There’s always some risk involved when it comes to online shopping. Most of us are extra careful before adding clothing items to our cart—we check the product descriptions, sizing charts, and ensure that we’re buying from reliable sites or sellers. As such, people who haven’t used Poshmark before may be hesitant to try out the site for fear of getting scammed. While sometimes it’s a hit or miss, there’s actually a way for you to avoid poor-quality items while retaining your privacy.
What Is Poshmark?
If you don’t know what Poshmark is, it’s a well-known website where you can either buy or sell secondhand apparel. Poshmark is fairly new compared to other similar sites, but it continues to grow in popularity. It functions quite similarly to websites like Mercari or eBay, but Poshmark’s options are more narrowed down—only makeup, clothes, and accessories are allowed.
Is Poshmark Legit?
Now that you understand Poshmark a bit more, you may be wondering: is Poshmark legit? Well, yes, Poshmark is a legitimate website where sellers have received money for the sales they’ve made, while buyers have actually received the items they bought. However, as can be seen on Poshmark reviews, not everyone is happy with their purchases. Poshmark itself, as a website, is reputable, but we can never be sure if the seller or the buyer is dishonest.
Fortunately, Poshmark has implemented a couple of protections or regulations that benefit both the seller and buyer. For instance, a buyer has the option to return their order to the seller if they’re not happy with it. In fact, the seller won’t receive the payment until the buyer approves the order.
Making Poshmark Safe for Consumers
To avoid scams or to make yourself feel more secure and confident when ordering from Poshmark, here are some solid tips you need to keep in mind.
Protect Your Real Identity
When creating a Poshmark account, it’s perfectly acceptable to choose a username that has nothing to do with your personal life and, therefore, can’t be traced back to you. You don’t have to type in personal details about yourself on your profile page if you don’t want to. The only personal data you need to share is your mailing address so that the seller can ship your order to your home—or wherever you want it delivered.
If you’re not comfortable with this, you can either set up a P.O box or have your orders delivered to your office instead.
Double-Check Your Purchases
When you want to order something from Poshmark, you need to make sure (and make sure again) that what you’re ordering is what you actually want. In fact, this is advice you need to keep in mind for online shopping in general. There are many instances where a buyer is left disappointed because the product they received didn’t reach their expectations or didn’t fit.
Poshmark isn’t to blame in this case, and sometimes, the seller isn’t at fault, too—as long as they included the proper product descriptions. It’s your responsibility as a buyer to take a moment and thoroughly and carefully review the product you want to get.
Check the Brand or Materials Used
As we all know, clothing items are made from all kinds of materials. Some clothes could be made from poor-quality cloth, while others are more durable. This makes all the difference because durable materials last longer. Before clicking the “Add to Cart” button, take a look at the brand and material used first so that you at least have a good idea of how good or bad the item’s quality is going to be.
Check the Size Chart
It’s common knowledge that clothing items don’t have consistent sizes across the various brands. As such, one of the first things you need to do is check the size chart or ask the seller for the item’s exact measurements. Of course, you need to know your body’s measurements, too, so make sure you have that information on hand.
Protect Your Money
Most importantly, you don’t have to worry about giving your payment information because the sellers on the site don’t actually get to see it. Poshmark itself is the one that processes all the payments on the website. Once you approve or confirm that you’re satisfied with the item you received, then and only then will Poshmark pay the seller directly.
Remember always to take photos of the products you receive when you’re not satisfied so that you can file a dispute. Poshmark will help you out if the product you received isn’t the same as the seller’s description.
How to Recognize Fakes on Poshmark
It’s actually against Poshmark’s policy to sell knock-offs of fakes, but there will always be a few sellers who somehow manage to get away with this act. Fortunately, if you know what to look for, there are ways for you to tell if a listing is fake or real. Most of the time, fake listings usually have to do with branded items like Chanel or Gucci since they can sell them for a much higher price.
So, what do you need to do to spot knock-offs and stay as far away as possible from them?
- Don’t order from just about anyone; make sure the seller you’re going to buy from is trustworthy or has a good reputation. You can check the seller’s “about” page to see how many sales they’ve already made on Poshmark, along with notes or reviews from people who have bought from them before. If the seller has a high rating and already made many sales, they’re most likely selling genuine products.
- The listing should have clear photos of the clothing item with its tags, boxes, and brand logos intact.
Is Poshmark Safe for Sellers?
We know now that Poshmark is safe for buyers, but how does it treat sellers? Poshmark’s marketplace caters well to sellers, too, but there are some extra measurements you can take to ensure your safety as a seller.
Returns & Refunds
To ensure that a buyer won’t open a claim saying that the item they received isn’t like what the seller described, the product description you add to your apparel should be as thorough and as detailed as possible. Ensure you’re honest about what you’re selling and include any flaws and damages if there are any. Upload clear and actual photos of the products—don’t just find images on the internet.
Receiving Payment
Poshmark is very clear when it comes to its seller fees, so you already have a good idea about how much you’ll receive even before someone buys from your page. As soon as the buyer approves of the order, Poshmark will immediately give you the money you’ve earned.
Conclusion
There may be a few bad eggs on Poshmark, but the website as a whole is pretty reliable. Poshmark has many sellers, and you need to know what to look for if you want to stay away from scams and knock-offs.
