Woman Makes Big Bucks Selling Clothes on App

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Until recently, Caroline Moss’ bedroom was piled with clothes. “I had clothes packed in my closet, dresser, drawers, and piled on my bed. And when I went to sleep I’d move it from my bed, and do it all over again,” Moss tells Yahoo Style.

There was even a time where the 27-year-old New York City native trekked to buy new hangers, but realized she had no space to properly put up the surplus clothing. To break the cycle, a friend suggested she download an app to sell her surplus garb; and so far she’s made $700. 

We’ve all said it: “There’s an app for that.” And Moss’s experience proves that women are getting more and more creative with how they sell their clothes. Poshmark, the app that she prefers, is quite seamless: To list an item for sale, simply snap a picture, add a description of the item, and it will be added to the feed. When someone purchases an item, Poshmark sends the vendor a shipping label. Once the buyer receives the item, it gets marked as delivered in the Poshmark database and the seller’s earnings are credited to his/her account and he/she can cash out at anytime. The caveat is that buyers are required to pay a flat rate of $4.99 shipping, and while Moss agrees this is a significant cut, she says it’s worth her while.

"I agree that it’s a lot of money but it’s such an easy way to sell clothes that it made sense. It’s like paying 20 percent to be convenient," she says.

Poshmark is one of several online consignment marketplaces. There’s also the RealReal, Tradesey, and Stitchlabs. While Amazon and Ebay dominate the digital market space, these specialized, tech-savvy clothing apps are finding a niche audience. According to a study conducted by mobile-retail marketer, Swirl, 53 percent of women have between one and five shopping apps on their smartphones.

And while it’s safe to say that apps and online consignment shops will supplement, but not replace, classic brick and mortar stores, the convenience of being able to sell your items from anywhere is pretty appealing.

“Most of my friends are tech savvy and it’s part of my job is to be aware of this space,” says Moss, a reporter for Business Insider’s website. “But it never occurred to me that I could use technology do things that I do offline.  Why would you walk across town to drop off clothes when you can sell from your bedroom?”

But it’s not as simple as sitting on your bed, lining up your items, and snapping quick photos. Moss explains that there are tricks to selling everything from accessories and purses to clothing and shoes.

“You can sell anything as long as you make it look good. It’s not about manipulating or lying but it’s about how you stage things,” Moss explains. “I don’t have a mannequin or someone to take pictures of me, but the easiest way to sell something is to be honest and mindful of how it looks in photos.” 

And though Moss hasn’t purchased anything via the app yet, it’s not because she doesn’t trust the process; rather, she must sell more in order to justify new purchases. Regardless of her sales, she still regularly frequents the app for other reasons.

“I have to remind myself that I am trying to clear out my closet,” Moss admits. “But if I see something I like in stores, I always check the app to see if they have it for cheaper.”