If you’re interested in selling or buying from online secondhand marketplaces, you’re probably wondering which is the best. Two of the top contending reselling apps are Poshmark and Depop.
So what happens when we put them head to head? Stick around for the showdown of Depop vs Poshmark.
Both companies were founded back in 2011. Although, you may have heard of Poshmark well before Depop. Depop has been a slow burn, growing in popularity over the years.
With so many resale apps at our disposal, it can be hard to keep track of the policies on each one.
In this post, we will go over the good, the bad, and everything in between for the Poshmark vs Depop battle, comparing them side by side. We’ll cover topics like the user base, listing forms, selling, shipping, fees, and more.
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Depop vs Poshmark Number Of Users
Both Poshmark and Depop have a mobile app along with a desktop version of the platform that users can sign up on. Although Poshmark and Depop were founded in the same year, one platform continues to draw a wider user base than the other.
Poshmark users have grown to a group of about 80 million people worldwide, while Depop has approximately 35 million users worldwide. Poshmark has its largest user base in North America, while Depop has a strong base of shoppers in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
The interesting statistic comes when looking at the age range distribution of the members on each platform.
The biggest difference between the two platforms may be the fact that Depop draws a younger crowd with a vast majority of its users being under the age of 26. That is why Depop sellers can find their strengths with specific items, most notably vintage items.
Poshmark, on the other hand, has a wide variety of age ranges within its user base. That is also why anything and everything can sell well on Poshmark, as long as it is in demand by users.
What Can I Sell On Each Platform?
When it comes to Depop vs Poshmark, both platforms allow you to sell a variety of different things, within reason and legality, on the platform. Although both online platforms find their strengths in selling secondhand clothes, you can also sell other home goods, accessories, and more on these online marketplaces.
Both Depop and Poshmark support the sale of beauty products, home decor, electronics, art, books, party supplies, and sporting goods. When it comes to clothing items, both platforms have categories for women, men, and kids.
One of the main differences is that Depop does not have a specific category for pet items, while Poshmark does. Additionally, Poshmark typically has an “other” option within each of the categories if your item does not quite fit into one category, while Depop does not.
Listing Form Similarities and Differences
Once it’s time to list an item, you will notice differences within each listing form. Next, we will go over each section.
Pictures
Poshmark has slots for 16 pictures. Depop used to only allow 4 photos, however, has now doubled the limit to 8 pictures. Still, as you can see, Depop only allows half the photos that Poshmark does.
In addition, both platforms have a slot for users to upload a video to really capture the true look, feel, function, and flow of an item. The video must be less than 30 seconds on each platform.
Title
Interestingly enough, Depop does not have a slot on its marketplace form for a title. In the Depop search, you can sort through items only by looking at the cover photos.
Poshmark, on the other hand, allows titles that are up to 80 characters long. When searching on Poshmark, you can see the cover photo and title of the item.
Description
Both Poshmark and Depop allow up to 1000 characters for the description. Here, make sure you use the character count limit to the best of your ability.
Describe the item in detail, and use relevant keywords about the item that may help lead others to your closet.
Category
As mentioned above, Poshmark and Depop have differences in their categories. Both platforms have a specific category for women, men, and kids.
Depop, on the one hand, has an “everything else” category for items that are not women’s, men’s, or kid's clothing.
Poshmark is more specific with its categories, including home, pets, and electronics, along with other categories.
Style Tags / Hashtags
On Poshmark, they are called style tags. On Depop, they’re called hashtags. These are ways to use trending words and phrases to attract potential customers to your closet.
You can use tags to describe the print, style, pattern, occasion, event, or any other relevant descriptor. Here are just a few examples of tags to use:
- Tie Dye
- Vintage
- Coastal grandma
- Barbiecore
- Floral
- Lace
- Prom
Selling Process
Once the item is listed, it will be placed into your Poshmark closet on Poshmark, and your Depop store on Depop. Now, it is visible and searchable by users. Both platforms support the use of the offer feature. By sending and receiving offers, you can negotiate with potential buyers.
This will overall boost the user experience because buyers will feel as if they are getting a good deal, and may be more inclined to purchase.
Depop vs Poshmark Fees
Both platforms charge sellers a fee for selling on the site. Basically, this is a commission fee for using the technology and user base that the platforms have created and curated.
Otherwise, sellers would have to create their own site, perform all the marketing, and attract buyers to their items.
Poshmark fees are very straightforward. Sellers can expect to have 20% of the item price taken out of their earnings. The fees are calculated strictly on the sold price of the item, not including any shipping or taxes.
There is one exception to the 20% rule, and that is when an item sells for $10 or less. If that is the case, the seller will have $2.95 taken out of their earnings.
