How to make thousands of dollars selling your clothes and unwanted holiday gifts, according to the top users of a popular app

Poshmark

Poshmark is an online marketplace where people can buy and sell clothing from boutiques or their own closets.
Since it launched in 2011, it has grown into a community of five million sellers.
In May, the company announced that it had paid out $1 billion to its community of sellers so far. One of these sellers, Suzanne Canon, personally pulled in $1 million of sales on the app.

Men and women across the United States are joining the Poshmark craze and selling their clothing online. Some are even turning it into a full-time job and launching their own boutiques.

This online-only marketplace functions in a similar way to eBay in that it allows people to buy and sell clothing and accessories with ease making it an ideal platform to offload some of the unwanted gifts during the holiday season.

Since launching in 2011, it's transformed into a community of five million sellers, who so far have been paid out $1 billion, according to Poshmark. The company was founded by Manish Chandra, who is currently its CEO. His idea for Poshmark came about as iPhones started to explode in popularity and Chandra realized just how easy he could make the process of selling clothing online.

"It marries technology, fashion, and commerce together," Chandra told Business Insider.

Earlier this year, Business Insider interviewed top seller Suzanne Canon, who has personally pulled in over $1 million in sales since she started selling in 2012. Selling on Poshmark is now her full-time job.

"I don't understand how it happened. I went on the app to make a little money on extra clothes," she told Business Insider.

Sellers only need to upload photos of their items from their phone to the app in order to list them for sale. Poshmark takes a $2.95 commission on all sales under $15. It takes a 20% commission on any sales above $15.

We spoke to five of the app's top sellers, who have pulled in amounts ranging from $10,000 to around $100,000 a year since beginning to sell on Poshmark over the past few years.

See their top tips for turning a sale on Poshmark, below:

Take good photos.

"Take great pictures. If your cover shot doesn't look dynamite, no one is going to give your item a second glance," seller Kate Hill told Business Insider.

Hill joined Poshmark two years ago and has made over $100,000 in sales on the app to date.

Channel a particular style.

"For a beginner on the app, start off with building your brand: color scheme, consistent photography, and a catchy brand name. You want to make your closet a memorable experience," Cynthia Mendoza told Business Insider.

Mendoza is a full-time teacher and part-time seller who has made around $35,000 in sales on the app.

Research what is selling well and listen to customer feedback.

Top sellers say it's wise to take current trends into account and see what is selling well by checking the top-selling categories and the number of likes on different items.

"Pay attention to what buyers want," Kristin Bachman said. "You have all that information at your fingertips."

Bachman, who makes six-figures per year on Poshmark, initially started out selling her own clothing from her closet, but she now has her own boutique on the app. If customers respond well to a particular style of clothing or fabric, she stocks more of it.

"See what products have hundreds of likes," she said. "You can see what buyers are gravitating towards."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider