Whether you’ve suddenly been inspired to clean out your closet or want to make a bit of extra money – or both – selling your clothes online can be a great solution. But this then brings us to the battle of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay when deciding which site is best for selling these items.
All three sites are market leaders when it comes to people wanting to sell their secondhand clothes and accessories. And while eBay may be more well known simply because it’s been around the longest, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better for you as a seller to list these items on there compared to the others.
As we’ll see, in the question of whether it’s better to sell on Poshmark, Mercari or eBay, there are a few extra points that are worth considering.
Summary of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay
Poshmark, Mercari and eBay are all major sites where you can sell secondhand clothes and accessories online.
While Poshmark is exclusively for selling these types of items, Mercari and eBay let you sell basically anything. And when it comes to selling clothing, the three sites each tend to work better for certain types of items.
This means that, depending on what you’re looking for (and what you’re looking to sell), choosing the site for you can make a real difference in your earnings.
About Poshmark
Poshmark is a site that essentially serves as a marketplace for people to sell secondhand, fashionable clothes and accessories. It actually describes itself as a “social commerce platform” to reflect the fact that it puts a lot of emphasis on the social aspect of selling items on the site, not just the fact you’re listing things for sale.
With over 60 million users in North America and 100 million items for sale, it’s definitely a legit way to clean out your closet – or to update it for a fraction of the price of buying new items.
It’s particularly good for anyone looking to sell anything that’s mid- to high-end as this is the main focus of Poshmark. That said, you’re not limited to only selling elite designer items, so taking a look through the site can be a good way to see the types and prices of items that people list on there.
How does Poshmark work?
It’s incredibly easy to list items for sale on Poshmark, although it’s worth taking the time to make sure your photos are as good as they can be. This means ensuring that the items are well-positioned and that the photos are bright and fully show the quality of the item.
All you do is snap some photos of what you’re selling, write a description, set the price and post it. Immediately, the things you’re advertising will be listed in your “closet”. This means that anyone who finds your profile will be able to see everything you’re selling in one place.
Potential buyers will then bid on your item and you’re free to either accept a reduced offer or stick to only accepting offers at the listed price.
You can also use the social aspects of Poshmark’s platform to your advantage. Not only can you share other people’s listings, which often gets them to share yours in return and thus increases your pool of potential buyers, but interacting with your audience really helps to encourage customer loyalty.
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Your aim is to have repeat buyers, as it’s been found to be much easier to sell to those who trust you and like your closet compared to selling to the general public on Poshmark. This means that engaging your audience and getting to know them can really help you increase your earnings on the platform.
What sells best on Poshmark?
Poshmark often releases sales data that shows the top-selling items and brands on its site. This can be invaluable for knowing whether there are any gems in your own closet that you could sell on there.
It’s also great for those who use Poshmark as a side hustle, by giving you an idea which items you should keep an eye out for when thrift shopping.
Some of the best-selling items based on what Poshmark has reported include:
- Reformation dresses
- Gucci accessories
- Eloquii dresses
- Carhatt men’s jackets
- DIFF eyewear
You should also follow Poshmark’s site to see what else they report is selling the best at various times. For example, the image below shows some items that Poshmark noted were some of the best sellers from the previous year:
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How does shipping work on Poshmark?
Once an item is sold, Poshmark will generate a pre-paid, pre-addressed shipping label for you to attach to the package.
You’ll then pack the sold item (or items), which should go into basically any box except a USPS Express Mail box. It can then be dropped at a mailbox or your nearest Post Office.
Once the buyer receives the delivery, Poshmark will release the money for the item within three days. You’ll then be able to withdraw the money to your bank account or ask for a check.
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Who pays for shipping on Poshmark?
Shipping is paid by the buyer on Poshmark. All orders are shipped using USPS 1-3 day Priority Mail at a flat rate of $7.11 on all orders.
However, buyers have the option of purchasing multiple items from the same seller for a single shipping fee, as long as the package doesn’t exceed 5 lbs.
(Which is part of the reason that attracting repeat business from one buyer can be more lucrative than trying to target new buyers.)
