I Made $700 Selling My Old Clothes - And I Didn't Use eBay

Living in New York City, I am often pressed for closet space. There is no such thing as extra storage, so all of my stuff is in one place. Swapping out summer clothes for winter clothes? Ha. I have one wardrobe, and hopefully I can find something to wear to match the weather.

When I am looking for a way to ditch some of the stuff I never wear, I usually figure out what would work best. Donate them to Housing Works is always a great option, but sometimes it's hard to get the clothes there. eBay? Good for some stuff but not everything.

Increasingly I'm using Poshmark, an app designed similar to Instagram, that exists solely for women to buy and sell clothing. I made $500 using it in September, and another $200 in the last week.

Founded by Chetan Pungaliya, Gautam Golwala, Tracy Sun, and Manish Chandra in 2011, it raised $12 million in series B funding back in 2012. Poshmark was created as a way to buy and sell clothes via mobile. Though there is a desktop interface, you can only sell by using the app.

Poshmark doesn't have any threshold for brands. Everything and anything goes.

The app looks similar to Instagram. You can take photos within the app and put filters on them.

Then you lay out the details of your item. This is a tote bag from Banana Republic I bought and rarely used. It sits in my closet. The process for listing details on Poshmark is super easy - way easier than eBay's.

Poshmark takes a substantial fee, about 20%, which can be a hit on your earnings. For items priced at $10 or under, it's a flat fee of $2.50.

After you list the item, users can comment, ask questions and make offers.

When someone purchases your item, Poshmark sends you a shipping label.

The buyer pays a flat rate of $4.99 shipping. Throw your item in the mail.

Once the buyer gets your item, they mark it as delivered in Poshmark and your earnings are credited to your account. You can cash out at anytime.

I was hesitant about the payment process. Couldn't someone claim they never got an item? The answer is yes. But the Poshmark team is on it. I had a buyer claim I sent something to her damaged. I assumed she was trying to scam the system into letting her keep her item without paying. Instead, Poshmark launches an investigation, asks for photos of the item when it was receieved, making a judgment call, and not taking sides. In the end, I was given the money I earned from my item, and felt much better about using this app to sell clothing and accessories.