17 Tips for Buying on Poshmark

Poshmark is a marketplace for buying and selling new and used clothing, accessories, and more. I write about selling on the platform because I sell a lot on there, but did you know I shop there too?

When I was looking for Kate Spade love knot earrings, I found the pair I wanted on Poshmark. I bought a great bundle of Stance socks for my husband on there. And most recently, I purchased some new Ugg slippers for about 50% off retail price.

I’ve been buying a lot on Poshmark lately, so today I want to cover some tips to help you find the best items and get the best deals.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may receive compensation when you click on a product link or purchase an item linked on this site. Click here for details.

***If you don’t have a Poshmark account, you can receive a free $10 bonus when you sign up with my code SFGIRL2015. Amount varies by promotion.***

***On Mercari, you can get $10 when you sign up with the code JENMHM.

1 | Sign up with a referral code

Always look for a referral code or coupon for first-time buyers before you sign up for any site or service because there usually is one. Poshmark offers $10 free when you sign up with a referral code. My code is SFGIRL2015.

I appreciate when people use it, but no matter what code you use, don’t miss out on the free bonus. That covers the cost of shipping and then some.

Kate Spade love knot earrings - a favorite Poshmark purchase

2 | Follow your favorite brands

When you search for items by brand on the app, you have the option to follow the brand. This will ensure that new items from that brand pop up in your feed.

This is available for more well-known brands like Lilly Pulitzer and Everlane. It’s not available for rare and obscure brands like Black Crane and Catbird. You can still search by typing those brands in the search bar, but the results may be a mix with other items.

If you really want a certain type of item or something by a specific brand, search at least once a day. It only takes a few seconds or a few minutes at most. The best stuff at low prices gets bought quickly, so you want to check frequently and grab it while you can.

Follow a brand by clicking on the blue button at the top of a brand page on the app

3 | Sort items by just in

When you search for something you want, the search results default to sort by what was just shared. You can also sort by just in, price high to low, price low to high, recently price dropped, and relevance.

If I’m searching daily for something specific like Kate Spade love knot earrings, I’ll sort by just in. That way I’ll see the newest listings and jump on buying one if it’s what I want at a great price.

I recently searched for Lululemon ear warmers. There were so many listings! I wasn’t sure which one I wanted and what was the cheapest option. I sorted the results by price low to high, found the least expensive one I wanted that was new, and purchased it. That only took a few minutes.

Options for sorting search results on the app

4 | Search using a variety of terms

If you want something specific, do multiple searches using a variety of terms. Sellers sometimes don’t know the style name of the item they’re selling, so they’ll list by description.

Let’s say you want Lululemon Wunder Unders. You might search for Lululemon green leggings or crops and then scroll through the results.

Another good example of this is when searching for Anthropologie items. Anthropologie sells many brands. Some are exclusive, and some are sold at other retailers too. If you want something by Maeve, search for both Maeve and Anthropologie under brands. They’re both correct, but you’ll find different items in each search.

5 | Use the like button

The like button is a great way to keep track of all your favorite items. Many sellers will drop the price of an item or offer a discount to likers to make sales. You’ll be notified when the price of an item you like has dropped.

You can get notifications of price drops via push notifications and/or email. Check your notification settings to make sure they’re on!

6 | Bundle items

Bundling is another feature to make buying and selling easier. You can bundle one or several items from a seller.

Then you can chat semi-privately about the items, ask questions, negotiate, etc. The conversation in bundles can be seen if someone digs around to look at your bundles, but it’s more private than writing in the comments section of items.

Sellers like me notice when people put even one item in a bundle. Active sellers will often make you an offer on your bundle because they think you seriously want it.

Some sellers offer automatic discounts on bundles. Put a bunch of their items into a bundle and you’ll see the total with the discount. I recently got an automatic 5% off a bundle of 2 or more items when I bought several pairs of socks.

7 | Make reasonable offers

Most sellers are open to offers. They know buyers want to negotiate price. They list at prices that allow for lowering and still making a profit. So go ahead and make reasonable offers.

What’s a reasonable offer? Everyone has their own idea of what reasonable means.

You can sometimes get an idea of a good offer by looking at sold listings of the same item. How much did the item sell for in the past?

I usually make offers about 10-25% off. I’ll make an offer for 30% off at most if the sold comparables are about the same or it’s an item I know hasn’t gotten much interest. And sometimes I buy an item outright if I think it’s already reasonably priced.

Just note that if a seller accepts your offer, the sale is binding. You don’t get a small window of time to cancel your order after the fact. Make sure you’re comfortable with the price you’ll pay for the item including shipping and tax.

8 | Wait for a price drop

Price drops come in a few forms. One is a private price drop to likers of an item. This requires the seller to discount the shipping as well. The seller covers the difference in the shipping price.

On Closet Clear Out days, sellers do a public price drop of an item. The item discounted shipping if the price of the item drops at least 10% from its historical lowest and remains $10 or above.

Poshmark covers the difference in the shipping price. The buyer usually pays $3.99 or $4.99 instead of $7.11. Shipping is only a few dollars less, but why spend it when you can save it?

If you want to purchase an item and notice that it’s a Closet Clear Out day, ask the seller if they’d be willing to drop the price to X amount so you can get discounted shipping.