What are Poshmark’s fees?
It’s free to simply list an item on Poshmark. However, when the item sells, you will then incur a fee based on the selling price.
For any sales under $15, the fee is $2.95 and for sales above that amount, the Poshmark’s commission is 20% of the selling price.
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Why are Poshmark’s fees so high?
It’s true that Poshmark’s fees are quite high and, per item sold, it’s highly likely that you’ll take more money home on other platforms.
That said, you may want to balance this out against the fact that you’ll have more final sales on Poshmark in light of their returns policy, meaning it may be worth it in the end to stick with this platform.
That is, it’s a lot harder for buyers to return items on Poshmark compared to other platforms. For example, Poshmark doesn’t allow returns due to fit issues, meaning that more of your sales are going to be final.
They also deal with returns claims for you, rather than you having to handle the process by yourself. This will save you a ton of time in the end – and time is money.
How does feedback work on Poshmark?
Depending on your perspective, Poshmark’s feedback policy may be a good or a bad thing for you.
That is, only positive feedback (known as “love notes”) are shown to other potential buyers on Poshmark. As a seller, if something has gone wrong, perhaps this is a good thing for you.
But if you’ve done any sort of online shopping yourself, you know how valuable it is to see all types of feedback about an item or a seller, whether it’s positive or negative, to get a realistic view of what you’re about to get.
Without this information, it can make it hard for buyers to get a real idea about a seller.
This Poshmark vs Mercari Reddit discussion also notes that it would be good for the number of transactions that a seller has cancelled to be displayed, so buyers don’t have their time wasted – but, again, you may look at this from a different perspective if you’re a potential seller.
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Pros and cons of Poshmark
There’s no doubt that Poshmark is a major player for anyone looking to make money by selling clothes and accessories. Some of the best aspects of this site are:
- Strict returns policy – As a seller, one of the best parts of using Poshmark is the limited scope in which refunds can be requested. The list of what is and isn’t covered can be seen here but, broadly speaking, it’s much more likely that you’ll get to keep your money compared to other platforms.
- Great usability – Poshmark’s platform is very easy to use for both buyers and sellers, with the app making it incredibly simple to list items.
- No time limit on listing items – Once an item is listed, it can stay there until it’s sold or until you pull it. This is a big distinction of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, in that the latter two have postings that expire
- Buyer pays for shipping as a default – By having this pre-set, there’s no discussion needed on who’s going to be responsible for this.
- Fast payment – With payment being made within three days of the item being delivered and shipping being done by Priority Mail, you’ll theoretically get your money within, at most, a week of sending any sold items.
That said, Poshmark isn’t perfect. Some of the downsides include:
- High fees – As mentioned, the fees for selling an item are pretty steep. This is often worth it given the fact you’re less likely to have buyers returning things on Poshmark, but it will be up to you if it’s worth swallowing the commissions that apply here.
- Low bids – It can take some time to sell something at a price you’re comfortable with, as a lot of buyers tend to make offers that are significantly less than the listed price. You’re perfectly free to reject as many of these as you want, but it can be frustrating.
- Good photos are key (but take time) – As Poshmark prides itself on the social nature of its platform, this means that you’ll have to make sure that you’re taking good photos that stand out. Depending on your photography skills, it can take some time to get a knack for what the usual Poshmark buyer is looking for.
- Can take a lot of time to nail the social aspects – Interacting with other sellers definitely helps to have your items shown more prominently in the feed. However, this takes time and if you’re simply looking to list items in the hope that they sell, you may not have the time or the energy to bother with this part of it. That’s understandable, but just be aware that this may be to the detriment of your listings.
About Mercari
In the Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay debate, Mercari is probably most like eBay in terms of its overall feel.
That is, you can use it to sell pretty much anything, like eBay, which includes clothes and accessories like on Poshmark.
The fact that it’s the newest kid on the block doesn’t mean Mercari is anything to sniff at, with over $94 million worth of items sold on Mercari every month. At the same time, this massive range of categories of things to sell means you may not have as much luck selling higher end clothes on there.
