Stop Following Bad Advice
#Poshmark #BadAdvice #CommunityGuidelines #TermsOfService
This article is all about bad advice. There's a lot of good of advice out there about Poshmark but some advice could do you more harm than good.
There are many Poshers out there that create videos and write blogs in hopes of helping their fellow Posher reach their success goals, but some advice given with good intentions is bad for business and in some cases could result in negative hits from the algorithm, loss of money or full account suspension...
So let’s get into it…
BAD TIP #1 | USE AUTOMATION APPS
Yes, yes, I understand that using automation makes tedious processes like sharing easier and saves you a lot of time. That’s great, but if it’s reported that you’re using an app or if the algorithm is triggered that a bot (an app) is being used to do the work of a human, this will throttle your closet.
Throttling means that bandwidth is being intentionally slowed down in an effort to regulate activity, in other words, you’ll see a lot less traffic. Not only will you see less traffic, your account could be suspended without warning...You’ll just get online one day and all of your listings are gone.
My point is this, what’s the point of using this type of software to take the chance of being caught when the chance doesn’t have to be taken. There are so many platforms where automation is perfectly fine and not against the platform’s guidelines...
Growing on this platform takes work, but it can be done – there are tools like the 30 minute method for example or the act of organizing your day that will allow you to optimize your time and work more efficiently. Why do all of the work it takes to build a closet just to take the chance of having it taken away from you?
BAD TIP #2 | TAKE TRANSACTIONS OFF-LINE
I’m gonna be honest, and I’m sorry if anyone is offended in advance – but I honestly get annoyed when I see “Scammed, Poshmark and Offline” in the same title or sentence. The community guideline regarding off-app transactions is not just to keep the system from being gamed – it’s put in place to protect the seller and the buyer.
Unfortunately, everyone is not trustworthy and this app is no different. If it’s a best friend or someone you know really well because ya’ll live in the same neighborhood or grew up together – that’s one thing, but when doing business with someone you’ve never seen in your life before – you really shouldn’t put your trust in someone you don’t know, simply based on the fact that you’re both on the same app.
When I see people giving advice on how to be successful at taking transactions offline– I feel like an injustice is being done and whoever is giving the advice is setting others up for failure. The process might work a couple or even a few times, but there will be that one time when you come across someone that wants something for nothing – and the seller will end up suffering the loss of money and inventory.
BAD TIP # 3 | DON'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME SHARING THE LISTINGS OF OTHER POSHERS
This advice is useful to some extent. It is true that sharing your own listings promotes your items and your closet and will lead to more sales, but here's the catch on this one. One of the algorithms for Poshmark has to do with your community engagement and sharing listings of others is a positive algorithm trigger. So though it is is extremely important to share your own listings, it's just as important for you to share the listings of others.
BAD TIP #4 | ASK THE BUYER "ARE YOU INTERESTED?"
Luckily, I haven’t seen this often, but I have seen it mentioned as a tactic used to engage buyers. There’s nothing at all wrong with sending offers to likers - it’s actually a very good idea, and a great way to make more sales.
You’re contacting the buyer to offer a discount and hopefully make a sale, and the buyer gets to take advantage of a great deal, but to simply ask “are you interested” comes off as a little pushy and or even spammy – if the customer wasn’t interested at some level, they wouldn’t have liked the item in the first place..
This is just my opinion, but quite frankly, this is a turn-off for me and if the seller is pushy enough, I’ll unlike the item just to ensure that I don’t receive any more questions regarding my interest. If you truly think the customer is interested and you're hoping to make a sale, send an offer - the invitation to engage will seem more honest and genuine and it could end up being a great day for you and the buyer.
BAD ADVICE #5 | USE STOCK PHOTOS (WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION)
I’ve actually seen advice where Poshers are advised on how to find stock photos to use for their listings. Now, this isn’t a banned practice on Poshmark, but it is discouraged because of the possibility of what could happen. If you use stock photos, without permission of the original manufacturer or brand, your listing could be removed for copyright infringement at the brands request. This doesn’t happen all the time, but it definitely could and has happened to some Poshers.
