to be listed.

Get those items up for sale! They won’t sell if they’re not available. And once they sell, that’s extra money in your pocket.

2 | Search your house

Look around your house for inventory. You may find items you meant to sell tucked away somewhere long forgotten.

My mom buys Christmas gifts for people throughout the year and then stores them away until she needs them. The problem is that she sometimes forgets where she hid them when December comes.

If you’re prone to this sort of thing with inventory, take a look in storage spots around the house to see if you have anything hidden away.

Then check your family member’s closets for clothes they don’t want or need anymore. Children may have clothes and shoes that they’ve outgrown but are still in great condition, making them appropriate to resell.

I’ve resorted to cleaning out my own closet to gather more items to sell. I’m even considering selling the dog’s unused toys. Don’t worry; she has plenty!

3 | Ask for donations

Many Poshmark sellers are part-time or full-time and rely on that income to support their families. The inability to source at thrift shops or a Goodwill Outlet means they can’t replenish their inventory.

Ask family members, friends, and community members for donations. Many would be happy to donate clothes and household goods to you if they know that it’s necessary for your business and income.

The items don’t have to be new with tags. Ask for gently worn clothes or unused household items that they would’ve donated anyway. I have a beautiful glass countertop piece sitting in my house waiting to be given away.

It’s still a good idea to avoid close contact while gathering donations. A person could drop off their donations to you or you could pick them up on your way to an essential task like grocery shopping or while walking the dog. The person could leave the items on their doorstep or yours.

4 | Source online

Sourcing online is the trend right now. Thrift stores are closed and donations may be limited. There’s an endless supply of inventory online.

The difficulty here is knowing where and what to buy. In general, you’ll pay more for goods than you would sourcing on your own at a thrift store.

While you might find something for a few dollars at Goodwill, it’s not uncommon to source items for $10 or more online, so profit margins may be smaller.

Where can you source?

ThredUp sales page or ThredUp reseller boxes. You can read my review of my reseller box.
Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, and similar platforms. Look for low-priced individual items or reseller and mystery boxes.
Wholesale companies like B&G Trading and Fashion Bulk. You can read my review of Fashion Bulk.

I haven’t had the best luck with wholesale or reseller boxes. I’ve broken even or lost money on them, and that doesn’t include the loss of time spent taking pictures, listing, and shipping the items.

Sourcing online is a hit or miss experience based on my experience and the reviews I’ve read of many other sellers. There’s money to be made, but go at it cautiously.

5 | Drop prices

Poshmark has been holding Closet Clear Out and other promotions several times a week over the past few weeks. It’s more frequent than ever before!

Go ahead and drop prices on your items. Your lower price and Poshmark’s lower shipping fee are just what some people need to click that buy button.

If an offer comes in that makes you some money, consider taking it. That might mean being willing to sell things for a little less than usual.

This is especially true for non-essential items like dress clothes and accessories. People aren’t going out right now, so they don’t need those items. They may sit in your closet for a long time before they sell.

While you don’t want to take a loss on any item, having even a few small sales keeps the money coming in.

6 | Try a new platform

This isn’t exactly a Poshmark tip, but hear me out. If your current selling platform isn’t working for you, why not try a new one?

Many of the latest selling platforms were made to be quick and easy to use. Take a few pictures, write a description, set a price, and you’re set.

I’ve been selling on Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari for several years now. With the recent lack of sales and lower selling prices, I decided to try the platform Depop at another seller’s recommendation.

It was easy for me to list about 50 items in 1-2 hours of signing up on the app. I already have pictures of my items stored on my computer for easy listing to any platform. I copied and pasted item descriptions from my Poshmark listings.

I set shipping at $4-5 for all items I knew were under 16 oz and could go through first-class mail. Commission is also less than on Poshmark at 10% versus 20%. It’s a win-win for buyers and sellers.

If you have the time, why not try out a new platform to reach a new audience?

Wrap Up

Sometimes you can try every trick in your bag and you still don’t see the results you want. Last week I listed the last of my inventory, took new pictures of old listings, dropped prices during Closet Clear Out, made private offers to likers, and all shared my listings.

I got several low offers but no response to counteroffers and no sales. If that’s you, know that you’re one of many people experiencing a decline in sales right now.

Give the above suggestions a try to see which of the above ideas works best to keep your Poshmark business going and growing during these uncertain times. I’m rooting for you!