Depop vs Poshmark - Which is Better for Online Sellers?

Thrift shopping and upcycling have gone through a major resurgence in the last few years thanks to an ever-growing consumer awareness of the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Depop and Poshmark are two online platforms that arose alongside this resurgence, and made it easy for people to thrift from the comfort of their own home. These two platforms have not only brought thrift shopping into the digital age – they’ve revolutionized the way buyers think about thrift shopping in 2023.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at both platforms from a seller’s perspective, and compare Depop vs Poshmark on several key points in order to help you make a more informed decision about where you should sell your second-hand clothes, shoes, accessories, and more!

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Overview of Depop and Poshmark

Despite both sites offering an ecommerce platform to sell pre-owned fashion goods, Depop and Poshmark cater to slightly different consumers and offer somewhat different selling and shopping experiences. In this section, we’ll briefly go over each marketplace and examine what items you can sell on each one.  

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What is Depop?

Depop is an online platform for selling second-hand goods. Founded in 2011 primarily as an online community/marketplace for readers of PIG magazine (an arts, fashion, and culture publication), this marketplace allows users to interact on the platform much like they would on social media apps – every user has their own profile and can “find friends” on the platform thanks to built-in Twitter and Facebook integration. The main page includes a feed that can be personalized and tailored to your interests.

Depop allows sellers to create their shop as a brand, meaning that you can choose to offer just a few of your second-hand items for sale, or create your very own branded store selling your unique designs. On the Depop app, storefronts look almost identical to Instagram profiles, with tiled pictures of items available for purchase.

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What Can You Sell on Depop?

Over the years, Depop has expanded its platform to allow the sale of much more than second-hand clothes. Today, sellers on Depop can sell beauty, makeup and skincare products, jewelry, art, home décor, kids’ clothing, sports equipment, transportation (think scooters and skateboards), books & magazines, film, music, and almost everything else through the “other” category. Note that Depop prohibits the sale of certain items, including the majority of drop-shipped items, services, and more. Click here for a complete list of items prohibited for sale on Depop.

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What is Poshmark?

Like Depop, Poshmark is an online marketplace for selling second-hand goods. Poshmark is often thought of as Depop’s older millennial sibling, but it was actually founded in 2011, the same year as Depop. The platform offers a similar community feel, with no differentiation between a buyer and seller account – any account can sell as well as buy.

Poshmark enables free communication between users, and hosts live shopping events called Posh Shows where sellers can make sales and interact with buyers in real time. Users can follow one another, and every user has a tailored social-media style home feed with their followed shops, brands they may like, and new listings that have been shared by the sellers they follow.

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What Can You Sell on Poshmark?

Poshmark is a platform for selling new or second-hand women's, children’s and men's clothing and fashion accessories, unused beauty & wellness products, as well as certain home goods, pet items, and electronics.

Poshmark prohibits the sale of replicas, live animals, food, and more. Read Poshmark’s complete prohibited products policy here.

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Comparing Poshmark vs Depop: What are the Differences?

Both Depop and Poshmark are similar in that they are a combination of a selling platform and social media site, but there are some key differences between the way each marketplace facilitates the sale of secondhand goods.

For starters, buyer and seller communication is managed a little differently on Depop and on Poshmark. Depop has a more familiar direct message system, where buyers and sellers can communicate directly with one another. Poshmark, on the other hand, lets buyers discuss items for sale on a public message board that is associated with each item. It does not have the option for private messaging between sellers and buyers, but does enable public discourse on a variety of additional forums, including live chats at its Posh Show live sale events.

Secondly, Poshmark has an offer system in place, similar to eBay’s. Buyers can make an offer on an item and sellers can either accept, decline, or counter the offer using this system. Depop does not have the same system in place, and negotiations must be done via DM between seller and buyer.  

Finally, each platform has a slightly different fee structure and payment scheme. We’ll cover each of these differences more in depth in the next section of this article.

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1. Selling Fees on Depop and Poshmark

As platforms created to help ordinary people clear out their closet and give their old clothes a chance at a new life, both Poshmark and Depop have relatively simple fee systems and payout schemes in place. In this section we’ll go over each marketplace from a commissions and fees perspective to help you decide which platform is best for you.

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Depop Selling Fees

Depop has no listing fee, but charges a fee of 10% from your order total (including shipping) whenever you make a sale. Additionally, every sale will incur a transaction fee that depends on the payment method used. For US sellers using Depop Payments, the fee is 3.3% + $0.45 per transaction (calculated from the order total); for US sellers using PayPal, the fee is 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction.

Additionally, if you’ve used Depop’s “Boosted Listing” feature to promote your listings and made a sale through the Boosted Listing, Depop will charge an additional Boosted Listing fee of 8%.

Finally, if you’ve used a Ship With Depop label to send an order out to your buyer, the cost of the label will be deducted from your sale if you’ve offered the buyer free shipping.

Read more about Depop selling fees here.

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Poshmark Selling Fees

Poshmark has taken an even more pared-down approach to selling fees – no listing fees, no transaction fees, and a commission based on the total sale price.

For sales totaling $15 or less, Poshmark charges a flat fee of $2.95. All sales over $15 are subject to a 20% fee.  

