If you’re a buyer on Poshmark you need to know how to avoid scammers, how to authenticate items, and how to vet your seller and the item you want to ensure you’re not spending money on a knock off.
The tips in this blog could possible save you from wasting money on fake products and scammers.
Poshmark is a generally safe platform, they do a great job of weeding through fakes & scammers, but these things can and do still happen.
Read this article to make sure you are an educated buyer.
Keep all transactions within Poshmark
While Poshmark does an amazing job weeding out the scammers, a few can get by and it’s important to watch out for them.
Have you ever seen someone comment, “I’m very interested in this item. Please email immediately.”
This is a scammer. Do not email them. Block them immediately.
The best piece of advice I can give you for avoiding scammers, is keep all deals & sells within Poshmark.
Poshmark can protect you within the app, but not if you take a transaction outside of the app.
Outside of scammers, watch out for people who are vulgar. I’ve had someone comment a very inappropriate picture on one of my items before. Poshmark finds these people pretty fast, but I still blocked him.
Poshmark Authentication
Posh Authentication is a system that ensures luxury items purchased, are legit. For example, if you purchase Gucci shoes, to ensure they are real Gucci, and not knock offs, you’ll likely want them authenticated.
Poshmark provides authentication for all orders over $500.
According to Poshmark, “When you purchase a luxury item on Poshmark, it's shipped directly to Poshmark HQ for authentication. Our team of luxury experts carefully inspect the item's authenticity by checking logos, tags, materials, hardware, quality, and more. Once we've confirmed authenticity, we'll package it with care and ship it to you. If the item's authenticity cannot be verified, we will refund you immediately.”
Poshmark promises to refund your money if the item is not authentic. This can make purchasing a luxury items more secure.
How to vet Poshmark sellers and items
Remember, Poshmark is a final sale website. Take time to thoroughly vet the seller and item before purchase.
How to thoroughly vet a Poshmark seller?
Checking ratings
Go to seller’s about section and check how many items they have bought/sold
Ensuring items are not ridiculously discounted (this is a sign of knock of items)
Leave a comment (is this item still available?) on one of the seller’s items. If they don’t get back to you in a timely manner, they might not be the best person to buy from
How to thoroughly vet a Poshmark item?
Determining if the discount is ‘too good to be true.’
Checking the photos. If they only have stock photos or barely any photos, that’s not a good sign.
Comparing similar items on Posh. Search that item and see what other sellers are selling it for.
Buying a pair of brand-new Lululemon leggings for $10 may seems like a great deal, but I would strongly stop to consider why a new name brand item is priced so low. This is probably too good to be true.
If you realize the item is fake after you receive said item, you can open a case against a seller. However, this is a grey area in Poshmark’s return policy. You may not win the case.
The best advice I can give is to properly vet the seller (like I mentioned above) and thoroughly examine the product.
Next, learn how to open a case against a seller
After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of how to avoid scammers and loosing money on fake items.
If you find yourself stuck with an item that turned out to be a knock off, or wasn’t how the seller described it, you’ll need to open a case against them.
If you follow the tips in today’s blog, you likely won’t have to do this, but just in case, you need to learn how to open a case against a seller.
In the comments below, let us know your tips on avoiding scammers and knock offs.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!
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