Poshmark vs eBay: Which Is the Best Site for Selling Used Clothes?

Reselling business can be a great option for extra income on top of your full-time job. It’s beginner-friendly, low cost to start, and makes money much faster than other side hustles like blogging.

I’ve been selling unwanted items on Poshmark and eBay for a few years now. Both Poshmark and eBay have pros and cons as well as different characteristics of users.

In this article, you’ll learn the difference between Poshmark and eBay!

DISCLOSURE: This comparison is based on my experience as a seller. (as of 2020) The fees and conditions may change based on the platform’s new update. Please read my full disclaimer here for more info.

Comparison of Poshmark and eBay

Poshmark is a social commerce marketplace where people in the United States can buy and sell new or used clothing, shoes, and accessories. I use the Poshmark app to list items. It’s really easy to navigate!

Pros

• Listing is FREE. You can list as many items as you want for free.
• You can offer discounts easily. People love discounts and it boosts your sales.
• Poshmark offers free authentication on luxury items sold for $500 or more.
• Simplified shipping. Most of the shipping cost is calculated by package weight, but don’t worry. Poshmark provides a shipping label for you. All you need to do is print out the provided shipping label. Also, you can get USPS boxes for free.

Note: If your package is over 5 pounds, you will need to generate a new shipping label and pay additional shipping costs.

• User-centered design. Poshmark shows net earnings in advance, so you know your actual profit immediately. This helps us to price the item easily.
• Seller protections. An unreasonable return request from the buyer is not allowed. Poshmark will review the return request and try to be fair to both sellers and buyers.
• Poshmark is a social network. You can comment, share, host virtual parties, or join virtual parties. You can also follow your favorite sellers and buyers.
• Fast payout. The buyer needs to make a payment after purchase immediately. Once the buyer received the item, they have 3 days to inspect it. Within 3 days, the buyer needs to accept the item, or it’s automatically accepted. You can receive payment by direct deposit to the bank, or check.

Cons

• High commission. 20% on sales of $15 or more, sales under $15 have a flat commission of $2.95.
• Shipping costs deter buyers. Shipping is a flat rate of $7.67. The buyer pays the item cost and shipping cost. The flat rate shipping fee is good for heavy items like a handbag but too much for lightweight items like T-shirts.
• Time-consuming sales process. You need to dedicate time to publicizing your items occasionally. How? Click the share button. The more you share, the more people will see your item.
• Some buyer expects dream deals like 60 to 90% off. If you are selling an unwanted item, it’s fine. But if you want to make money as a business, it’s hard to make a profit. I feel like most people expect good-quality designer brands at a low price.

eBay is an American multinational e-commerce marketplace where people can buy and sell almost any item. eBay also has an app, but I don’t use them often. It’s not a very user-friendly app in my opinion.

Pros

• International marketplace. eBay allows you to sell worldwide!
• Sell (almost) anything. You can sell a wide variety of items. Some people are making money on eBay by selling broken items.
• The first 50 listing is free per month. If you list more than 50 items per month, then you need to pay $0.35 per listing additionally.
• Variety of shipping carriers. You can choose from USPS First Class Mail, USPS Priority Mail, FedEx, or UPS.
• The eBay Community. It is like a Facebook group that allows people to ask questions, search for information, read and post about topics, and learn from each other along the way.

Cons

• The return policy is unfair to sellers. You need to accept returns even though you stated in the listing that the seller doesn’t accept returns. Also, you need to pay for the return shipping label no matter what. Moreover, you need to issue a full refund even though the returned item has a problem.
• Getting paid by direct deposit to the bank. eBay and PayPal are divorced. eBay is collecting your bank account information. Since data breaches happen a lot at eBay, users are very concerned about how eBay will protect our data.

In my case, the buyer returned the wrong item, but I need to issue a full refund. You can report the problem to eBay, but you still need to issue a full refund.

• Customer service is not easy to reach. It’s very difficult to find customer service contact information on eBay.
• Shipping requires weighing everything. If you are not offering free shipping, you need to measure the weight of each item to set a shipping cost. If you guess the weight of your packaged item incorrectly, the additional shipping cost will come out of your profit.
• Many extra fees. For example, if you sold a $150 item on eBay, $20 will be a sales commission and $10 will be the shipping cost. You’ll earn $120 in the end. (without the cost of the item) So think carefully when you set a price.

• Slow payout. “Sold” on eBay doesn’t mean you’ll automatically receive a payment. You need to wait for the buyer to pay you.  If the buyer fails to pay within 2 days, you can report this problem to eBay. After that, you need to let the item (money) sit there until this unpaid case is resolved.
• Listing on eBay can be time-consuming. You need to fill in A LOT of information.

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Wrapping Up

Poshmark is a marketplace to buy and sell new or used clothing, shoes, and accessories. So, almost all users are looking for new or used fashion items.

On the other hand, eBay is a marketplace to sell (almost) anything. Only a few people are looking for used fashion items. BUT! The market is huge and targeted worldwide customers.

I sell the same items on eBay and Poshmark at the same time (it’s called cross-listing), and 70% of sales come from eBay.

If you want to clean out your closet, both Poshmark and eBay are good places to sell.

Poshmark shoppers tend to like trendy and designer brands. $10-$30 seemed to be the right spot in terms of selling prices. These are brands that sell well on Poshmark: Lululemon, Madewell, Free People, Kate Spade, Nike, Off-White, Levi’s, and Eloquii.

eBay shoppers tend to look for a specific item that is hard to find at the store or online. So, add a lot of item information in your listing title.

For example, “New Women’s Nike Shoes in White and Gray Size 6 Model #000” (condition, gender, item name, color, size, model number)

What do you think about my comparison? Any tips for selling online?