r/BehindTheClosetDoor

Here is the saga of a 35-item bundle, endless lowball offers, and the inevitable 4-star review 🙃

I need to vent to people who understand the absolute circus resale sites can be!

I’m in the middle of a major move and trying to clear out my closet. We’re talking hundreds of items, generally in excellent condition, including Lululemon, Coach, Michael Kors, etc.

I decided to run some pretty generous clearance promotions. One was 40% off your ENTIRE bundle as long as you included two qualifying items from certain brands. Free shipping on discounted bundles over $100. Pretty straightforward, right?

Enter Buyer X.

Round 1: She builds a THIRTY-FIVE ITEM bundle worth $1,385. I send her the advertised 40% discount - $831 plus free shipping.

She immediately declines. Okay, fine 🤷‍♀️

Round 2: She builds another bundle. Twelve items worth $570, including several Lululemon pieces. She offers $206.

I counter at $342, which is exactly the advertised 40% discount.

She counters at $240.

Meanwhile, she continues liking more items in my closet, adding and removing items from bundles. But never once sends ME an offer 😂

Round 3: ANOTHER bundle. This one is $305. She offers $150. I counter at $183 - again, exactly the advertised promotion. (I may have gotten slightly petty at this point and was not offering this buyer any further deals.)

At this point, I’ve politely explained that promotional pricing is firm and I’m not offering additional discounts. Everyone gets the same deal.

Eventually, she purchases a TEN ITEM bundle during my clearance sale. Seven of these items were from Lululemon. She got the whole bundle for $145 and free shipping.

I wrap everything in tissue, pack everything up in a giant box and ship it off. Everything in my closet is clean, but I have two dogs, so occasional hair is possible.

And today, the rating arrives ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Four stars. Reason? Item cleanliness.

After ALL THAT - Are you kidding me?!? 😂😭

Look, I understand that buyers expect clean merchandise, and that’s completely reasonable. But after weeks of negotiations, adding and removing items from multiple bundles, enormous discounts, and finally completing the sale, that last little star deduction was the cherry on top.

(BTW - I’ve shipped over 200 orders and have a 4.9 rating at this point.)

I genuinely wish Poshmark allowed sellers to rate buyers, too. Some transactions require an extraordinary amount of patience and customer service that other sellers never get to see.

Anyway, I got paid, the transaction is complete, and I’ve decided this particular customer relationship has reached its natural conclusion 😂

Fellow Sellers: What’s your most exhausting buyer experience? Please tell me I’m not alone.

Poshmark staff if you’re here please listen!

1. Please add some sort of penalty for buyers who make an offer and their card declines. Give them 24 hours to update payment and then give them a strike on their account or something. It’s so unfair to us sellers when offers are supposed to be binding and people regularly ghost when their offer gets accepted and the card declines.

2. Please allow us to toggle notifications for declined offers. I DO NOT CARE and do not want to know that someone declined my offer, and the notification is annoying because it looks like an offer. Buyers have a right to decline offers and should be able to - even though many sellers find it annoying- but just allow us to toggle that notification off.

These two things are mild annoyances as a seller and I really see no downside for Poshmark in implementing these

I’m considering growing my reselling into a small side hustle I can run from home, and I’d love to hear from people who have experience doing this successfully.

I’m a stay-at-home mom of four, so I’m looking for something flexible that I can work on around my family’s schedule. I’ve already sold clothing, baby items, and accessories on Poshmark and vinted, so I’m familiar with researching brands, creating listings, photographing items, and shipping orders. I’m not completely new to reselling, but I haven’t tried sourcing inventory in bulk.

I’m considering a few different approaches:
Sourcing individual pieces from thrift stores and Goodwill outlets. Buying clothing by the pound,
purchasing small wholesale or liquidation lots,
eventually maybe buying a clothing pallet if the numbers make sense.

I’m in Northern Illinois and am thinking about visiting the Goodwill Outlet in Romeoville to see what I can find. I’d probably source once a month or every other month rather than making frequent trips.

I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people who have been doing this for a while!

A few questions I’m trying to figure out:
Is reselling clothing still worth it? Are you making a reasonable profit after fees, shipping supplies, inventory costs, and your time?
Where do you source your inventory? Are thrift stores and bins more profitable than wholesale lots or liquidation pallets?
What brands or categories are actually selling well for you right now? I’m particularly interested in women’s clothing, denim, and contemporary brands.
Is buying pallets worth the risk? Or is it better to handpick inventory until you really understand your numbers?
How much inventory do you realistically need to make this worthwhile as a side business?
What would you do differently if you were starting over today? I’d love to hear about mistakes, sourcing strategies, or things you wish you’d known earlier.
I’m not expecting easy money, and I’d rather start small and learn than tie up a lot of money in inventory that doesn’t sell. I’m hoping to build something sustainable that fits around family life.
Thanks in advance! I’d especially appreciate honest experiences from people who are actively reselling, including what hasn’t worked for you.

