My Experience with Poshmark Canada (so far)

I know I am late to the Poshmark game, even for a Canadian, but lets start with what may be an obvious confession: I was a skeptic. I’ve been an off-and-on eBay user for the better part of 2 decades, but as my thrifting has taken off, I have used online resale platforms less and less as a means of purchasing clothing. Online resale cannot compete with thrifting on price, and I am fortunate to live in an area where thrifting offers excellent choice for my size and style preferences. I did look at Poshmark when the app was first launched in Canada, since I had heard American friends extolling its values, but was not immediately impressed. Price-wise, it was no better than eBay while the selection was worse. Months passed, and I ignored the app despite the fact that friends like Sherry (from Save Spend Splurge) continue to rave about the great deals they were finding through it.

Well, I am ready to change my tune.

I am not sure what prompted me to open the app again recently, but I was immediately struck by how many more listings were suddenly available – even for my more niche designers of interest. The app took some getting used to – it’s not as intuitive for me as eBay, and has a worse search function – but it has features that I do like a lot. My favourite is the option to “like” a listing; it’s equivalent to placing it on your eBay “watch list” with the added bonus that the seller will often extend you a “special offer” (i.e. discount) within a short time frame later to entice you into buying the item. Personally, I prefer responding to an offer versus making one first, so this system works well for me. Moreover, I like the offer process as a whole better on Poshmark than eBay (even when I am the one making the first move). It’s so easy, in fact, that I have often made lowballs offers not expecting them to be accepted and … oops, they were. [Sidenote: always bid responsibly, of course.]

Having purchased a half dozen items over the past month – I know, I know – I feel like I’ve got enough experience under my belt to share my thoughts here with other potential fellow Poshmark newbs. [Are there any? LOL!] First up, let me reconfirm: Poshmark cannot compete with thrifting on price alone. Even with the shipping discount that the app offers ($12.99 flat rate shipping through Canada Post which is CHEAP, let me tell you, here in the Great White North, sigh), prices are inevitably higher. I have a concrete example of that: the Zara floral crop top I shared recently. I looked it up on Poshmark after experiencing regret over not thrifting when the opportunity first came up. There was one listing for $20; even had I been able to negotiate a discount, with shipping, it would have cost more than double than what I ended up paying at Value Village. That being said, there are other ways in which Poshmark is a valuable resource, which I am going to address below.

Second, as with any resale platform, you have to come in armed with knowledge. You have to know your measurements, and not be afraid to ask for more information from sellers, because you cannot rely on sizing alone. On the whole (and there are plenty of exceptions), Poshmark sellers tend not to be as consistent as eBayers about including measurements in their listings, but they seem to be promptly responsive to questions. I also check prior messages on an item to see if someone else has already asked for measurements – they usually have. You also have to know your brands and what they are worth – both in terms of retail, and how much you’re willing to spend. I’ve noticed that certain brands are more popular on Poshmark, in the sense that they resell for a higher percentage of retail value; it’s worth “shopping around” to other resale platforms to see if you can get a better deal or, indeed, wait for a sale at the retail store. As I mentioned, it’s super easy to get sucked into a offer/counteroffer scenario, and I find that it helps to have a firm bottom line in place so you avoid later buyer’s regrets.

I haven’t had quite enough experience yet to share tips and tricks for finding cool deals on Poshmark, but here is my general approach to using the app: (1) looking up listings for higher end designers that are hard to find in my local thrift stores; and (2) looking for very specific items that I haven’t had luck thrifting over a number of months.

Examples? Why, of course.

This Dries Van Noten skirt is my favourite Posh find to date. Stock photos don’t do it justice; just wait till you see my outfit later this week. I “paid up” for it a lot, if you use thrift prices as a benchmark, but this is a piece that I would likely never find in new condition at a thrift store. Mine came with the Nordstrom tags still attached, and I paid about 10% of the retail price – a bargain by consignment standards. DVN is my favourite designer, and this is a very “Dries” piece, if that makes sense. I adore it.

Similar story with this Marni top (another favourite designer):

Basically, I stalk all new listings regularly, and “like” the ones that are both appealing AND listed at a decent price. For my top designers, anything under $100 warrants further attention, but the number is flexible depending on the designer, the piece, and the likelihood of finding something similar at thrift. Then I either wait for the seller to make me an offer, or make an offer of my own. I ended up scoring this blouse for $30CAD plus shipping, which was a very nice surprise.

In terms of the second category of items I stalk on Posh, this Gap sweater is a good example:

This isn’t a pricey designer item, but I am personally obsessed with Gap novelty stripe sweaters, and this specific piece reminded me of Kenzo’s tiger designs. It’s not a style I have ever seen in thrift stores here, and while I may one day find it there, I was willing to pay a premium to get it NOW. Again, I was able to negotiate the price down to something I felt was reasonable (compared to what I would pay on eBay or local consignment) and I went for it.

Another example is this Target dress:

I wrote about this last week, but I have been wanting a star print dress for a long time and my first choice – by Valentino, sigh – has not been easy to track down (at thrift or otherwise). Nor, surprisingly, has a good alternative. So I pulled up a list of star print dresses on Poshmark, and looked for one that met as many of my requirements as possible, for the lowest price possible ($15CAD plus shipping). Voila. I am very happy with this piece, and while I may eventually upgrade it – should the elusive Valentino come across my path – I am quite content with it in the meantime.

If you’ve been a longer term Poshmark user, I would love to hear your thoughts on the app: how you use it, your best finds, etc. And please share tips and tricks with the rest of us in the comments too!