Poshmark is raising shipping fees that buyers pay as of February 23, 2023. Sellers on one Reddit thread seemed unsurprised and almost relieved given the rising costs of USPS shipping – “not as bad as it could be,” wrote one seller, and, “I’m actually thrilled that this is all it is,” wrote another.
But in comments on a Poshmark Facebook thread about an unrelated matter, sellers expressed their displeasure at the news. “I can’t afford to have you take 20%, hike shipping costs, and then tell me to offer shipping discounts out of my own pocket,” a seller commented.
“I love that you upped the shipping cost and then tell us to offer discount on shipping to our customers. You take all the profit – I literally cannot offer the discount,” wrote another seller.
Poshmark explains shipping costs on this help page on Poshmark.com, which featured the current cost of $7.67. “Poshmark provides a flat rate of $7.67 for expedited shipping on all orders. This shipping fee is paid for by the buyer. All orders are shipped using United States Postal Service 1-3 day Priority Mail.” (Buyers can “bundle” multiple items from the same shop for the same flat rate up to 5 pounds.)
The shipping cost will rise to $7.97 on Thursday. It’s a concern to sellers because higher shipping can deter buyers from purchasing – particularly for low-cost items.
Poshmark sellers have the option to offer free or discounted shipping when listing their items – and they can offer a shipping discount when making an offer to a buyer.
A seller shared the following Poshmark announcement about the new shipping fees:
“USPS recently announced an increase in their shipping costs and in order to adapt to this change, we have made an adjustment to our shipping rate. Effective tomorrow, February 23, 2023, Poshmark flat rate shipping will be $7.97. Poshmark’s simple and unique shipping system, PoshPost, allows for items up to 5 pounds to be shipped at a flat rate via USPS Priority Mail with 1-3 day shipping.
“We continue to strive to negotiate the best rates for our community and are proud to offer PoshPost with fast, simple shipping at low prices, exclusively available to the Poshmark community.”
I do not think 30 cents will be a deal breaker for sellers or buyers
As a Poshmark seller, this increase is meaningless. 30 cents is not going to deter any sales. Currently shipping a 5 pound item Priority mail from the East Coast to the West Coast is $21.43, the fact that Poshmark can ship the item for under $8 should make sellers on other sites ask why is my platform charging me full commercial rate when they obviously don’t pay that themselves. How much of a discount could a mega shipper like eBay give, when relatively tiny Poshmark and Mercari can give significant discounts when using their shipping?