If you or anyone that you know sells items on the Poshmark app, then you may have heard about some recent changes to the platform. These changes have impacted many sellers and are a direct result of updates to the algorithm and the future direction of the company. Over the past few weeks, there have been many rumors swirling about what has caused these changes. Although there is a good probability that many of these rumors may indeed be true, Poshmark has not made any public statements about them (and more than likely never will). But that doesn’t mean that Poshmark hasn’t been giving us some indirect insight about the future direction of the app. Today, I wanted to share with you some insight on the public information that Poshmark has been providing to us and also share with you how I will adapting my Poshmark strategy as a result of these changes.
What Public Information Has Poshmark Been Providing to Users?
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Poshmark has an official blog where they occasionally post articles about the app and the company. Although some of these posts may appear to be irrelevant or a waste of time, they actually do serve a purpose and provide users with indirectly useful information. Over the past few weeks, the blog has released 2 new articles. Today, I thought that it would be helpful to go through and explore the information provided by Poshmark within them.
Article #1: Spring Into Poshmark: Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Closet Into Cash
This article was published by Poshmark on March 21, 2022 which was 3 days after they published their statement on the search update. Personally, I don’t believe that this was done by accident. After selling on this platform for almost 9 years now, I am very familiar with how Poshmark operates. I believe that this article was released by Poshmark as an indirect way to for them to share some changes and shifts within their consumer demographics.
Emphasis on Gen Zers, Millennials, and Those With Incomes Above $100K
Although this article is on the surface level about spring cleaning, if you dig deeper, you will notice a heavy emphasis on Gen Zers (and it is by no means subtle). Within the article, you will notice the phrase “Gen Zers” almost every other line. Additionally, you will notice references to Millennials and also those with higher incomes. Why does that matter? Personally, I believe that this is Poshmark’s way of sharing who they believe their key demographic is moving forward. To make it even more pointed, the article has an entire infographic dedicated to Gen Zers (see below).
Trending Items for Spring 2022
Prior to 2022, Poshmark did not place a heavy emphasis on trending items within the app. There were occasional articles on seasonal trends in the past but recently, Poshmark has been really placing an emphasis on trends in both this article and also within the app (aka promoting daily trends).
If you look a little deeper, you will notice that the trends being promoted by the app and in this article are specifically targeting Gen Zers and Millennials. As evident in their blog post and through their recent marketing campaigns, they are trying to attract a younger demographic and are encouraging people to sell items that would attract their ideal customer.
Article #2: Posh for the Planet: Invest in Secondhand, Invest in Your Future
This article was published by Poshmark on April 18, 2022 in honor of Earth Day. Although this article discussed sustainable practices and brands (which does align with Earth Day), when looking at it a little bit deeper, there is other information worth observing.
Emphasis on Re-Poshing Items
This was something that I found quite interesting for Poshmark to focus on in their post. I have heard of re-poshing before but I have never personally used it. Re-Poshing is when a seller can use another seller’s photos when listing the same item for sale if they purchased it from the same seller previously. Personally, I would rather take my own photos to show the true condition of the photo but it appears as though Poshmark is really pushing this feature in the article. They even created an entire infographic on it:
Emphasis on Vintage
Additionally, Poshmark circled back to their Gen Zers and Millennial demographics by sharing the rise of vintage sales within the app. In my opinion, this only strengthens the idea that Poshmark is shifting gears and trying to attract a newer and trendier demographic to the app and website. If you are interested in what Poshmark had to say about vintage items, I will insert the infographic below for you to check out:
Conclusions and How This Could Impact Resellers
In conclusion, I believe that Poshmark is trying to single-handedly attract and secure the Gen Zer population. This is a customer demographic that DePop has successfully secured and I believe that Poshmark is looking to do the same. All of the recent articles posted by Poshmark to their blog further support that idea as they are directly appealing to that demographic.
How Could This Impact Resellers?
Good question! I believe that this could impact resellers in a few different ways:
(1) Customer Demographics REALLY Matter- Personally, I believe that knowing your customer demographics as a reseller matter now more than ever on the Poshmark app. It is very clear that Poshmark is switching gears and is changing from how things will be conducted on the app moving forward. This is especially true when it comes to customer demographics. As with any reselling platform, we need to be aware of the demographics that are specifically targeted on the apps that we sell on. If Poshmark is trying to target the Gen Zer demographic and model after DePop, then it is possible that some of the items that we successfully sold previously on Poshmark might not sell as well in the future as it shifts towards this newer and younger demographic.
(2) Competition- Between what I have observed in my own sales and also in the sales of others, it is clear to me that Poshmark’s new algorithm is favoring newer accounts and users over older ones (which makes sense considering they are trying to attract a new demographic and customer base). Although there are many theories as to why this is happening, nothing can be confirmed. Regardless, with this big push in newer users, it could create some competition between smaller accounts and larger ones. Personally, I don’t see this happening at a noticeable level, but I did want to mention it as it could potentially happen with an influx in new users.
(3) Sales and Pricing Changes– Something that I have noticed on the app recently that you may have also noticed too, is an increase in lower offers and sales prices. If Poshmark is trying to attract a newer demographic to the app, specifically the Gen Zers, then it would make sense that established users would receive lower than normal offers and sales. Why? From what I have gathered in my searching, it appears that Gen Zers are often unestablished in the workplace, have lower incomes, and as a result, are looking to save money in any way that they can. This is especially true given the fact that this demographic tends to rotate their items more frequently than other generations (according to the Poshmark articles). If these users are given favor on the app or are just in larger number on the apps, then it is possible that this may become the new norm for many users.
(4) Sourcing Changes- Over the almost 9 years that I have been on the Poshmark app, I have become very knowledgable in what items appeal to most of Poshmark’s buyers and demographic and will result in profitable sales. However, with these new changes, I may have to re-evaluate my business model and sourcing decisions moving forward. If Poshmark is trying to attract this new demographic of users, then it is entirely possible that some of my current items may not appeal to this new group of buyers and users. This would then affect my sourcing decisions moving forward, especially as someone who is a full- time reseller.
If you don’t already, be sure to check out my Instagram for more Reselling Tips at @ RecycledRosesGuide (Click HERE) and my Facebook page HERE.
You can instantly shop all of my looks by following me on the LIKEtoKNOW.it shopping app HERE.
To get email notifications for my next blog post and to receive my monthly Reseller Recap (with freebies), sign up for my emails below:
Baci,