Mercari is also less strict on the quality of goods than others. Poshmark does require you to sell things that are in good condition at the very least. Mercari, on the other hand, lives up to its “online flea market” tagline by letting you sell basically whatever you want, no matter the condition.
(Just make sure you’re honest about this in your ad – a mismatch between the description and the item can be a reason for Mercari finding in favor of the buyer in case of a dispute!)
How does Mercari work?
The Mercari app makes it incredibly easy to sell – and buy – items. Simply download the app, upload some photos and a short description and your item is now available for potential buyers to find.
One of the best parts of Mercari is the messaging function between sellers and bidders. It’s essentially a private messaging service, allowing you to negotiate the price or answer questions without every other user being able to see it.
This can definitely be helpful as a seller if you’re trying to play your cards close to your chest.
Once you accept a bid for an item, you’re required to ship it within three business days. When it arrives, the buyer has three days to confirm their acceptance of the item. If they do this – or don’t do anything – then the money is released to you.
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How many items can you list on Mercari?
When you first start with Mercari, you’ll have a listing limit of 100 items. However, as you make more sales and the site apparently verifies that you’re not a scammer, this limit will increase to what appears to be an unlimited amount.
For example, someone on this Mercari Reddit discussion claims that they have over 2,500 items listed, so you can definitely advertise a ton of things once the limit is lifted.
Does Mercari protect sellers?
Mercari’s Shipping Protection for Sellers makes sure that sellers are protected for anything that’s lost in transit or if a buyer files a return for damage in transit.
This protection applies for any prepaid labels that follow the various requirements and will protect you up to the value of the item, up to a limit of $200.
For more information, including what you have to do to make sure your package is protected under this program, click here.
What sells well on Mercari?
From chatter online, most people seem to agree that Mercari is better for selling cheaper items and that anything above around $75 may not be sold as quickly as others.
As mentioned, when comparing Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, it’s important to keep in mind that only Poshmark is dedicated exclusively to selling clothing and accessories. This means that the best selling items overall on Mercari may not necessarily include clothes, even though the site also sells a ton of these.
Mercari occasionally releases information on their best selling items over a particular period, although they haven’t done this in a while. They did, however, do this for the last holiday season, stating that the following accessories sold the best:
- Name-brand handbags, especially crossbody and tote bags by brands such as Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade
- Luxury handbags by Louis Vuitton and Gucci
- Backpacks from Loungefly
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How does shipping work on Mercari?
There are a few different options for shipping with Mercari. These include:
- Mercari prepaid label – This provides fixed rates with USPS or FedEx for packages up to 150 lbs and is the preferred option for most sellers.
- Ship on your own – For anything weighing more than 150lbs or that costs more than $200, meaning Mercari’s Shipping Protection limit won’t be high enough, you’ll have to choose to ship it yourself.
- Pack and Ship – This is available through The UPS Store for items that are bulky or fragile, so probably won’t apply when selling clothes.
For more information on the different options, click here.
Who pays for shipping on Mercari?
At the time of listing an item, you as the seller will decide who’s going to pay for shipping. If you select the buyer, the cost of the label will be added to the shipping price in your listing.
You’ll also have the option of selecting which carrier you’ll use (USPS, UPS or FedEx). However, if you don’t have a preference, you can allow the buyer to choose.
When the seller elects to pay for shipping, the item listing will be marked as free shipping for buyers. Mercari notes that this can be a good way to attract potential buyers and should especially be considered if the shipping cost isn’t going to be very high, meaning that it won’t be too much of a burden for you to absorb the cost.
How much does it cost to sell on Mercari?
It’s completely free to list an item on Mercari. Then, when you sell an item, the fee for Mercari is 10% of the selling cost.
To cash out the balance of your earnings on Mercari, there’s a minimum of $10 for direct deposit. Any less than that – or if you try to direct deposit transfer more than that and your bank rejects it – you’ll be hit with a $2 fee.
You can also choose to use your Mercari earnings to buy other items on Mercari – a potentially dangerous option if you’re looking to do this to make money, but have some difficulties controlling your spending.
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How does feedback work on Mercari?
