The Resale App Grind
Comparing my earnings on Poshmark vs Mercari vs Depop vs Vinted February 2021
Haley here, with February’s report comparing my earnings on Poshmark, Mecari, Depop, and Vinted. If you want a little more background in what and why I resell, please check out my December & January earnings report.
December and January were quite profitable for me but as I rolled into the doldrums of February, I now remember exactly why I have felt frustrated by online resale apps in the past. Without new listings, sales dried up and I had to work harder to generate sales. I spent a lot more time interacting on apps and offered more discounts, yet saw lower sales numbers compared to the last report.
In the interest of full transparency, I sold items at rock bottom prices in anticipation of my next closet cleanout in March; I need to make room for new inventory. Across all four apps I was making aggressively low offers to try and move product.
I have spent more time researching the platforms I am less familiar with, mainly Mercari and Depop. With all my experimentation I discovered a quirky trick to boost older listings on depop; if you ‘edit’ and save your listing, it’ll resurface at the beginning of the app’s feed like new. I started using this trick every few days to increase user traffic. With Mercari, I learned that many sellers relist their items after a few weeks, so I started strategically relisting posts. Let's look at the numbers and how my efforts add up.
Keep in mind that the stats reported below represent sales from February 1st-28th. This is the money I earned from items where the funds were released in this time period. What this means is when you purchase something on Poshmark, Mercari, or Vinted they hold your money and don’t pay the seller until you’ve received the item and approved it. Any funds not released before the 28th weren’t counted in February and will be counted in March even though the sale was technically made in February. I don’t count my earnings until the funds are in my pocket. Whenever I pay shipping for an item, I add this to any platform fees when calculating any money I made. Platforms often pressure sellers to offer “free” shipping that is actually a vendor expense.
Earnings Breakdown
Items sold on Poshmark, a couple dresses, a few tops and a cardigan
Poshmark
Strategy: On Poshmark I spend time sharing, liking, and following people. Success on this platform requires consistent engagement or listings get buried. I also offer to likers at least once a month, around the 15th or so. I have also started to offer bargain prices on bundles to make my trips to the mailbox more worthwhile.
Total earnings: $31.82
Number of items sold: 6
Average earnings per item: $5.30
Poshmark fees total: $22.18
Average Poshmark fees per item: $3.70
Percentage of sales earned: 60%
Items sold on Mercari, a dress and a few tops
Mercari
Strategy: I made offers to likers once a month around the 5th. Anything relisted is set for an automatic price drop to keep my listings at the top of buyer’s feeds. Based on my experience with Mercari, people accept offers more frequently than on Poshmark. I offer free shipping on this platform as well to try and boost sales, since the platform offers free shipping filters.
Total earnings: $32.11
Number of items sold: 5
Average earnings per item: $6.42
Mercari fees total: $26.89
Average Mercari fees per item: $5.37
Percentage of sales earned: 54%
Items sold on Depop, just one cropped button down
Depop
Strategy: I offer free shipping on this platform, and I boost listings a couple times each week. I still really dislike the lack of transparency Depop gives you on net profits after fees and how to pay for shipping within and outside the app. The way funds are released makes me feel like I have no protection as a seller. When someone buys something, I receive payment immediately from PayPal and then Depop deducts the seller fee. This is a higher risk model compared to other platforms that hold payments, because buyer dissatisfaction requires a total refund from the seller, and Depop does not reimburse for seller fees. With platforms like Poshmark, you have some protection as a seller because Poshmark fees are not deducted until the buyer approves your items. With Depop, there is a greater chance of sellers becoming indebted to the app and I dislike that prospect.
Total earnings: $6.30
Number of items sold: 1
Average earnings per item: $6.30
Depop fees total: $5.70
Average depop fees per item: $5.70
Percentage of sales earned: 53%
Items sold on Vinted, aka nothing
Vinted
Strategy: I relisted things here, and offer bargains to likers, but otherwise have no other strategy and it shows. With Vinted I am not convinced the app has a large enough audience to spend very much time on strategizing. While reading articles about Vinted many resellers seemed to not waste their time on the platform. I am keeping my closet in this app mainly because I think it is the most ethical and transparent.
Total earnings: $0
Number of items sold: 0
Average earnings per item: $0
Vinted fees total: $0
Average vinted fees per item: $0
Grand Totals for February
Total earnings: $70.23
Number of items sold: 12
Average earnings per item: $5.85
Total fees: $54.77
Average fee per item: $4.56
Percentage of sales earned: 56%
Conclusion
What a bummer of a month. I spent a lot of time, worked really hard, and hardly made any money. I spent around 18 hours interacting with buyers across apps, packaging bundles, and traveling to the post office. Ultimately I made a whopping $3.90 an hour, gross. I am however excited about my new PO box. I set one up for my reselling experience because my new apartment complex doesn’t allow direct package delivery. I also decided I wanted a little more privacy when sharing my return address. This ‘business’ expense adds $22 a month to my reselling costs, however I utilize it for receiving packages, so a must-have in my case.
Poshmark was my most profitable app for the second month in a row; I made the most money (by a narrow margin) and I earned a higher percentage of my sales.
For next month, I am going to experiment by listing a bunch of new items without shipping discounts and no longer offer shipping discounts on my old items. A few community members asked about trying apps like ThreadUp and while I considered the possibility of adding ThreadUp to my process, there is a 10 week waiting period for them to process items. I looked at ThreadUp, Crossroads, and Buffalo Exchanges ‘sell by mail’ programs, and ultimately chose Buffalo Exchange’s, because they have reasonable processing times and I have had good luck selling clothes to them in stores. I’ll report back on that as well! See you next month, hopefully it’ll feel like less of a grind.
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