Before you shut down your Poshmark closet over the latest changes, read this!

We’re going to cover a lot! I know, you have SO many questions about the Poshmark Shipping Changes! But first, here was the FIRST thing that jumped in my head when I heard the news from a friend: “well, they just killed the platform for the casual seller! That’s why they stayed, shipping was easy!”…well, never fear, my loves! Posh has you covered!!

Let’s talk about that FIRST, and then we will get to the rest of the story! Check out the video below for all the details about the shipping situation, and then we will chat more below.

Now that we have cleared up any concerns you may have had, you just need to make the decision on materials. If you’ll be using what you have on hand around the house, jump on down to the rest of the post. If you’d like to get the free materials Poshmark has arranged for Poshmark sellers, feel free to copy the information below to craft your email. I would recommend, however, saving a few things for the interim while you wait for your materials to arrive.

Get Free USPS Ground Advantage Supplies for Your Poshmark Closet

If you need materials, you can send an email to uspsposhmarkposhmark@victorypackaging.com and just copy the information below for your email.

In the subject line, I placed:

Poshmark Ground Advantage Packaging Request

Below is the template for your email:

Seller Name: <YOUR BEAUTIFUL NAME GOES HERE>

Poshmark Closet:  @yoursupercoolposhmarkclosetnamegoeshere

Mailing Address:

<your beautiful name again>

<789 cool street>

<your town, ST 90890>

Phone: 800-867-5309

Email Address: bestemailaddy@thatdomainyouchose.comnetorg

Packaging requested in order of priority needs:

50    Ground Advantage Poly Envelope 3

50     Ground Advantage Paper Cushion Mailer 2

20      Ground Advantage Padded Poly Envelope 1

25      Ground Advantage Box 1

25      Ground Advantage Box 2

Thank you so much! Please let me know if additional information is required.

<your email signature here>

_{Where did I get this information? Poshmark finally published the details on these shipping changes on the blog and sent out an email to sellers. There a couple of different posts about this. You may have to click around if you’re interested in reading the entire bit.}

The Good, the Bad…my thoughts on the topic…

Usually, I’ve read lots of opinions on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, seen reels, etc…but alas…I’ve recently moved and, frankly, haven’t really read much other than text messages…so…I don’t know what the general consensus is on this topic…so here’s mine:

The initial freakout…

First of all, once I calmed myself and got the facts (in fairness, when I got that text from my friend, such facts were NOT actually available – there were just tidbits and flying rumors!). I didn’t really give it much thought, other than ‘oh well, I guess I’ll just carry on and list more on Ebay because, well, going through another transition period with Poshmark is just not in the game plan right now. And, frankly, I don’t have the mental energy for it.’

Well, as you saw in the video…it seems Poshmark and USPS are prepared for this transition. Am I convinced that this is true? No, I am not. But, for now, I’m trusting the process and doing what they say. I will NOT spend and inordinate amount of time adding new listings to Poshmark until I see how this plays out, but I WILL give it a moment to run it’s course and see if those materials come through.

Reality check for mid-size and larger closets

Lucky for me, I just moved and basically wiped out much of my closet so I didn’t have to move the inventory. Even prior to that, I struggled to maintain 200-300 times. That, in most seller’s views, is not a large closet.

I truly hope this goes well and sellers receive their boxes in a timely manner. Those sellers with large closets, I’m talking about those with close to and over 1000 items – well…good grief. It is simply not reasonable to expect these sellers to wrangle enough ‘on hand’ materials on such short notice. They will be forced to purchase materials elsewhere while they wait for their packaging OR upgrade to the priority ail option. Depending on what is in their closet and the price of this item, this may not be an issue, but the bottom line is this: that $5 per item cuts into profits with NO NOTICE or time to prepare. That’s not cool.

In light of this lack of prep time, I anticipate a great deal of flack from sellers and hope that Poshmark will the issue considering the already hefty commission they receive from us and extend a grace period on that priority mail charge until materials can be distributed.

The plus side for casual closets as well as pro sellers

We live in a society that generally expects free shipping (Thank you Amazon for that – and yet, even some Amazon sellers are starting pull back on the free shipping, have you noticed?). So, this HEFTY cut in shipping cost, in my opinion, will generate more sells…especially for those lower priced items that are sometimes hard sells due to shippings costs. These are sometimes items that we, as sellers, expect to bundle with other items if we even expect them to sell at all on this platform. So, again…this cost reduction can only be a positive boost for sales from this perspective.

Supplies and storage? Oh my.

Well, I dunno. I kind of had a good thing going with a perfect shelf to every imaginable size of Priority Box with a few random brown boxes and envelopes. So, we shall see what this change does my system. I’ve become extremely particular about this storage system so as not to overwhelm the household. Yes, we’re moving to very limited set of options…but this also means MORE random sized boxes being kept from personal shipments. I can’t say I’m thrilled about this. What is one to do?

My suggestion, and what I will likely do myself, is to keep a midsize tall thin box to store miscellaneous broken down boxes in so that things stay reasonably uniform and neat and tidy. That should do well for the random boxes. As for the uniform Ground Advantage materials, these can have their own space where they can stay neat and you can easily grab exactly what you need. Tape and labels, etc, should not change.

If you are just selling your own personal items, I would honestly not keep a supply of anything. Use your shipping supplies from personal packaging as they come in. I have literally had items arrive in gallon zipper bags (NOT recommended!) – not even lying. You can always grab a box or envelope from a friend or neighbor if necessary.

What does this mean for the post office?

Well, this means that THOUSANDS? MILLIONS? I don’t even want to IMAGINE!! of sellers have a STOCKPILE of USPS priority boxes sitting in their closet, den, garage, etc…and they need to go somewhere. Technically, they should be returned to the Post Office. Many will toss them or recycle (please don’t do this – it’s just wasteful) may will use them for other purposes (let’s not start that debate – you have no control over the choices of others). The reality is this – the Post Office is going to be overrun with a massive return boxes…right at the start of the holiday season, and at the same time, bring us a temporary rate hike. I have feelings. I won’t share them. They should not print too many boxes. There will be lots to go around.

If any of my friends and neighbors reading this need priority boxes, hit me up. I’ll slowly return them. It will take a while. I’ll keep some, as I do ship on other platforms and do use priority mail at times.

In summary,

It SOUNDS like a big change, but really, it’s just going to be a box shift. It will be fine, really. And in the long run, customers are saving money, so, theoretically, sellers should make more money. MANY of us asked for this option, so here we are. I do hope, in the near future, we will have a STANDARD option of using Priority Mail. We DO have that option now, with the $5.00 charge. I do not like it being pulled from redeemable funds. That is not good bookkeeping. It’s confusing. Or maybe it isn’t? We will see how it plays out. I’ve never found Poshmark’s reports to be bookkeeping and tax reporting friendly, anyway. They are kind of a nightmare.

We will ge through this. Carry on with yourselves, my loves. This is just a whisper of change and will bring great things. Carry on.