This is in no way a judgement towards Poshers that use stock photos, I’ve been guilty of this myself and I’m still in the process of removing these photos. But overall, you want your photos to be original to your closet. The best practice for photos is to take your own.
Once your pictures are taken, they are your property and you don’t have to deal with the worry of having a listing removed for copyright or trademark issues. Even more so, there isn’t the bait and switch affect that can come across when stock photos are used and the actual item is nowhere near the condition of item represented in the stock photo.
There’s nothing worse than to be interested in an item based on the stock photo, only to see pictures of the actual item and be disappointed because of the condition. There’s been too many times when I’ve seen a stock photo of a fresh pair of kicks only to open up the listing and it looks like they were worn every day, all day for the last 10 years. After seeing that, not only am I no longer interested in the item, I no longer trust anything else in your closet and I’m making a b-line to the back button.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
This next group of advice topics are not necessarily bad, but the results of following this type of advice can have less than positive results when full details are not disclosed
MAKE THIS MUCH IN THIS AMOUNT OF TIME
(WITHOUT INCLUDING IMPORTANT DETAILS)
This next one is not necessarily bad advice, but it can be misleading and discouraging when all the factors and dynamics are not explained.
I’ve watched a ton of videos on this topic to see if little gems of wisdom are sprinkled in and unfortunately, most times, they aren’t. Yes, those giving this advice usually share how much they sell, where they get their items from and even how much they paid for items and they probably have every intention of sharing knowledge that they think will be helpful for their PFFs success, but they’re not really expressing the factors that need to be in place in order for you to get the same or similar results.
One of my favorite channels to watch about reselling success is Daily Refinement. Chris’ channel has a strong focus on Poshmark & Ebay and he gets down to the nitty gritty to fully explain the basics of goal setting with gems like "if you want to make $1000 a week, you have to have at least $4000 worth of inventory for the month to reach your weekly goal".
Information like this may seem like common knowledge when you take time to really think about it, but everyone doesn’t think about it (especially when you’re first getting started). Newbies or even veterans can end up setting unrealistic goals which results in discouragement in a best case scenario and straight up failure in a worst case scenario. If you really want to know how to reach a goal of selling a certain amount in a specific amount of time, your personal goals have to be set based on your budget for inventory, including the amount of items in your closet, as well as your median cost per item. Once you do the math, you can set goals that are realistic for your current status and your future goals.
BRANDS THAT SELL
(BASED ON ONE INDIVIDUALS POINT OF VIEW)
Now, I know off the bat, this is going to sound crazy and some of your will disagree with me. Of course, it's always good to know what brands are selling. It's good to keep up with the trends and what better way to know what's trending than to hear another Posher explain the brands that are selling for them?
Well, here's the issue. Once the brand name is put out there as something that sells really well, the dynamics of supply and demand start to kick in. If you catch a video of what's a hot seller now, in about 3-6 months, the market will be flooded with the brand, making it less valuable because it's seen more often and it's easier to come by. Once the market is flooded, the return for those items starts to tank. You'll have your classic brands that sell all the time, but even with those, if the style is too readily available, you'll have a hard time selling them or at the least, you'll sell them for less than you had originally planned to sell them for if it sells at all.
My best advice for finding brands that sell based on the advice of others is to compile information from several different sellers and follow that up with your own research. You can also check out your own Poshmark sales report to see the brands that did the best for you, which will give you a better idea of what's really selling in your closet as well as how you should invest on your inventory in the future.
Well, that's my run-down of advice that I've heard that can have a negative impact on the person listing to it. There's nothing wrong with getting advice from others that have more experience than you, but be sure to always do your homework and always do your own research to find practices that work the best for you, your budget and your goals.
The road to destruction was built on good intentions, just make sure that road doesn't lead to your closet.
Happy Poshing!
- Vynes Apparel
References:
https://poshmark.com/terms (Poshmark Terms of Service)
Daily Refinement on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkq7AY19BnmIsjRK14ePjcg