Had a guy buy a pair of shoes that were detailed exactly as described with photos taken at every single angle bc they had scratches on the leather and wanted to make sure they were all visible. This dude opens a case, whining about the flaws, uploads photos of said flaws that were the same marks seen in my photos, then proceeds to ask for a refund that would be more than half of the total cost! Um no? Trying to make it my problem bc he chose to not look through all of the photos (or this is his scheme). Return the shoes or rate me low. Idgaf. Sick of all these refund requests! It’s really gotten out of hand.

I have sold gently used clothing or new with tag pieces on Poshmark over the last few years but never any undergarments. Since having my baby a few years ago, my body has changed dramatically and I have gone through 4 or 5 different bra sizes.

Some of these bras I have only worn once or twice and are in excellent condition. Is there a secondhand market for these gently used bras? More importantly would you consider it gross?

So I had a listing up for a pair of black velvet pants - for months. It was a very plain listing with the measurements. Pants were in like new condition. Apparently though, the problem was the brand which was "Well Worn" and Poshmark pulled it down and I got this weird email accusing me of soliciting "offsite transactions" and violating the terms and conditions and things like that.

And that's how Poshmark's AI accused me of really gross and illegal things on a basic, many months old, listing of velvet pants. It literally had a picture of the brand tag in the listing.

I accidentally sent a buyer the wrong item and caught it before they did. I have apologized profusely and flagged the transaction with Poshmark, and told them I’ll overnight them the correct item.

Poshmark hasn’t provided directions however on what happens now…and I haven’t heard back from the buyer. Any cautionary tales or advice to offer?

I sold guess loafers and everything was noted as far as wear and scuffs. Buyer opened case and won even though everything they pointed out was in the listing. Bizarre part, she didn’t return my shoes but same exact pair I guess she had? I don’t get it lol

On Poshmark, do they automatically rule in favor of the buyer if you don't defend yourself? Just wondering.

I like the look of the item and would still like to keep it, but I definitely feel like it was falsely advertised. Would Poshmark do a partial refund? Or should I just cut my losses and send it back for a full refund?

Seller responded that she listed the item 5 years ago and “couldn’t remember what the tag said.” Yet, the comments she also made 5 years ago to a potential buyer were straight up lies. She stated it was a handmade item, made from 100% organic combed cotton. When it arrived, the tag clearly indicated it was made in China, and only contained rayon and nylon.

SELLERS BEWARE — AFTER 15 YEARS, I’M SOUNDING THE ALARM ON POSHMARK.

I have been selling on Poshmark for roughly 15 years. I have completed more than 8,000 sales, accumulated thousands of 5-star ratings, promoted the platform, defended it publicly, and repeatedly given Poshmark the benefit of the doubt when other sellers raised serious concerns.

That benefit of the doubt has been buried like a dead relative.

Over the past several months, I have watched what appears to be a significant deterioration in Poshmark’s seller support, platform performance, and — most importantly — the handling of seller funds.

This is no longer about lowball offers, difficult buyers, platform glitches, or uniquely challenging customer-service events.

I am now personally dealing with SELLER PROCEEDS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED to me in the manner I have historically experienced throughout more than a decade on the platform. The amount currently at issue is substantial — roughly equivalent to a month’s take-home pay.

Let me be very clear about why that concerns me:

These are not promotional credits.
These are not Poshmark rewards.
THESE ARE PROCEEDS FROM COMPLETED/UNCONTESTED SALES.

For years, my redemptions were processed without material interruption. Now I am experiencing delays serious enough that I have begun documenting the transactions, redemption requests, account balances, communications, timelines, and responses.

And I am apparently not the only seller raising questions.

Public complaints and seller accounts have alleged delayed redemptions, inaccessible balances, withheld seller proceeds, unexplained payout problems, merchandise disputes involving authentication, and concerns surrounding newer Poshmark programs.

I previously dismissed many of those stories as isolated incidents, but I no longer feel comfortable doing that.

I am not going to speculate publicly about Poshmark’s motives. I am going to stick to something much harder to dismiss: DOCUMENTED FACTS.

Lots of Money earned.
Transactions were completed.
Seller proceeds became available for redemption.
Redemption was requested.
The money has not been delivered as expected.
Repeated efforts to obtain a satisfactory explanation or resolution have not resolved the issue.

That should concern every seller who depends upon Poshmark to collect money from buyers and remit the seller’s share.

If you are selling on Poshmark today, I strongly recommend that you:

• Keep screenshots of your redeemable balance.
• Record every redemption request and confirmation number.
• Preserve emails and support correspondence.
• Track the date funds are requested and the date they actually arrive.
• Reconcile completed sales against your available and redeemed balances.
• Do not assume your transaction history will always remain easily accessible.
• Document unexplained holds, reversals, delays, or changes in account balances.

After 15 years and more than 8,000 transactions, I never expected to be writing this.

But when a marketplace controls the collection and release of sellers’ money, timely access to those proceeds is not a minor customer-service issue.

It is the foundation of trust between the platform and the people supplying the merchandise that generates its revenue.

Poshmark has had my trust for more than a decade.

Right now, that trust is being tested in a very serious way.

And until my funds are accounted for and released, I believe NEW AND OLD SELLERS NEED TO KNOW.