• Poshmark Canada

    Selling on Poshmark Canada

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m going to talk about selling clothes on Poshmark.

    I started selling in late August. I’ve only sold items that are from my own closet and my family’s. Most items are/were gently used. There are/were a few items that still have tags. If an item is still in good condition, list it! It doesn’t cost anything to list on Poshmark. I’ve sold a number of Forever 21 items that I didn’t think anyone would want. It’s great to give your clothes a second life and they’re going to a new home where they will be worn. Especially if you were planning to donate them, why not make a few dollars?

    I live in Canada which unfortunately means that we don’t have access to free boxes from UPS. Also, if you’re a buyer on Poshmark, you have to pay $12.99 for the tracked shipping. Luckily, my mom hoarded all the boxes from my online purchases so I haven’t needed to buy any boxes yet.

    Ask family and friends if they have clothes to sell or if they have boxes that they don’t need. If you do ask others if they have clothes to sell, make sure to talk to them in advance about how you will split the earnings. Whether it’s 50/50, 70/30 or 100/0, it’s best to come to an agreement first.

    As a seller, if you sell something for $25, you don’t earn $25 because you have to pay taxes on it and Poshmark takes a commission. You’ll earn just over $19 if you haven’t offered any shipping discounts to the buyer. If a sale is under $20, Poshmark takes a flat rate fee of $3.95. Any sale over $20, they take 20% commission. If you offer a discount on shipping to the buyer, you will earn even less.

    As a seller, you should:

    • Have boxes or polymailers, a printer (to print out the pre-paid mailing label), packing tape, tissue paper, scotch tape, bubble wrap or those air pillows to pad anything that’s fragile
    • Share your own listings
    • Share other people’s listings and follow other people daily
    • Add new listings at least once a week. If you’re just starting out, don’t add everything all at once. Add them gradually.
    • If you’ve had a listing up for a while and nothing is happening, delete it and re-list the item. Maybe you need to add more to your description or lower the price a bit.

    For your listings:

    • Make sure to inspect your clothes thoroughly and write any flaws in the description. BE HONEST because you’re less likely to get a complaint. There are still people out there who might make a complaint even if it’s in your description, but that’s not on you.
    • Steam your clothes (This isn’t a must, but it does look nicer when your clothes aren’t wrinkly. It shows that you care)
    • Use natural lighting or lighting that isn’t too cool or too warm so that the colours are accurate.
    • Write good descriptions – If your item is still available from where you bought it, use the pictures and descriptions from the store’s website.
    • List your items at a slightly higher price than you expect to sell for. Also, remember the Poshmark fees. If you want $20 for something, you’ll have to list it for $25 or more. 
    • Don’t forget that the buyer has to pay for $12.99 shipping. Say you have a pair of jeans with the tag on. You paid $100 for them. Don’t expect to get that $100 back because 1) You’d have to list them for over $100 because of the Poshmark fees 2) The buyer isn’t going to pay $100+ and $12.99 shipping on top of that. Especially if the jeans are still available in stores.

    Optional:

    • Own a clothes steamer or iron
    • I like to store my clothes with dryer sheets so that the clothes smell nice and fresh
    • Buy a fabric shaver. These are great even if you’re not selling clothes. They can make old sweaters look good again. It won’t always make clothes look brand new, but they do work! They have cheaper ones on Amazon, but I just recently bought the House of Wonderful Wonder Lint which is great. It reminds me of a hand mixer for baking. It’s not quite as big, but it’s still bigger than the 1st fabric defuzzer I bought which was $10. The $10 works great as well, but if you want to cover more surface area, the Wonder Lint one is bigger than the usual battery-operated ones.

    Congrats, you’ve made a sale!

    • Package them up nicely (I use tissue paper) and when necessary, I will add brown paper or bubble wrap to pad the items.
    • Add a little thank you note for the buyer. It doesn’t have to be a fancy ‘Thank You’ note. You could make your own cards or even use blank index cards to thank the buyer for choosing your closet.

    At this time, I’ve put my closet on a vacation hold. I would say I’ve been getting at least 5 sales every month since I started selling. It wouldn’t be social distancing if I go out to the post office for a non-essential business. I made the decision to do this, but I understand that many people (especially full-time sellers) are continuing to sell because it’s their main source of income. I had several reasons why I put my closet on a vacation hold:

    Just because I’m not selling at the moment doesn’t mean I’m not on Poshmark every day. I still make an effort to share other closet’s listings and follow people. This is the perfect time to continue taking pictures of inventory and writing descriptions for listings to be added. It’s also a great time to go through old listings and re-take pictures if needed.

    Some of you may have questions about income taxes in Canada. It’s best to consult with a professional as I am not an expert on the topic. I don’t want to misinform anyone.

    If you are thinking of starting a Poshmark closet, you can sign up with my invite code JENC26 and you’ll earn $15 CAD for your first purchase! Once you’ve made the purchase, I will also receive $15 credit for a purchase of my own 🙂

    Check out my Poshmark closet!

    Follow my Instagram account for my Poshmark Closet!

