TODAY’S ‘MAKE MORE’ SEGMENT IS ABOUT SELLING CLOTHING ON POSHMARK, THE
POPULAR FASHION APP THAT IS USED BY 1 OUT OF EVERY 50 WOMEN IN AMERICA.
POSHMARK “SELLER STYLISTS” MARKET THEIR OWN SENSE OF STYLE AND ALSO CURATE
GREAT FINDS FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS. MY GUEST TODAY IS ONE OF POSHMARK’S BIGGEST
SUCCESS STORIES. PLEASE WELCOME JESSICA CRADDOCK TO THE EASY MONEY SHOW. HI
JESSICA!
JESSICA, EXPLAIN WHAT POSHMARK IS AND HOW YOU FIRST GOT STARTED.
Poshmark is an app for women and men too. It is a place where you can sell
designer clothes and fashion out of our own closet or things you buy to resell or boutique items. I started on Poshmark right after the app launched in 2012.
Friend downloaded thru Facebook and said she listed a purse and sold it quickly.
I graduated from a top ten law school and I was poshing my way through law
school. Throughout law school I used Poshmark to sell items from my own closet
on occasion. I’ve always been into fashion and having a hustle and making
money.
BUT THEN, SUDDENLY YOUR LIFE CHANGED. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW THAT CAUSED YOU TO CHANGE HOW YOU APPROACHED POSHMARK.
My fiancé who worked while I was in law school, he got injured at work. It started to play a full-time role in my life when my fiancé became disabled at work. He took a cut in pay when disabled. I was left as the sole provider for the two of us.
I had sold some of my items casually and when he got hurt at work I
thought this is a good avenue for us to still be able to pay car payments. I started selling my own clothes. I had recently lost 296 pounds. So I had all kinds of clothes I held onto in various sizes. It started doing really well.
NEXT YOU CROSSED OVER FROM SELLING YOUR OWN CLOTHES TO BUYING CLOTHES TO SELL ON POSHMARK. WAS THAT A GOOD GAMBLE?
I had always been into designer fashion so I started going to stores when I ran
out of my own clothes. Lived in Chapel Hill at the time. A lot of college students and they tended to donate stuff so I would find nice designer clothes at thrift stores and local Goodwills and sell it and making a decent profit. I could buy pair of jeans for 3.79 at Goodwill and sell for $30 to $75 or upwards of $100 if really high end brand. Now I reinvest a third of my profits into buying more things to
sell.
WHY POSHMARK, AS OPPOSED TO SOMETHING LIKE EBAY THAT MAYBE
LISTENERS ARE MORE FAMILIAR WITH?
The great thing is active selling versus passive selling. On Ebay it is passive
selling they list and it is out there. On Poshmark, you pull out your phone. Snap
8 pictures of the item. Brand, description and size and put a price and it’s out
there. With Poshmark if you put In time, share items, communicate with people
you can do better. Poshmark takes 20% . Higher than Ebay’s 10% but you don’t
have rules and regulations. Also, there are no returns with Poshmarks after 3
days, which really helps sellers.
SUDDENLY, THIS HAD BECOME A REAL BUSINESS FOR YOU. IN FACT
YOU NAMED IT ACQUITTED APPAREL. HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE
HAS POSHMARK MADE IN YOUR LIFE?
It saved us. We were going to have to use our credit cards for paying our car
notes and rent and it has been an amazing life changing experience for us. Now
that we are more financially secure and he is back in school and we have a
steady income we are using the posh funds to pay for our wedding and pay off
our student loans, which are pretty hefty. Jessica’s closet has transformed into a
full-time business, enabling her and her fiancé to finally pay for trips, medical
bills and everyday life expenses.
SO DO YOU THINK YOU’LL EVEN BOTHER TO USE YOUR LAW DEGREE
AND PRACTICE LAW?