Read more about Poshmark selling fees here.

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2. Payment and Shipping

Shipping your items and getting paid are the two main things that will be on your mind after you’ve listed your items on your platform of choice. In this section, we’ll take a look at the shipment options each platform offers its sellers, and examine how you can withdraw your money once you’ve made a sale.

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Depop Payments and Shipping

On Depop, you can accept buyer payments either with PayPal or with Depop Payments. For payments accepted with PayPal, you’ll get your money through PayPal. If you’re using Depop Payments, you’ll be able to get the money deposited directly to your bank account (provided you have a PayPal account linked to your Depop account). Read more about getting paid with Depop Payments here, and get more general information about payout timeframes and more here.

When it comes to shipping your orders out to your customers, Depop lets you ship either with a Depop-provided prepaid USPS label (find out more here) or with your own shipping method. If you use your own method, you’re required to provide a tracking number in order to mark the order as shipped in the app.

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Poshmark Payments and Shipping

On Poshmark, you’re able to withdraw your funds at any point in time, and you have several options when deciding how you would like to be paid. You’ll be able to choose to receive your money by bank transfer, check, instant transfer (with participating debit cards and subject to a fee), PayPal, or Venmo. Read more about getting paid on Poshmark here.

In terms of shipping your orders, Poshmark.com only allows shipping to the United States and its territories. Any time you make a sale, Poshmark will send you a prepaid shipping label for you to use to ship the item to your buyer. You are required to use this label, but shipping costs (a flat rate of $7.67) will be paid for by the buyer, with the exception of shipping on bundle orders that exceed 5lbs. You can read more about shipping orders on Poshmark here, and learn more about shipping rates here.

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3. Listing Requirements

Keeping with the indie thrift shop vibe, both Depop and Poshmark have relatively few listing requirements when compared to your run-of-the-mill ecommerce marketplaces. That doesn’t mean, however, that a well-made listing isn’t important for attracting buyers and making sales. This section will look at the listing requirements for each marketplace, as well as listing “good practices” on Depop and Poshmark for ensuring your listings rank highly in searches and attract buyers.

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Depop Listing Requirements

Depop requires an at least one original item image (no stock photos – only your own photo), a title, and an item description. Depop allows sellers to upload up to four photos and one video per listing, and limits item descriptions to 1000 characters. Aside from that, you’ll need to select an item category and subcategory, size, quantity, price, and shipping costs.

You’ll also have the option to input the brand of the item you’re selling; if you know the brand, include it. Depop also has the option of including up to five hashtags on each listing, which are invaluable when it comes to optimizing your listing for Depop’s search algorithm. Use all five, and make sure to use hashtags that are both popular and relevant to your item.

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Poshmark Listing Requirements

Poshmark requires photos of the item you’re selling, a title of up to 50 characters, an accurate item description, size of the garment, the original price (estimate this if you don’t know the original retail price), and your listing price. You’ll also have to select a main and sub category for your item.

You’ll be able to upload up to 8 photos, and you should include as many as you can. Brand is an optional attribute, but if you have this information, include it. You’ll also be able to select up to two colors for the item – take full advantage of this feature as well, as it can help when buyers filter their search by color. Even though it’s optional, it’s important to include the quantity of the item you’re selling, as well as indicate that it’s new with tags if it is.

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4. Social Media Presence

While both marketplaces are a form of social media in their own right, both Depop and Poshmark have a strong social media presence that can help you get the word out about your store, albeit on slightly different parts of the social media sphere. A robust and active social media presence is always a good thing to have when running an online business, and the more established a marketplace is on various social media platforms, the easier this will be.

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Depop’s Social Media Presence

It’s easy to see that Depop took its design and UI cues from Instagram, and it’s plain to see why – Depop positioned itself as the new, not-your-grandma’s thrift shop ecommerce platform for the young, trendsetting, and fashionable. As a matter of policy, Depop has encouraged its sellers to promote their stores (and in turn, Depop itself) off-platform on social media apps like Snapchat and TikTok, as well as more traditional social media sites like Facebook and Twitter (which Depop directly integrates with), leading to a robust presence on virtually every social media platform.

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Poshmark’s Social Media Presence

Poshmark has taken a similar approach to social media presence by offering direct integration with Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Combined with its Facebook-style layout and home feed, it’s easy to see why Poshmark is often considered the millennial’s choice for online thrifting. In this more traditional social media sphere, Poshmark has a very strong presence. For a sense of scale, the Poshmark Pinterest account alone gets north of 10 million views a month!

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5. Advertising and Promotions – Which is Better, Depop or Poshmark?

When it comes to advertising and promoting your store, both platforms are pretty easy to navigate, even for inexperienced sellers. This section will discuss the advertising options available on each platform to give you a better understanding of each and help you decide which is right for your store.  

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Advertising on Depop

Depop offers sellers the ability to promote their listings in searches, known as Boosted Listings. Boosted Listings are a way of getting your listings placed in dedicated Boosted Listing tiles in a given search, thereby making them more visible to potential buyers.