Depop takes less of a percentage from its sellers. Depop sellers can expect to have 10% taken out of their earnings. However, there is an additional payment processing transaction fee tacked on to the 10%.
In the United States, you can expect to pay a processing fee of 3.3% plus an additional $0.45 for sales processed by Depop. For transactions through PayPal, the processing fees are 3.49% plus a flat fee of $0.49 per sale.
Although, with both fees combined Depop takes less of a chunk of your earnings when compared to Poshmark. If you also sell on another popular online marketplace, Mercari, you can see that Depop fees are more similar to Mercari fees.
Promoted Listings
Depop also has the option to “Boost” your listings to gain more exposure with potential buyers. If you opt-in for boosted listings, you can expect an additional 8% fee to come out of your final sale price.
Poshmark is currently in the beta testing of their new “Promoted Closet” initiative. Although there is currently not much information about this program, it is an effort by Poshmark to allow a competitive challenge for sellers.
As of right now, Poshmark is taking applications from users that have the Poshmark Ambassador II status. If this applies to you and you are interested, fill out this form.
Shipping
Shipping on Poshmark is also very straightforward. Once the item sells, a prepaid USPS Priority Mail shipping label will be sent to your email. All items under 5 pounds will have the same flat rate cost: $7.97.
From here, you can print the label, attach it to your parcel, and ship off the item. Poshmark does not allow you to ship items using an outside shipping label.
If you do this, you risk not being protected by the Posh Protect policy, and even not getting paid at all for your item.
Depop allows some flexibility in its shipping costs. First, there is not a flat rate option. This is beneficial for shipping smaller or less expensive items where the Poshmark $7.97 shipping cost is too hefty.
Depop allows you to enter the item’s weight and have the shipping fee calculated based on that. In addition, you can either ship with Depop’s USPS connection or use an off-site shipping label.
For example, you can use Pirate Ship or some other platform where you may be able to find cheaper postage.
On both Depop and Poshmark, you can choose whether you want the buyer to pay shipping or if you want to pay for it yourself and offer free shipping. As a default, both platforms have settings where the buyer pays the shipping rate.
Poshmark adds some extra flexibility to its shipping discount policy, as you can offer a small discount instead of paying the full $7.97 shipping price yourself.
Getting Paid: Depop vs Poshmark
Depop offers buyers two ways for buyers to pay: directly through Depop payments and PayPal. When a purchase is made through Depop payments, the fees are automatically removed before the final profit hits your account.
If the sale is made via PayPal payments, you will receive the money and then be charged the PayPal fee in a separate transaction.
The timeline for receiving your Depop payment depends on the shipping method used. If the item is tracked, you will receive your earnings 2 days after the item appears as delivered.
If the item you sold is not sent via trackable mail, the earnings will be released 10 business days after the sale date.
You do not have to manually cash out on Depop. The funds will automatically be released to your connected bank account.
Poshmark only allows payment through the app, not through a PayPal account. Users will check out directly on the app or website, and the earnings will go into a “Pending” account on your earnings dashboard.
The seller has to manually cash out their funds once the transaction is complete. Sellers can expect a 2-3 business day turnaround, on average, depending on the bank.
You can also read this in-depth guide on how to get paid on Poshmark for more payment details.
So Which Should I Choose: Depop Or Poshmark?
What if I told you that you didn’t have to choose? It is totally possible to list all of your items on both platforms and see which one performs best.
You can manually list all of your items on both platforms, however, this process can be made a lot easier with Vendoo.
Vendoo is a platform that allows users to crosslist their items to multiple platforms to increase exposure and thus increase sales. Of all of the many platforms supported, Poshmark and Depop are both on that list.
Vendoo has one central listing form where you fill out most of the general information, significantly cutting down the time it takes to list one item on multiple marketplaces. That is why it is truly the best place to start if you're wanting to try a new platform.
They even offer a completely free version of their platform for anyone and everyone to give Vendoo a try.
In conclusion, each platform has its pros and cons. It all comes down to your personal preference. Poshmark is generally very straightforward with a lack of options, which makes things easier for the seller, especially for beginners on Poshmark.
However, Depop adds more flexibility which can also be an advantage to a seller.
Depop has a unique customer base, which can be a learning curve for new sellers who may not be familiar with young adult trends, like those that are millennial and gen z.
But the good news is that Depop is the clear winner in the seller fees category since they take less out of your earnings. Additionally, you can generally save on shipping rates with Depop.
So what are you waiting for?! Now that you know a little bit about two of the most popular marketplaces, take your side hustle to the next level by experimenting with both with Vendoo and see what happens.
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