9 | Look at pictures and read descriptions

Good pictures and descriptions help you know what you’re buying. Look twice before purchasing an item. Poshmark lets you zoom in on pictures now, so you can examine items even closer than before.

I’ve had buyers misread measurements of items so the clothes didn’t fit them. I’ve also missed information before and purchased an item not realizing it wouldn’t ship until the seller was back from vacation. Whoops!

10 | Ask questions

This goes hand in hand with the above tip. If you’re still wondering about an item after you look at the pictures and read the descriptions twice, ask the seller about it.

A few reasons to ask questions:

The item’s condition isn’t mentioned in the description.
Measurements aren’t included, and you need them to know if an item will fit.
There are only a few pictures of the item. Something like the back of an item may not be shown.
The item looks to be different shades of color in the pictures.
You’re concerned about sales being unreturnable. Poshmark doesn’t offer returns unless an item isn’t as described.

I understand the reluctance to ask questions because I feel it too sometimes. But if I’m serious about possibly purchasing an item, I’ll ask so I can feel confident when I purchase the item that it’s really what I want.

11 | Read the seller’s profile

The seller’s profile and closet can tell you a lot about the person such as when were they last online, the love notes they’ve received, and the prices of their sold items. This may give insight into the prices they’re willing to accept, their likely shipping time, and if they’re a new or seasoned seller.

Several months ago, I purchased a new toy for my dog on another marketplace. I was so excited that it was exactly what I wanted to buy at a great price. Amid my excitement, I forgot to look at the seller’s profile.

It turned out that that dog toy was the seller’s only listing. I never heard from the seller after messaging several times. He or she probably didn’t even know about the sale!

After seven days without a response, I canceled the order. I could’ve prepared myself for that possibility by looking at the seller’s profile before purchasing.

12 | Send a nice message!

Everyone loves receiving a nice and genuine message. Open a conversation with the seller, let her know you’re interested, and start the negotiation from there.

I once had a sweet buyer tell me how much she loved an item and that she sent me her best offer. I was happy to accept it even though it was low for the item.

Some sellers can’t or won’t budge much on price because they don’t want to lose money on their items, but many sellers will work with you if they can to make both of you happy with the sale.

13 | Comparison shop on Poshmark

If you find an item you like at first glance, enter the item name in the search bar and see what comes up. You’d be surprised how many people don’t comparison shop for items even on the same marketplace.

You may find the same item cheaper, in better condition, or in a different color or size that you want.

I once eyed this black and white dress on Poshmark for a long time. The used dress was $40. When I typed the item into the search bar, I found a new version of it available for $30. I later saw that the $40 dress sold while the $30 dress was still available.

While I don’t encourage taking transactions off of Poshmark (that’s now allowed per their rules), it doesn’t hurt to comparison shop across multiple places online too. You might find an item cheaper on another site.

Sometimes you can find the listing for the item on the original retailer’s website. It might have the item’s original description and customer reviews of the item, both of which can be helpful for deciding to purchase the item or not.

A few of the same Madewell shorts for sale at various prices

14 | Ask yourself what you’ll do if it doesn’t work out

Sometimes you buy things online and they just don’t work out. It’s no problem if the retailer accepts returns, but Poshmark doesn’t accept returns. One way to work around this worry is to have a backup plan for what to do with the item if it doesn’t fit.

You can

Resell it
Donate it
Give it away
Repurpose it

If you know you’ll be mad about something not fitting or you don’t have a second plan for it, buying on Poshmark might not be the best option for you.

15 | You can cancel an order

You have three hours from when you purchase to cancel the order. This only applies to full-priced orders, not offers that a seller accepts. Those are binding once sold.

Sometimes you make an accidental purchase or realize you purchased the wrong size. You have three hours to change your mind. After that, you can ask the seller to cancel the sale for you. Some will, and some won’t.

I don’t recommend canceling an order or asking to cancel an order too often. Just know that it’s an option for those rare emergencies.

16 | PoshAuthenticate for purchases $500+

When you purchase an item for $500 or over, the item gets authenticated at Poshmark headquarters before it gets sent to the buyer.

Poshmark luxury experts inspect items for their authenticity. On purses, they look at the material, stitching, serial numbers, hardware, etc. The item gets sent to the buyer once it’s been confirmed authentic.

If that’s not enough to rest your worries, you can ask the buyer if he or she can provide a receipt from when they originally purchased the item. They can redact all their personal information. Some sellers will do this. Some may not have the original receipt available.

17 | Pay via PayPal

Now this is more of a suggestion to try out. I haven’t tried out it for myself. Poshmark now offers the option to pay for purchases using PayPal. Poshmark only offers you a 3-day window from when you receive your item until the sale is finalized.

PayPal provides its own level of protection for goods and services. As a buyer and seller on eBay, I know that I have 180 days to dispute a purchase.

If you use PayPal, you may have a longer period of buyer protection than you do with Poshmark. I haven’t heard of anyone disputing a sale between 3-180 days, but this is worth keeping in mind if you’re concerned about making a purchase.

Buy now with PayPal button on the website

Keep these tips in your back pocket while shopping and you’ll find some great items too. Let me know what you find!

Related posts: