Six Months of Selling
Comparing my earnings on Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, and Vinted (June 2021)
Haley here, with June's report comparing my earnings on Poshmark, Mecari, Depop, and Vinted. I’m now six months into my resale journey on this blog. If you want to see my results each month check out my December & January, February, March, April, and May sales reports.
I thought this post would be a good opportunity to talk about how my opinions of each app have changed in six months of analyzing my earnings. I'll break this down in the notes section of each app. Otherwise this month was a mixed bag. I spent more time on the apps than I had in the past few months because I started listing some jewelry in addition to clothing. For me jewelry is trickier to list because you’re trying to get the light to hit the piece and when you edit photos you need to be pretty careful that the tones all match the actual piece. Jewelry metals often photograph differently than they look in real life. The Madewell stuff I listed sold pretty quickly and so did the rings, but otherwise sales were a bit slow this month despite the fact that I put in quite a bit of effort. With those general sentiments in mind, let’s dig into the numbers.
Keep in mind that the stats reported below represent sales from June 1st-30th. 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 in June and will be counted in July (even though the sale was technically made in June). 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 a few skirts and dresses as well as a short sleeved sweater.
Poshmark
Notes: In the past 6 months this app went from my most recommended to least recommended, because I’m pocketing a lower percentage of my earnings here than other apps. Also doing things like sharing other people’s items to my own followers feels like a waste of my time. The app is designed so that when you share your own items, they go back to the top of searches. However, Poshmark also heavily encourages sharing other user’s listings, which is time consuming and it is less clear how this improves the visibility of your items. While this is advertised as a social app, most people who are liking and sharing your items are disingenuous because they are really trying to get you to look in their closets. While I consistently make good sales in this app (usually it is in the top two of the four that I use) I just dislike the experience of being on it and the percentage they take.
Total earnings: $63.40
Number of items sold: 5
Average earnings per item: $12.68
Poshmark fees total: $19.60
Average Poshmark fees per item: $3.92
Percentage of sales earned: 76%
Sold a ring and necklace this month.
Mercari
Notes: I love Mercari. If I had to choose just one app to resell on it would be this one. I think their seller tools are by far the best for the seller and the buyer. I also think it is pretty simple to use. The biggest thing that made Mercari feel more intimidating to me was the fact I had to weigh things to know what parcel size to choose. Once you get the hang of shipping it no longer feels like a big deal. I also think buyers on this app aren’t as demanding and you can make the most money with the least amount of effort.
Total earnings: $43.82
Number of items sold: 2
Average earnings per item: $21.91
Mercari fees total: $7.18
Average Mercari fees per item: $3.59
Percentage of sales earned: 85%
Sold nothing on Depop.
Depop
Notes: Six months in and I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing on Depop. I think that Depop is better for having a store than it is for cleaning out your closet. While items seem to sell here for the most money, I also think that the Depop customer responds to styled photography, which requires more effort for the seller. As someone who wants to clean out their closet in the most efficient way possible, styling and modeling every piece would take more than triple the amount of time I currently spend on my listings. This isn’t a criticism of the app or how people use Depop, but I think it might not be the best fit for me. I would still recommend it for the more patient and aesthetically minded. I have ambitions to reshoot all my items to play more to Depop’s aesthetics, but I have been having such a hard time getting around to it.
Total earnings: $0
Number of items sold: 0
On Vinted I sold a pair of jeans and two rings
Vinted
Notes: I really like Vinted. The only reason that I prefer Marcari is that it has much better seller features. Vinted also has a smaller user base than the other apps, which makes it harder to sell things since the audience isn’t as broad. However, I love that Vinted takes no fees from the seller and it is transparent with the buyer about the transaction and shipping fees that they are paying. Other apps put these costs on the seller, making them invisible to buyers who — unless they also use the app to resell — probably aren’t aware there are fees to use these platforms. Lately I’ve noticed that I sell most of my favorite pieces on this app and I enjoy the very kind messages I’ve gotten on here from people who are excited about them. For me, Vinted wins hands down in terms of ethics and community engagement, but my sales are overall the lowest here.
Total earnings: $29.00
Number of items sold: 3
Average earnings per item: $9.67
Vinted fees total: $0
Average vinted fees per item: $0
Percentage of sales earned: 100%
Grand Totals for June:
Total earnings: $136.22
Number of items sold: 10
Average earnings per item: $13.62
Total fees: $26.78
Average fee per item: $2.68
Percentage of sales earned: 83%
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings about my results this month. I worked harder than I have in months prior: I listed new items and was super on top of sharing and keeping up with my price dropping and relisting schedule. I was spending time on the apps daily. As a result, I kind of feel like I should have earned more. I spent 15 hours on the apps this month which comes out to making $9.08 an hour. Technically this is above the federal minimum wage, but that is a pretty low bar. I’m not happy with how this month went, but I am also not mad about it? I made a decent amount of money and my average earnings per item ($13.62) is significantly higher than it was in May ($8.58) and the highest it’s been since January. Seeing this number go up always makes me happy.
I think what threw me the most this past month is my strategic offers and discounting didn’t work as effectively as they usually do. This has me rethinking my overall strategy. I’m unsure whether I really have these apps down as well as I thought I did. I’m hoping to have some time in August to try some new things in my stores. My column is taking a break for a month so I should have some fun updates in September! See you then!
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