Poshmark Fee Calculator

Poshmark's one-fee model

Poshmark is the simplest of the resale apps to model, because there is exactly one fee and it's on the item price only:

• US: a flat $2.95 on sales under $15, or 20% of the item price on sales of $15 or more.
• Canada: C$3.95 under C$20, or 20% at C$20 or more.

There's no listing fee, no monthly subscription and no separate payment processing charge. Poshmark's single fee covers card processing, its Posh Protect buyer and seller protection, and the prepaid USPS shipping label the buyer gets. It's charged on the item price only, not on the shipping the buyer pays and not on sales tax, which is different from Etsy, eBay and Mercari. The current schedule is on Poshmark's FAQ page.

Worked example: a $45 sale

Calculator defaults: a $45 sale, item cost $15, no seller-funded shipping discount.

• Poshmark fee (20% × $45): $9.00
• Shipping discount you pay: $0.00
• Your payout: $36.00

Your profit is $36.00 − $15.00 = $21.00, a 46.7% margin on the sale price. If you offer the buyer a $5 shipping discount to close the deal, that comes straight out of your payout: net becomes $31.00 and profit $16.00. Poshmark's 20% is high next to Mercari's 10%, but it includes the shipping label the other platforms charge you for separately, so the real gap is smaller than it looks.

The $15 cliff: when the flat fee flips

The $15 line is where Poshmark's fee switches from a flat charge to a percentage. At $14.99 the fee is $2.95 (19.7% of the sale); at $15.00 it's 20% = $3.00. The rates are almost identical right at the line, so the switch itself isn't the problem, everything below it is.

Below $15, the flat $2.95 is a much bigger slice. A $5 sale leaves you $2.05, less than the cost of most items and barely worth the packaging and a trip to the post office.

Why cheap items are a trap on Poshmark

That flat fee is why cheap items are a trap. Poshmark's minimum listing price is $3, but selling at that price means the $2.95 fee leaves you five cents. Even at $10 you keep $7.05, and once you subtract the item's cost and any packaging, the profit is thin.

The rule of thumb: on Poshmark, bundle low-value items into one listing or don't list them at all. A $6 item sold alone nets $3.05 before cost. Bundle three of them into an $18 lot and you pay one 20% fee ($3.60) instead of three $2.95 fees ($8.85), and you keep $14.40 instead of $9.15. Bundling is the single biggest margin lever on cheap Poshmark inventory, and it works because the flat fee applies once per sale, not once per item.

Shipping, labels and who pays

Poshmark gives the buyer a prepaid USPS label, and that label is included in the fee you pay, part of why the commission is 20%. Buyers typically pay a flat shipping rate (around $7.97 in the US) at checkout, and Poshmark covers the label up to 5 lb. Above that, the buyer pays the overage.

Where sellers get caught is the seller-funded shipping discount. Offer a discount to win a sale and that amount is deducted from your payout on top of the fee, it doesn't reduce the fee itself. On a $45 sale with a $5 discount you keep $31 instead of $36. The calculator has a line for exactly this so you can see the real payout before you send the offer.

Poshmark vs Depop and Mercari

On a $40 item, Poshmark's 20% is $8.00. Mercari's 10% (on the item plus buyer-paid shipping) is about $4.00, and Depop's US processing is around $1.77. So Poshmark looks expensive, until you remember its fee includes a shipping label the other two make you buy.

If a USPS label costs you roughly $5-8, Poshmark's effective cost on that $40 item is closer to $8.00 − $6.00 = $2.00 net of the label, competitive with Mercari. The real differences are audience and shipping weight: Poshmark's 5 lb label cap suits clothing and shoes, while heavier items push the cost back onto the buyer. The Poshmark FAQ and the IRS self-employed guide are both worth reading once you're selling regularly.

How to price so Poshmark's 20% still leaves a profit

Because Poshmark takes 20% of the item price on anything $15 and up, you need to price 25% above your target payout. If an item costs you $12 and you want $15 profit, you need a payout of $27, which means a sale price of $27 ÷ 0.8 = $33.75.

Under $15 the flat fee works differently: to net $10 you need $10 + $2.95 = $12.95, and to net $12 you need $14.95, just under the line. Cross it and 20% applies, so a $15 sale nets $12 and a $16 sale nets $12.80. The practical rule is to price at $15 or more whenever you can, and bundle anything that would sell for less than about $12, because the flat $2.95 makes small sales barely worth the trip to the post office.

Do you owe tax on Poshmark sales?

Selling on Poshmark is taxable income in the US once you're doing it for profit, and marketplace fees are deductible. Poshmark may send a Form 1099-K if you cross the reporting threshold, and even if you don't get one you're expected to report the income. Track your payouts, your fees and your cost of goods, the fee Poshmark took is a business expense, not part of your revenue.

The IRS self-employed tax center covers self-employment tax (15.3% on net earnings) and estimated quarterly payments. Casual sellers clearing out a closet usually owe little because they're selling at a loss, but if you buy to resell, treat it like the business it is from the first sale.

What you get for the 20% Poshmark takes

The 20% commission is steep compared with Mercari's 10% or eBay's category rates, and it is worth knowing what it buys. Poshmark supplies the prepaid shipping label, so you are not buying postage or standing in line, and the fee only applies when the item sells.

The break-even is easy to see on a $45 sale: Poshmark takes $9.00, Mercari takes $4.50, and eBay takes $6.12 plus payment processing. If you would have spent $5 or more on your own shipping label and an hour listing elsewhere, the 20% is closer to even than it first looks. If you already ship cheaply, the gap is real money.

Below $15 the math flips completely: Poshmark charges a flat $2.95 instead of a percentage, which is why low-priced accessories and beauty items often sell better there than anywhere else. Above $100, the 20% starts to hurt enough that many sellers list the same item on both Poshmark and Mercari and take whichever sells first.