All sellers can use the Boosted Listings feature after 28 days of opening their selling account, and will only be charged the 8% Boosted Listing fee if an order results from a click on the item in the Boosted Listing tile. Depop considers a sale to have resulted from Boosted Listings if a customer purchased the item within 28 days of having clicked the Boosted Listing tile.

Learn more about Boosted Listings on Depop here.

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Advertising on Poshmark

Poshmark does not have a promoted listings feature, or any other advertising system in place, for that matter. Instead, sellers can share their listings with their followers to boost buyer engagement and drive sales, but this requires a considerable amount of hands-on work.

All of Poshmark’s promotion tools are hands-on, and include

• Posh Shows: A live-stream shopping event where buyers and sellers can interact, and where buyers can make purchases in real time.
• Posh Parties: Themed events hosted by Poshmark, geared towards driving sales using a particular theme. All sellers can join Posh Parties, and choose which items from their closet (store) they’d like to include in a given Posh Party.
• Bulk Offers to Likers: Send discount offers to buyers who liked your item in bulk.
• Price Drops: Drop your price on listings in bulk, and automatically notify anyone who liked your item of the drop in price.

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Pros and Cons of Depop vs Poshmark

Every marketplace has its own unique characteristics and customer base, and these can be either a pro or con depending on the individual seller and the items they’re selling. Poshmark’s strong suit is its reputation for selling high-end goods at reasonable prices, as well as its emphasis on buyer-seller engagement. The marketplace has leaned into this reputation by offering the opt-in Posh Authenticate service, a service designed to facilitate the safe sale of authentic luxury goods on the platform.

The downsides include the lack of real advertising schemes available, and the relatively limited flexibility you have as a seller in terms of shipping, buyer communication, and more.

On the other hand, with its younger and more trendy feel, Depop is the internet’s cool thrift shop. Featuring an Instagram-like interface that attracts a younger customer base, Depop’s selling experience is more in line with other ecommerce platforms. It has a promoted listings feature, direct buyer communication, and more freedom when it comes to your order fulfillment options.

The downsides to Depop include a lack of offers feature, and a more complicated fee system.

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How to Use Depop as a Seller

Using Depop as a seller is a simple and straightforward experience. You’ll need to set up your selling account, which requires providing your address and linking your PayPal account, and you’re ready to start listing. There are no listing fees or lengthy verification processes needed – you can simply set up your account and start selling.

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How to Use Poshmark as a Seller

Poshmark has an equally simple setup process for sellers, with a similar signup process. List your items, and wait for a sale. Once you’ve made a sale, Poshmark will even email you a shipping label to use to ship your order out to your buyer. No listing fees, no verification, and a commission only when you make a sale.

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Final Thoughts

Both Poshmark and Depop are great avenues for selling secondhand goods, but each one requires a slightly different set of seller skills. For Poshmark, an active and hands-on approach is a must, both for your listings and for your customer base. Depop, on the other hand, rewards sellers with an up-to-the-minute knowledge of trends, and a strong presence in younger social media spheres such as Snapchat and TikTok.

Each platform offers a unique experience for its sellers, but many sellers will oftentimes choose to list their items on both platforms with the help of a third-party multi-platform listing management service like ExportYourStore, which enables sellers to easily sell both on Poshmark and Depop simultaneously.

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FAQ for Selling on Depop vs Poshmark

In this section, we’ll address a few of the common questions sellers have when deciding whether they should sell on Depop vs Poshmark. Browse through the questions below to get a better idea of which marketplace is a good choice for your business.

Q: What is the difference between Depop and Poshmark?

Depop and Poshmark are both online platforms for selling secondhand goods (primarily fashion). They differ slightly in seller and buyer experience, as well as in the type of products and buyers they generally attract. Depop tends to cater to younger buyers looking for unique and vintage pieces, while Poshmark is better known as a platform for reselling higher-end goods.

Q: What type of products can you sell on Depop and Poshmark?

Depop allows sellers to sell fashion related items and clothes, makeup and skincare products, décor, sports equipment, transportation, magazines, film, music, and more.

Poshmark allows sellers to list secondhand clothes and fashion-related items, unused beauty and self-care products, home goods, pet supplies, and electronics.

Q: What are the fees associated with Depop and Poshmark?

Depop charges a 10% commission for each sale made on the platform, plus a seller location and payment method based transaction fee for each transaction. Additional and optional costs include a Boosted Listing fee for sales made through a Boosted Listing, and shipping fees charged by Depop when you offer free buyer shipping and use a Ship With Depop label.

Poshmark has a simpler fee structure in place for sellers. Any sale up to $15 is charged a flat fee of $2.95, while all sales over the $15 threshold are charged a 20% commission fee.

Q: Is it possible to sell on both Depop and Poshmark?

As you’ve likely gathered by now, there is not one simple answer to the question “which is better, Depop or Poshmark?”, which is why many sellers choose to offer their second-hand goods on both platforms simultaneously.

Doing this can be a bit of a juggling act, however, which is where the use of third-party listing management tools like ExportYourStore can come in handy. Whether you’re currently selling on Depop or Poshmark, you can use ExportYourStore to integrate your current selling channel with any selling platform of your choice, and easily manage your listings and inventory across platforms.