    If you have any questions, feel free to message me on Instagram or fill out the contact form.

    Love,

  • Style Goals | A Classic Wardrobe

    Hi Everyone!

    Continuing with “Goals” posts, I thought I’d one on style. For both the makeup and style goals, they aren’t just for 2019, but they are goals I’m setting myself going forward.

    Check out my Makeup Goals!

    Ever since my interest in makeup went up, my clothes buying went down because I gotta save somewhere! So, I don’t think I will need to be instituting an annual budget for clothes. Unlike my makeup buying habits, I wouldn’t say I’m as impulsive with clothes because it’s different. Yes, I’ve bought clothes I didn’t necessarily need, but with clothes, you can try them on and make sure they fit right and for the most part, you can return them. With makeup (especially drugstore makeup that doesn’t have a tester), you’re just buying it based on what you may have read or heard.

    GOAL #1 | Buy more colours and patterns

    If you looked into my closet, you’d see darkness because most of my wardrobe consists of dark blue or black with a touch of colour. Some day, my wish is to have a walk-in closet and it would be really boring to just see walls of black and blue.

    GOAL #2 | Buy better quality

    This doesn’t necessarily mean ‘buy more expensive’ because I can still buy good quality clothes for less at places like Winners and Marshalls. My style is fairly classic and plain, so it’s not like I need the latest jeans or blouses- I’m fine with jeans that were released in 2015.

    Buying better quality is especially important for buying jewellery for me now. A lot of things I’ve bought from Forever21 or Ardene/Claire’s have tarnished. I think I may have gotten an allergic reaction from a ring that I always used to wear. You can definitely tell the difference in appearance- better quality looks super shiny and actually looks silver/gold/rose gold. I love my pieces from Stella & Dot (check out my post).

    I think it’s time to buy better quality bras too. A lot of the time, I got to La Senza to buy bras that are on sale for less than $15. Most of the time when I’m getting dressed, I reach for the same ones. I might as well spend a bit more on an everyday bra and have fewer instead of having 30 bras where I don’t wear 20.

    GOAL #3 | No more shopping at stores like Forever21

    This goes with buying better quality clothes, it’s time to shop my age. Once I passed my 21st birthday and after graduating university, I felt like I should stop buying clothes at Forever21. I already stopped doing this a few years ago when my mom kept telling me to buy better quality clothes. Unless I’m making a DIY Hallowe’en costume, I won’t be stepping foot into a Forever21 store while shopping for myself from now on.

    GOAL #4 | Declutter

    I was reorganizing my room and went through my jewellery to declutter/donate. I am a hoarder; I keep a lot of things because I think, “what if I need this later?” I have a whole dresser full of loungewear and pajamas. I think it’s time I go through some clothes and donate the ones I don’t wear.

    GOAL #5 | Build a Classic Wardrobe with Pops of Colour

    I’ve read numerous articles on building capsule wardrobes and classic wardrobes. I love clothes, shoes, bags and makeup. I don’t think I could ever have a minimalist collection of anything. The items in the Minimalist collections are great starting points, but I want more. For the different articles on building a classic/capsule wardrobe, I own most of the ones they have, i.e. little black dress, knee-high boots, trench coat, dark jeans, black sweater, etc.

    Items I want to add to my wardrobe:

    • Plain white t-shirt (I don’t know why I don’t have any)
    • A coloured blazer (maybe red or blue)
    • Watch (I like Rosefield watches)
    • Patent nude pointed toe pump
    • Wrap/waterfall coat (in black, blue or maybe even bordeaux)- waterfall style is like that drape-y type of coat
    • Classic trench coat (I have a classic beige/tan trench, but it’s a thinner material, it’s not like a water-resistant ones from Burberry/Coach)
    • Comfortable flat ankle boots
      • my cousins wear the Blundstone Chelsea ankle boots, but I don’t think I could pull those off
    • Black riding boots
      • I know ‘comfort brands’ are known for being kind of old lady-ish (i.e. Clarks), but when I was working at Hudson’s Bay, I saw a lot of nice riding boots by brands like Naturalizer and Rockport
    • Designer bag & wallet (maybe a Michael Kors or Tory Burch wallet, and I dream of a YSL crossbody bag, but those are like $3000)
      • I don’t think it’s unreasonable to spend a few hundred on a nice bag and wallet. I take good care of my things, so they’ll last a long time. I have a Longchamp tote that I’ve had for 4 or 5 years and it’s in pristine condition. I’ve used it as my main purse for 2 years now. I love my Longchamp tote, but it’d be nice to get a bag with a shoulder strap so I don’t have to worry about it falling off my shoulder
    • Some day, I would love to own a pair of Gianvito Rossi pumps (Kate Middleton wears these), Christian Louboutins and Jimmy Choos. Also dreaming about the Patent Nude Valentino Rockstuds, but we’ll see if those go out of style since they’re trendy. They’re very expensive, but I’ve heard multiple ladies call them ‘the most comfortable pump they’ve owned’

    What are your style goals?

    Love,

    jen