I am trying to decide whether I want to be a lawyer or stick with this. I took the
bar and didn’t pass the first try. I missed it by 3 points. I will take the bar again
and pass it, but not sure if I will practice. I do enjoy what I do. I have fun with it. I
get to spend time with my family. My father almost passed away 2 years ago.
Parents will go with me to the thrift store, which I couldn’t do with a regular law
job. For me it isn’t about getting the big bucks of the corporate world. It’s more
meaningful to spend time with family.
WOW, IF YOU’RE CONSIDERING DITCHING A CAREER IN LAW, I HAVE TO
ASK, WHAT KIND OF MONEY ARE YOU MAKING SELLING FASHION ON
POSHMARK?
In 2012 until early 2014 I was doing $500 to $700 a month. Then it started
really taking off. 2015 got even better. I was making $1,000-1200 a month. Now a bad month for me is $1000. I took a break for a couple of months. I was still poshing and selling but not doing a ton of effort and I was still clearing $900-$1100 a month. If a person works at it you can do $10,000-$15,000 a month.
HOW MANY LISTINGS DO YOU HAVE, IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT KIND OF
MONEY? AND HOW DO YOU STORE ALL THOSE CLOTHES?!
I have a huge store. I have 3000 listings total – including my sold items. At any
given time I try to keep between between 900 and 1000 items online. They are all
in my house. We converted a 1500 square room in basement to a Poshmark
room. 9 z racks with inventory hanging. Organized by brand and size like in
department store. I have bins full of unlisted inventory. I have between 5000-
10,000 items that haven’t listed. My goal is to list all that by summer.
I KNOW YOU MENTOR HUNDREDS OF OTHER POSHMARK SELLERS ON
FACEBOOK, SO LET’S SHARE SOME OF YOUR ADVICE WITH PEOPLE
WHO MAY WANT TO TRY THIS. FIRST OF ALL, YOU SAY ASK FOR HELP.
Jump in feet first. Sell your own items and pay attention to veteran sellers. A lot
of us on the app are willing to help you.
YOU ALSO SAY PEOPLE NEED TO BE PATIENT.
Things can take a while to sell. Fastest sold item sold in a minute or two but
some things have sat for six months to a year. Some things are a long-term
investment.
NEXT TIP: GROW A THICK SKIN.
Learning to deal with people is important. You have to grow a thick skin because
people will drive you up the wall.
ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU SUGGEST PEOPLE WHO TRY SELLING ON
POSHMARK SHOULD HAVE FUN WITH IT.
Have fun with it because there are so many jobs out there you can do in life that you won’t get joy out of. To me, this is one of the things you can get joy out of and spend time with your family and take a leap of faith if it is what you are interested in doing.
AND FINALLY, YOU SAY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT WILL SELL.
I’ve grown a lot and that is something people have to do on their own. At the
beginning I bought cheap mall brands that are hard to sell. I am still stuck with those items. Sell your own items but also pay attention to other sellers and what is working for them.
GUEST: Jessica Craddock, Poshmark Seller Stylist
CONTACT:
Instagram: @Acquitted_Apparel
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/PoshmarkSellerTips/
Poshmark: @JCradd or Poshmark.com/closet/jcradd
GUEST BIO:
Jessica Craddock is the owner of Acquitted Apparel, a pre-loved designer
fashion boutique. Jessica is a UNC Law School graduate who has always had a
serious love of fashion. She has turned that love of fashion into a real business by giving designer clothing a second chance at a new life, an acquittal if you will.
She and her other half, Tyler, have been running Acquitted Apparel since late
2013 on Poshmark, and have saved thousands of designer clothing pieces from
their untimely demise. For Jessica, there is nothing better than helping people,
whether it is using her legal education, or saving them major money on fashion
through Poshmark. Jessica also runs a Facebook Group to empower others to
start their own Poshmark businesses called Poshmark Seller Tips. Jessica lives
in Atlanta, GA and is the mom to one grey fashion-forward kitty.
