My Favorite 4 letter word is...S-O-L-D

Continuing with my decluttering goals, in recent weeks I've spent time selecting and marketing some of my never worn things such as shoes and tops or slightly worn items such as bags and jewelry on the social marketplace Poshmark. Last weekend I reached my 10th sale. See photos below for a selection of my sales. (Would you buy these items?) That 10th sale permits me to access the Poshmark Wholesale Market. Don't know anything about the Wholesale Market so investigating it is on the agenda.

Before starting on Poshmark I didn't do any preliminary research covering how to be successful with it. Looking back I should have read pointers and tips which probably would have made some aspects of selling on Poshmark easier, or maybe even more profitable.

The top things I've learned so far: 1. Pricing the item is difficult. I think experience will inform my pricing judgment as time goes on. 2. Shipping is an important aspect of the sale and impacts potential profit.

Pricing

I've spent a good portion of my career doing competitive research. So naturally my pricing strategy here has included looking for the same or similar items on Poshmark and other social marketplaces such as Mercari and Tradesy. (Still deciding if I'd sell my better stuff on the RealReal) to get a starting point for the price. For the items I'm selling and where there's a match on any of the social marketplace sites, I've been underpricing my items. Of course the condition among the compared items vary so I use my best guess to see how my item compares. On top of that, I've been pretty quick to lower prices to those who liked the items and then also lower the prices to the public. These price reductions certainly helped my things move. My primary goal is to declutter and my secondary goal is income so I'm not concerned about my pricing strategy. Yet, so not to be foolish and almost giving things away"will be reconsidering pricing in the days ahead. For those where income is the key consideration, highly recommend that you focus on finding out how to price items before signing on to Poshmark or any other resale site.

Shipping

Packing Based on my experience, recommend you sell things that are easy to pack. If the item doesn't fit in a USPS Priority Mail box, you need to buy your own box. Odd shaped items such as handbags don't easily fit into these boxes. In my area, these shipping boxes are at least $4.00 or more. Also factor the time it takes to go to the store to buy the boxes.

Shipping price. Since five pounds is the limit on Poshmark before additional postage costs kick in on top of the $7.45 you are charged if you offer free shipping, (*) focus on selling items that weigh no more than 5 pounds, including the item, wrapping and the weight of the shipping box. (3) Shipping Materials: My first sales was a big Tory Burch leather tote. The tote was relatively large so I used lots of tissue paper and bubble wrap. These costs add up quickly. Furthermore, making sure the handles didn't get bent while packing was challenging!

(*) Poshmark sets a fee of $7.45 for shipping for five pounds or under. The buyer or shipper pays for it. Since my first sale I've picked up the $7.45 cost for each package. The $7.45 is deducted from my earnings. Poshmark also has the option of discounted shipping for buyer. I probably should not have opted to pick up the shipping cost because I'm having a difficult time convincing myself to change it. Will reconsider.

I'm finding this an interesting and fun experience. So much to learn and share!