Once an item is delivered, a buyer has three days to confirm that the item was as described and to submit a rating. If they don’t submit a rating in that time, sellers are “auto-rated”. This means that the system will automatically give a 5 star review as well as an automated comment saying how great you are.
All Mercari users are able to see your feedback on your profile, including your average star rating, individual star ratings and all comments left by buyers. This means that, between Poshmark vs Mercari, Mercari is much more transparent.
Pros and cons of Mercari
Despite only having been around since early 2013, Mercari offers a significant opportunity for you to make money selling your clothes and other accessories. Some of its main benefits are:
- Much broader range of things to sell – If your closet isn’t full of designer items – or even mid- to high-range products – Mercari may be more suited for you than Poshmark.
- Lower quality standards – This may sound strange as a positive, but if you’re looking to use Mercari to sell things you find at a thrift shop, you may not meet the relatively high quality requirements of Poshmark. Instead, if you tend to find things that are lightly worn but are still usable, Mercari may be better for you.
- Huge potential customer base – Mercari is massive and growing by the day, so there’s bound to be someone willing to buy your stuff
- Relatively low fees – With one being half the rate of the other, the Poshmark vs Mercari debate is clearly won by the latter on this point.
That said, there are a few things to keep in mind with Mercari:
- Not specifically targeted at selling clothes and accessories – While Mercari has a huge user base, not all of these people are looking to buy clothes and other related items. This means that it may be harder to attract customers, compared to Poshmark where you know that everyone there is after the same thing, broadly speaking.
- Price limit of $2,000 – Mercari has a maximum price limit for individual items of $2,000. This won’t be an issue for you if you’re not looking to sell designer pieces, but it’s worth noting for anyone that does have a few stray high-end items in your closet that you want to sell.
- Option to not cash out your earnings – As mentioned earlier, you can choose to use your earnings as credit for buying other items on Mercari rather than cashing it out. If you’re someone who has some issues controlling your shopping, this could defeat the purpose of you selling your things to make some extra money.
About eBay
You’ve probably used eBay to sell or buy something in the past, given that it’s practically ancient in internet years.
Having been founded in 1995, it’s the original online marketplace where you can buy or sell practically anything. It has 182 million users worldwide across 190 different markets, with 70% of its traffic from the US.
How does eBay work?
Listing items for sale on eBay isn’t difficult, but may take a bit longer than on the other sites. This is because you’ll be asked to provide a lot more specific information about each item.
For example, in the case of clothes, you’ll have to add the length of the item and its sleeves, the type of material, the brand name, what level of quality it is and more. While this can actually be a benefit for helping interested buyers find your pieces, it’s also true that it won’t be as quick as adding a few photos and a brief tagline.
You can then choose for each listing to either be subject to an auction to allow people to bid on your item or to be a fixed “buy it now” price. It’s worth doing some research into similar items to the one you’re selling to see which type of selling strategy works best for them.
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What sells best on eBay?
Like Mercari, you can sell almost anything on eBay, with its top-selling product category being electronics and accessories, at 16.4% of all items sold on there.
However, clothing and accessories aren’t far behind, with 16% of all products sold on eBay being from this category. It’s also worth noting that the fashion category is the most searched by eBay users, so there is definitely a market out there.
And according to that site, the best selling brands for women are:
- Eileen Fisher
- FLAX
- Free People
- Dale of Norway
- Diane Von Furstenberg
For men, the best selling brands are:
- The Territory Ahead
- Ermenegildo Zegna
- Filson
- Carhartt
- Schott
In terms of finding the best clothes and accessories to sell on eBay that will make you the most profit, this thread on the eBay Community forum has some great tips.
How much is eBay shipping?
eBay’s shipping fee structure is the least straightforward by far in the Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay debate.
Basically, you determine the amount of shipping based on the weight of the item. This presents a pretty obvious risk in that if you weren’t accurate when calculating the item’s weight or the packaging causes its price to go up, you’ll be left with covering the difference.
There are a bunch of different ways to manage shipping through eBay, as described on this page. And while they may not be as clear cut as Poshmark or Mercari, eBay does tend to have the cheapest shipping out of all of them.
