Summer Recap of Resale Apps
Comparing my earnings on Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, and Vinted (July-September 2021)
Haley here, with an extra big report comparing my earnings on Poshmark, Mecari, Depop, and Vinted from July through September 2021. If you want a little more background about what and why I resell, please check out my December & January earnings report which kicked off this series. I have also done reports on my sales in February, March, April, May and June if you want to check out how my reselling shops have performed this year. It’s been very up and down.
For the past three months, I’ve been on quite a journey, both on the resale apps and in life. I spent July sticking to my normal strategies and trying to sell down my old stock before cleaning out my closet in August. Since I was taking a break from this blog in August, I also wanted to focus on revamping my Depop shop to improve my sales on that platform. However, my health had other plans for me; I spent most of August in severe pain from a chronic back condition that prevents me from spending any time on a computer beyond what’s required for my job.
One thing that I could do for the shop was take photos of myself modeling the clothes (taking model shots requires me to stand and move, which is good for my back). Previously, I was photographing the clothes on hangers. Taking these pictures was pretty time-consuming but definitely worth it! You’ll see in the numbers below that once I started modeling things, my Depop sales went up. A bonus: The improved photography also increased my sales on Vinted, which is my favorite platform to sell on since it has no fees for the seller.
Now, let’s dig into the numbers. Keep in mind that the stats reported below represent sales from July 1 through Sept. 30. This is the money I earned from items where the funds were released in this time period. When a buyer purchases something on Poshmark, Mercari, or Vinted, these companies don’t pay the seller until the buyer has received the item and approved it. Any funds not released before the 30th weren’t counted and will be counted in October (even though the sale was technically made before that). I don’t count my earnings until the funds are in my pocket. Whenever I pay shipping for an item, I add this to the platform fees that I subtract from my profits. Platforms often pressure sellers to offer “free” shipping, but this is actually a vendor expense.
Earnings Breakdown
On Poshmark I sold mostly flawed vintage or fast fashion pieces
Poshmark
Total earnings: $85.55
Number of items sold: 6
Average earnings per item: $14.26
Poshmark fees total: $25.45
Average Poshmark fees per item: $4.24
Percentage of sales earned: 77%
Notes: Sales on Poshmark were lower than usual. Most of my new listings were vintage and usually my professional modern clothing sells best on Poshmark. So it isn’t entirely surprising that my sales dipped. I’ve been trying to be diligent about sharing my closet here every couple days because I have noticed this results in more sales.
On Mercari I sold only fast fashion and a ring this month
Mercari
Total earnings: $46.69
Number of items sold: 7
Average earnings per item: $6.67
Mercari fees total: $9.31
Average Mercari fees per item: $1.33
Percentage of sales earned: 83%
Notes: Mercari is typically my top platform, but I seem to have hit a slump here in the last few months. Usually making offers to likers is how I make most of my sales here, but they haven’t been biting lately. I have upped my prices now that I am selling more of my nice vintage and Mercari is notorious for being an app where people expect deals, so I think that might be why I am struggling on this platform now.
I Sold mostly vintage or layering pieces on Depop this month
Depop
Total earnings: $154.57
Average earnings per item: $19.32
Number of items sold: 9
Depop fees total: $78.45
Average Depop fees per item: $9.81
Percentage of sales earned: 66%
Notes: I think I finally figured this app out! Modeling the clothing seems to make a world of difference and I’ve been trying to resave my listings about once a week to bump them up in the search. This seems to be pretty effective because I usually get at least one sale after I do this. As you can see in the numbers above, Depop ends up taking the highest percentage from me because sellers are pressured to offer free shipping. However, the amount of money I get per item is also higher on this app, so I am OK with that. Also, I think that people refrain from negotiating with you on Depop, which is nice because I dislike that part of resale apps. On other apps there is a button that enables buyers to make counter offers on items, but Depop makes you do it via DM. This makes negotiating a bit more work and you have to lowball the seller directly, which I think makes people less inclined to haggle.
On Vinted I sold a pretty mixed bag of vintage and fast fashion
Vinted
Total earnings: $160.40
Number of items sold: 10
Average earnings per item: $16.04
Vinted fees total: $0
Average Vinted fees per item: $0
Percentage of sales earned: 100%
Notes: I think modeling photos work really well on Vinted. I kept getting a warning that the photos I took looked like stock photography which is against the rules on this app, but they still let me post them. If you peruse Vinted you’ll notice the photo quality is much lower compared to most other resale apps. As a result, I think that having extra nice photos really helped me increase my sales. I have no other explanation for why my shop did so well!
Grand Totals for June - September:
Total earnings: $447.21
Number of items sold: 31
Average earnings per item: $14.42
Total fees: $113.21
Average fee per item: $3.65
Percentage of sales earned: 80%
Conclusion
Over these months I spent about 50 hours taking photos, writing listings, and packaging up items. That means I made about $8.94 per hour. This isn’t great, but I know that the time invested in listing things usually pays off in later months. I am feeling optimistic that I can bring up what I make per hour in the future.
Depop and Vinted were my shining stars this month which is not my usual experience, but is exciting because I usually make more per item on these apps. Again, I think the photos of me modeling the clothing made all the difference. I am pretty excited to have my performance on these platforms go up, especially since I have always struggled to sell things on Depop.
How do I plan to optimize my reselling for the next few months? I still need to take modeling photos for all my old listings, which will hopefully get them out the door. I’m approaching a year of being back on the resale apps, so it’ll be time to get rid of some inventory in a few months. After an item has been online for a year I’ll put it on my local buy nothing page. Then I’ll donate what people don’t want.
Also, Vinted is launching a new platform, which is interesting. I’ve talked a bit on this blog about how glitchy and frustrating I find their app so I am hoping the revamping of their platform will fix some of those issues. They got a new round of VC funding in May so I am wondering if this new version is what they spent that money on. I’ve moved my listings over to the new app and so far I don’t see a difference but I haven’t sold anything so I am not sure if they fixed the glitches yet. Fingers crossed this VC funding doesn’t cloud their ethics; I really like the transparent app they’ve built. I’ll keep you updated on what this new platform brings!
Editor: Karrie Witkin | Designer: Haley Marie | Illustrator: Haley Marie | Copy Editor: Katie Frankowicz
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