Report: Poshmark Rethinking Change to Fee Structure After 2 Weeks

About two weeks after lowering fees for sellers but raising them for buyers, online marketplace Poshmark is reportedly rethinking that change.

Some users of the Poshmark app have seen a message saying, “We’re actively working on our new fee structure to better meet your needs. Stay tuned for more details,” Modern Retail reported Friday (Oct. 18).

Reached by PYMNTS, Poshmark declined to comment on the report.

The company’s social marketplace brings together sellers and buyers of new and secondhand apparel, home goods and other items, according to its website.

In the policy change it made about two weeks ago, Poshmark replaced the 20% fee per item sold that it previously charged sellers with a 5.99% fee per item sold that it charges both sellers and buyers, together with an additional $1, $2 or $3 per-item fee, depending on the item’s sale price, according to the Modern Retail report.

Dozens of sellers said their sales were down since Poshmark launched the new fee structure, according to the report.

The company previously told Modern Retail that it implemented the change in response to seller feedback, saying, per the report, “The predominant feedback we received was a strong desire for lower selling and shipping fees.”

Affordability is the top priority of online shoppers who decide to make purchases from eCommerce marketplaces rather than directly from brands or retailers, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Adobe collaboration, “The Online Features Driving Consumers to Shop With Brands, Retailers or Marketplaces.”

Eighteen percent of the consumers surveyed who made all or most of their digital purchases in the previous 30 days via marketplaces listed better prices as the main reason — greater than the share of those citing product selection, free shipping or a number of other factors, the report found.

In June, Poshmark launched a real-time virtual event called Posh Party LIVE that aims to make the shopping experience more social.

“People are continually looking to get closer to the users,” Vanessa Wong, vice president of product management at Poshmark, told PYMNTS in an interview posted June 13. “Instead of just browsing a closet, it’s like, ‘How do I really connect with a seller?’”