On Poshmark, many non-live sellers are reporting huge drops in sales, low traffic and a negative trend overall. You have to assume, based on past experience with swings in the Poshmark algorithm, that Poshmark, the company, is primarily focused on their shiny new toy, live shows. So where does that leave Poshmark sellers who are either still waiting to get access to live shows or have no interest in becoming a live seller?
Posh Show Algorithm Issues
The live Posh Shows have been a hugely profitable and transformational change for hundreds of Poshmark sellers, including our company the Posh Pro Project. There are newly “Posh Famous” sellers that bring in 100’s of shoppers to their shows. Money is being made by the sellers and Poshmark alike.
But there are 80 million registered users on Poshmark, as of this article. Many of the non-live sellers are reporting huge drops in sales, low traffic and a negative trend overall on Poshmark. You have to assume, based on past experience with swings in the Poshmark algorithm, that Poshmark, the company, is primarily focused on their shiny new toy, live shows. So where does that leave Poshmark sellers who are either still waiting to get access to live shows or have no interest in becoming a live seller?
First, lets not abandon the full apple cart simply because it tipped over. Non-live sellers still have great apples…the product. Their apples are just not in the cart currently - the cart being the algorithm on Poshmark. We, as sellers, need to rethink how we move the shopping traffic from where the algorithm is and directing it back into our closets.
The number one trend to assist with traffic steerage is the “Selling Yours” shows. Many Poshmark LIVE sellers have taken to selling OTHER people’s items. The non-LIVE sellers enter the live show just like any shopper. But then the LIVE seller allows those folks to bundle listings to them. The app now allows live sellers to share those bundled items into the show. They “REQUEST” the item be auctioned and the listing owner gets a notification to pick the starting price and begin the auction themselves. The SALE, if the item does in fact sell, lands back in the non-live sellers closet, just like any regular Poshmark sale…and everyone is happy. In theory.
But a new litany of issues arise with this workaround. Non-live sellers complain of long waits to get their items into LIVE show trays. They beg popular show hosts to post their items, wait anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour for one item to “run” in a show only to have that item NOT sell. It’s a frustrating experience for many. The live sellers are learning that although their “sell your stuff” shows have huge audiences - MOST of that audience is not there to shop, but rather, to get their item to run. Therefore, live sellers and non-live sellers alike find themselves spinning their wheels.
So NOW what?
As we settle in to this new “Posh Live” reality, we need to realize one constant truth. We are slaves to the algorithm and need to learn how to manipulate it in its current state to work for us. But how?
Well, the algorithm rewards certain behaviors. It always has. It rewards activity, traffic and chiefly, SALES. So, before you consider anything else, you need to continue to do the things that create that activity. Follow people every day. Pick someone that has a lot of followers and follow their followers. Once or twice or three times a day. Then, share your OWN closet. Three times a day minimum. They have made this part easy with the bulk share feature (we have included a bulk sharing tutorial diagram below). Then, we need to work together to manipulate the traffic the algorithm is pushing to the live shows back into the closets.
We are testing this theory with a brand-new method of “sell your stuff” shows on Tuesday nights on our Posh Pro Project channel (@poshpro_megan). Instead of running one or two individual items per person, we run Closet Coupons for each person. The closet coupon listing must be for $25, $50 or $100 bucks to garnish interest. The $25 coupon should start at $5, the $50 should start at $5 or $10 and the $100 can in theory start for any price up to $20 bucks - sellers choice. The seller still makes about the same he or she would have if they had sold ONE item — but it gives the potential buyer a LOT more options. Your entire closet! Plus, they can apply their coupon towards an entire item, towards a bundle of items, etc. It forces that person to go INTO that sellers closet to A) see if they want to buy the coupon and B) to choose the items they will apply the coupon to. The process will naturally drive LIVE SHOW traffic back to the CLOSETS, and pull the closet algorithm UP, in theory. We have seen the application work in real time as we tested coupons to our own closet. People tended to stick around after the show and move throughout our closet. They bundled and bought more. It fostered communication in comments, in listings and in bundles. ACTIVITY. It fostered SALES in the live show and in the closet AND most importantly money is exchanging hands - improving the traffic for everyone involved. The posh live show seller is seen as successful to the algorithm and is rewarded… and the non-live seller sees traffic and sales in the closet, generating more traffic and sales. In theory, that closet should get a bump in the algorithm as well.
We are hoping our PFFs will continue to help us test this theory Tuesday nights with Tim and Megan. Join us this Tuesday, Feb 21st at 8p EST to benefit and test our theory with us! Look. The secondhand market is at an all-time high and is projected to double in sales by 2026, according to market analysts. While this new live show reality is frustrating, it’s not a deal breaker — as long as you understand the algorithm is just a tool that you can manipulate, it could be the game changer we need to jumpstart your 2023 closet sales! We are here to help!
See you on Posh!
By: Megan Morris
Megan, Posh Pro Project Co-Founder, is a resale expert with over 20 years' experience. She has been featured on CBS News, NBC News, FOX News, ME TV, and WGN RADIO and was a featured closet consultant at Poshfest 2022.
Posh Pro Project continues to take Megan’s 25+ years in reselling and applying it to helping other women live the dream of owning their own business. Our primary objective is to empower women. Posh Pro Project was born out of the pandemic, that made women feel helpless, alone and overwhelmed. We sought to change that with a sense of community, attainable goals and an element of fun to keep them motivated and on task… our website, poshproproject.com offers a growing list of tools that helps resellers get their online resale business up and running quickly and for very little up-front costs! Our podcast “Rags to Resale” is everywhere you listen - Check us out on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.