Last Updated on January 7, 2021 by Stiletto Socialite
Ready to see what’s best for you?
Poshmark or Etsy????
I think you will agree with me that sometimes deciding where to post your vintage items can be confusing.
In this post I will walk you through which platform might be the best for you so you can start making that money until it starts making itself!
Poshmark vs Etsy
The problem with selling and cross listing your items on Poshmark or Depop is deciding which platform is worth your time and effort. Truthfully, selling vintage on Poshmark can be tricky as you may find yourself with a customer base that might not be as appreciative for vintage items. Poshmark customers are changing with time but at their core base they are Millennial/Gen Z shoppers who are looking for trends at the lowest price.
On the other hand Etsy is an established platform for selling vintage and its perception as an e-commerce website where curators run their shops is juxtaposed to Poshmark which is known as a deal making platform. My experience of selling on Poshmark with vintage items is that unless it has a high perceived value you may struggle to get the price you are looking for. Shoppers on Poshmark are not necessarily there to shop environmentally (like on Depop) or because they like vintage (like on Etsy). Instead shoppers on Poshmark are there to find trendy items at a good price. If your vintage item fits the aesthetic of what they want and at a price they are willing to pay they will consider purchasing.
However, unlike Poshmark, Etsy is vintage platform at its core. With Poshmark trends comes first and if its happens to be vintage item that is trendy then it may sell. There is a lot of ubiquitous clothing on Poshmark (i.e. mass market brands) that a vintage seller is competing with. Being that vintage is a secondary market on Poshmark, contemporary fashion appears to have faster turnover overall, often times you have Poshmark shoppers make low ball offers on unique vintage clothing like they would on a pair of generic 7 for All Mankind jeans. These shoppers don’t realize that the fact the vintage item is scarce, there is a price premium that can be placed on that. With vintage the basic economic theory of supply vs. demand will rule in most cases unless the style is a ubiquitous one like blouses from the 80’s, 90’s they are plenty of them.
I think on Poshmark there is a tipping point for what vintage they are looking for. Right now, the trends are 80’s, 90’s and Y2K. It is not necessarily 60’s, 70’s, etc. So selling that chic 60s sheath dress with the Jackie Kennedy pill box hat might not work for Poshmark. But on Etsy there may be a full audience that is looking for those Jackie O’s curated looks.
Which platform is better for you Poshmark or Etsy?
I’ve made money on Poshmark selling vintage and have received some good returns on investment like this trucker jacket that sold within 4 days of listing. It was seen on Chris Brown and there was also a Vintage Remake from Levis. This is an example of something that is trendy and vintage and so it worked for Poshmark. I purchased this jacket for $4 and sold it for $110. What made me post the jacket on Poshmark is that I checked the sold listings and saw that other items were selling and for a good amount of money so I figured Poshmark might be a good home.
Poshmark Shop: @stilettosocial
One of the key things you will have to do on Poshmark is to check the sold listings and try your best to find your vintage item to see what some users were willing to pay for it and how quickly sales turnover. If you see a lot of items available and barely any sold listings than you know you have no bargaining power and there is high supply and low demand. This means that you will not probably get a decent offer unless you have something that makes it rare like a rare size or color. Money can be made on Poshmark but you just have to be keen on the trends.
On Etsy, it maybe harder to review sold listings as shop owners can hide them and it appears the only way to see them is to go to the shop owners page individually for those who do not hide them which is more work versus being able to see all the sold listings for a particular item like you can on Ebay and Poshmark.
Traffic on Etsy vs Poshmark
On Etsy there is no sharing, I repeat no sharing, so you will have to conquer the Etsy algorithm and currently that means offering free shipping, as Etsy has stated that is a criteria they are looking for to stay competitive with other online retailers. To me, the Etsy algorithm can be a slow build. Like most platforms with algorithms, Etsy is going to push sellers with more sellers that have proven track records it doesn’t mean that a new seller cannot start sell, I did, and plenty people do, however it just appears to take some time. As such, Etsy has never been my primary posting place. I cross list some of my higher priced items on Etsy for maximum exposure but you have to pay .20 per listing on Etsy and it’s not free so if I think I will sell it quicker on another platform I will wait to list on Etsy.
Selling on Poshmark vs Etsy
1) Poshmark is not dependable for selling vintage at a good price, pretty much all of my vintage is lowballed
2) Etsy doesn’t bring the volume like Poshmark does. Etsy is a nice filler and I like that fact that overall I tend to have less questions, less comments, and definetly less low ball offers. Although, I’ve noticed more younger customers on Etsy are starting to send messages to see if they can get the item I’m selling for cheaper.
3) For me selling is a part-time hustle I am not one for the Poshmark community which focus on comments, sharing, conversations and all that Poshmark love, takes time and “aint nobody got time for that!”
Sometimes I just want an outright sale with no negotiation so I can pack and ship it and go about my day. Overall, for the most part when I get a notification from Etsy is usually a sale vs. other platforms where you can get those annoying questions like “what’s you lowest, do you have this is cerulean blue? Can you guarantee it will not cause a rash on my very sensitive skin?
Shipping on Poshmark vs. Etsy
Poshmark shipping is $6.79 for up to 5 lbs and all packages are sent via USPS. You have to purchase the label from Poshmark and there are no alternatives. To me Poshmark shipping is more reasonable than Etsy unless you are shipping small items. Small items that are less than a pound can be sent first class USPS and you are not allowed that option with Poshmark. Poshmark shipping is automatically a priority label which means you can use their free priority shipping supplies including boxes.
Etsy priority shipping is higher than Poshmark. With Poshmark it doesn’t matter if I to the east coast or west coast the price is the same. With Etsy when shipping USPS distance appears to matter with the pricing of the priority labels.
Reviews on Poshmark vs Etsy
Poshmark is really a community based and social sharing app that it lends itself to be a better platform naturally for more reviews. Please note, I am not saying the Poshmark platform is better for reviews type and quality as they do not give an opportunity for a seller to respond to a buyer’s review. Whereas Etsy does give a seller an opportunity to respond and refute a customers review. However, Poshmark customers give so many reviews, that even if you have a bad one, its not big deal because you get so many they even out. Perhaps because of the customer base being Millenial/Gen Z kids who grew up in a digital age where reviews are apart of their DNA, so many Poshmark reviews get completed plus Poshmark encourage reviews. With Etsy, the reviews don’t come as frequently and are inconsistent no matter how pretty the packaging is and how many follows ups I seem to do that are informative without crossing the line of being pesky I can’t seem to break the code to get a continuous flow of reviews on Etsy. However, I will say that all my reviews are stellar thus far I just would like more of them!
So which platform to choose Poshmark or Depop?
On any given day there might be somebody killing it on Poshmark for vintage. However, I pay attention to vintage shops because I sell vintage and most of us cross list on Poshmark, Depop, & Etsy. One caveat, the only way around cross listing so much as a vintage reseller would be to just offer cheap prices because if you are cheap enough someone will buy from you outright. However, if you want to get a good return on your investment and make that money until it starts making itself then you will have to consider cross listing on both Poshmark and Etsy. Me personally, I don’t ever just list a vintage item on just Poshmark and Etsy because neither platform gives me the volume to just solely focus on them. In order to be successful on Etsy it is important to have enough listings to increase your chances to come up in search. All in all, I cross list on both Etsy and Poshmark but the majority of my listings are definitely on Depop.
If you want to check Poshmark out to see if it’s right you for then here is my shameless plug:
Use my code STILETTOSOCIAL to save $10: https://posh.mk/jRHnZYho40
