Poshmark Cuts Shipping Rates for the First Time in a Decade
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There’s some big news brewing in the resale community, which I’m an active part of as both a buyer and a seller . Poshmark, my favorite resale platform , is dropping its shipping costs starting tomorrow. That means buyers will pay less for their purchases, but sellers will have to go through a completely different process for shipping their items.
Poshmark Price Changes
One of the main reasons I prefer Poshmark over other apps like Mercari and Depop is its flat shipping rates. On other apps, shipping is based on the weight of your purchase, which is often just an estimate from the seller, so you don’t know the exact amount until you checkout. On Poshmark, whether you bought a single item from a seller or a whole lot of items, you used to pay $8.27. But as of September 12, that will drop to $6.49, according to Poshmark .
This is big news for shoppers, who will have to spend less. Sellers can offer shoppers a “shipping discount,” where the difference between free, $4.99, or $5.99 shipping is deducted from their revenue. Personally, I’ve had great success offering $5.99 shipping and making a profit on it. Sometimes a $2 difference really is enough to seal the deal, so I’m glad my shoppers will soon have more incentive to buy.
Poshmark Pricing, Packaging, and Problems
For $8.27, you got Priority Mail shipping, which was nice because it meant fast delivery for buyers and a surprisingly easy shipping process for sellers. All a seller had to do was go to the US Post Office, pick up a Priority self-sealing envelope, fill it out with the sale, and take it to the counter. Poshmark generated a QR code for an employee to scan, and everything was on its way in just a few seconds. Crucially, sellers never had to pay for any packaging materials or print their own labels, which is necessary if you’re selling on, say, Vestiaire Collective , and has always been a hassle for 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. Poshmark’s flat-rate Priority Shipping made my attempt to sell off all my old clothes almost too easy. What’s more, envelopes and Priority envelopes are free, so I (and many other sellers) simply stocked up on them at the post office. This Monday alone, I had eight orders to ship. It didn’t take long at all because I had a supply of Priority envelopes, and again, I didn’t have to print labels or do anything other than take the filled envelopes to the post office.
The new $6.49 price doesn’t qualify you for Priority Shipping. Instead, it covers USPS Ground Advantage shipping, which isn’t free. What’s more, starting tomorrow, USPS may refuse to ship Poshers items if they’re shipped to Priority Mailers. Starting October 12, anyone who tries to ship Ground Advantage items to Priority Mailers will be charged a $5 fee, which will be deducted from their Poshmark balance. You’ll also have to pay a little extra at checkout if your package weighs more than five pounds. This is a bit annoying to me, since I sell a bunch of bundles or multiple listings to a single buyer, but I’d rather pay a few bucks and move the old stuff out of the house to make room for the new stuff I buy with my Poshmark balance.
However, many resellers were annoyed by the packaging changes because they had also stocked up on Priority Mail envelopes and were concerned that they might have to buy envelopes or boxes. Poshmark announced that sellers could get free packaging through USPS, but resellers reported long wait times when calling 1-800-610-8734. After receiving responses to these complaints, Poshmark set up an email address [email protected] , encouraging sellers to provide their names, Poshmark cabinet names, addresses, and phone numbers along with their material requests.
In fact, I sent out an email request for supplies last night and never heard back. I’m sure I’ll do that eventually and have my boxes and envelopes shipped to me, but just in case, I’m ordering mailers from Amazon . I’ve found 50- and 100-packs for $10 to $40. They even have cute designs, which I find a little saccharine, but I like to look at them as an opportunity to improve my customers’ shopping experience. I hate that it’s eating into my profits, but sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
New sales process
This doesn’t go into effect until tomorrow, September 12th, so hopefully I’ll get a few sales in today and be able to use a few more of my Priority Mailers. I figure it’ll take some practice once it starts rolling out. Yesterday, when I dropped off a package at the post office, I asked the driver to give me a quick rundown on Ground Advantage shipping. She said that, unlike Priority, I can ship my items in any container I want, like an old, resealed Amazon box, a decorative envelope, or the brown envelopes they sell at the post office. Other than having to somehow get my hands on those materials, the rest of the process will be the same for me: I’ll pack my items and have the USPS driver scan my QR code. (Poshmark lets you print your own labels, so that won’t change.) Buyers will receive their items in two to five business days, which is also not that different from Priority Shipping, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.
Personally, I’m excited about this change, which Poshmark is offering to lower shipping costs for the first time in a decade, even if it means having to rethink its process and possibly end up paying for envelopes and boxes. Poshmark worked directly with the USPS to develop these prices and the free materials ordering system after announcing a nationwide price increase for Priority Mail services.