Who pays for eBay shipping?
When creating a listing, you select whether the buyer pays for shipping or if it’s free shipping – meaning you as the seller will cover it.
There are plenty of discussions online as to whether offering free shipping (and thus including the shipping cost in the price of the item) is better for selling more items, but it’s definitely true that making shipping too high will deter buyers.
This is why it’s important to strike a balance between covering your costs and making sure your offer is fair.
What are the fees for selling on eBay?
In the discussion of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, the latter may not be the most expensive but you wouldn’t be blamed for finding its fee structure the most confusing.
That is, you’ll get 200 listings every month that have no insertion fees. After that, the insertion fee will vary depending on what you’re listing but is usually $0.35 per listing. One exception that applies to clothing and accessories is if you’re selling athletic shoes, in which case there’s no listing fee if the starting price is $100 or more.
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From there, you’ll then be charged a final value fee when the item sells. This is a percentage of the total amount of the sale, including any shipping charges.
Again, in most cases, the final value fee will be 10% except if you sell athletic shoes for $100 or more, in which case the final value fee is 0%.
There are also extra fees if you want your listing to stand out, such as if you choose for it to be in bold text. You can read the full fee policy here.
Why is eBay so expensive?
eBay is actually similar to Mercari and cheaper than Poshmark, so it’s arguably not accurate to say that eBay is expensive.
Plus, when you get paid from a sale, the money will go directly to your PayPal account, not through eBay. This means that you don’t run the risk of incurring a payout fee or accidentally spending the money you’ve made, like with Mercari.
The only time that eBay can get expensive is if there’s an issue with the shipping calculation and you’re left to pay for too much of this yourself, which can eat into your profits. If that’s happened to you a few times, re-check your math and look into the various shipping options offered by eBay, as there may be a better (read: cheaper) option for the types of items you’re selling.
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How does feedback work on eBay?
Buyers can leave a positive, negative or neutral rating for sellers, along with a brief comment. However, one down side of eBay is that sellers can only leave a positive rating for buyers.
While this is intended to protect buyers from retaliation from sellers if there’s been a bad exchange, it also has the effect of allowing difficult or dishonest buyers to continue using the platform for longer than they should.
As a seller, you can protect yourself in a few ways, such as adding buyer requirements to listings (by, say, blocking those with too many unpaid items) or by requiring buyers to pay immediately.
You can find out more about this here.
Pros and cons of eBay
There’s a reason that eBay has been so popular for so long when it comes to people looking to sell their secondhand goods – and new items too!
Some of the main pros of eBay include:
- Huge audience – eBay is one of the biggest websites in the world, meaning you’ve got a massive range of potential buyers for your things.
- No limit to what you can sell – Whether you’re looking to sell small, low-priced accessories or high range pieces, eBay has an audience for you. In fact, when comparing Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, the latter definitely allows the widest range of items to be sold
- Cheaper shipping costs – While the shipping policy can take a few read-throughs to figure out, eBay generally has the cheapest shipping costs compared to the other sites.
- Better customer service – Out of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, only eBay lets you call customer service and actually speak with someone if there’s an issue. In the other two cases, you can only email, which can have lengthy response times – or no response at all.
At the same time, some of the cons of eBay include the following:
- Long return period through PayPal – When a buyer pays with PayPal, they have 180 days in which to submit a return, even if your listing explicitly said no returns. This means that almost six months after a sale, you can be notified that a buyer has asked to return an item and there’s nothing you can do about it.
- Confusing fee policies – As mentioned earlier, the listing and shipping fees on eBay aren’t as straightforward as Poshmark or Mercari. Shipping in particular can take some time for you to work out, including weighing the item, which may make the other sites easier for you to use.
- Long listings – Listing an item on eBay isn’t simply a question of typing out a small description, adding some photos and off you go. Instead, there are a bunch of details to include, such as the length of the item and its sleeves, the type of material and more.
Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay: Overall winner
In the battle of Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay, the best choice for you is going to depend on a few things, including what you’re selling and what you need.
Overall, though, we’d say the winners of the different categories are as follows:
- Best for potential customer base: eBay – With more than 180 million users, it’s an easy win
- Best for shipping fees: Poshmark – eBay can be cheaper, but it’s harder to figure out. On the other hand, having a flat fee covered by the buyer as a default makes Poshmark far better for sellers
- Best for listing and selling fees: Mercari – eBay has a similar fee structure to Mercari but there are all sorts of exceptions that can get confusing. Mercari, however, simply has a flat 10% selling fee with free listings, making it very straightforward
- Best for ease of listing: Mercari – Listing on Poshmark is also easy, but you have to really lean into the social aspect for your listing to be seen by as many people as possible. Mercari, however, simply asks for some good photos, a short description and you’re good to go.
- Best for selling high-end items: Poshmark – You can certainly sell high-end items on the other platforms, but Poshmark is targeted towards those kinds of pieces. This means that people searching on there already know that’s the kind of item they want.
- Best for selling low- to mid-range items: eBay – You can sell these kinds of pieces on Mercari as well, but people often report that they simply sell faster on eBay. This may be down to the fact that there are just so many more people on eBay but whatever it is, moving your stock appears to be easier here.
FAQs on Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay
Is selling clothes on Poshmark worth it?
Selling clothes on Poshmark is definitely worth it. Whether you’re looking to sell a few excess items in your closet or to go thrifting to regularly sell on there, it can be a great way to make some extra money.
This is especially the case if you have mid- to high-end items to sell or you know your local second hand stores often stock brand name pieces. The latter in particular can be a really good side hustle, especially if you have a good eye for what can sell well on Poshmark.
Can you make a living selling on Poshmark?
Making a living selling on Poshmark may be difficult unless you have access to a steady or large stream of clothes to sell on there.
In particular, this may work if you’re able to buy designer pieces at a price that lets you resell them for a significant profit, as that means you may only need to resell a couple of items every month to make a living wage.
That said, this is going to require you to spend a lot upfront, which not all of us can do. This is why it’s more likely that you can treat selling on Poshmark as a great side hustle rather than as a way to replace your income.
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Is Mercari or eBay better for mid-range clothes?
Mid-range clothes sell well on both Mercari and eBay, although it seems that eBay may have a slight edge. This is mainly due to the fact that eBay has so many more users, with more than 180 million compared to Mercari’s 40 million users.
The effect of this is that you’ll probably find yourself selling way faster on eBay. That said, there’s no harm in giving Mercari a try, especially as it can be much easier to make listings on there.
Is Poshmark better than Mercari for listing items?
Both Poshmark and Mercari make it very easy to list items and much faster than eBay. By using their apps, your main concern is making sure the pictures are bright and accurate in terms of the quality of the piece. Once you’ve done that, the listing is basically done.
However, to really succeed on Poshmark, it’s important to have a good understanding of how to leverage the social aspect to make your listing stand out. Things like following other sellers or “liking” their items can all go a long way to pushing your own listings to the top of the feed.
This can take some time that you may not have (or just can’t be bothered with), which is why we think Mercari has an edge when it comes to listing items. That said, if you like that kind of thing, Poshmark could be just for you.
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Is it better to sell on eBay or Poshmark or Mercari for making the most money?
Figuring out which site makes you the most money is going to require some trial and error. However, reports online strongly indicate that you’re going to sell things faster somewhere like eBay compared to Poshmark or Mercari. This may ultimately mean that you make more money on there.
However, one exception is if you plan to sell high-end, designer-labelled items. If so, Poshmark may work better for you, as its target audience is specifically aimed at people looking to buy these kinds of things.
Can you actually make money on Poshmark vs Mercari vs eBay?
Plenty of people make money on these sites, some of them serious amounts. This article, for example, mentions someone who sells an average of $1,000 worth of clothes every week on Poshmark, while someone else has made $25,000 from the same site in two years, which she’s used to pay off her student loans.
Others have had similar success on Mercari and eBay, making it a question of doing your research and being able to tap into the prime market on your site of choice.