As Poshmark Rolls Back Fee Changes, Buyers Demand Refund For Fees Paid

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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Poshmark is returning to their original fee structure starting today after massive pushback on new policy that split fees between buyers and seller - but while sellers are being given the opportunity to get rebates on some fees, buyers have been told they are out of luck for fees they paid during the ~3 weeks the new structure was in place.

In a letter to users announcing the roll back, CEO Manish Chandra recognized the disruption the changes had caused and advised sellers would be eligible for rebates to help account for the fact it might take time for them to edit listings and readjust prices if needed to account for fees on the seller side reverting back to 20%.

Poshmark Reverts To Original Fee Structure After User Outcry Over New Fees
Poshmark is returning to original fee structure after massive pushback on new policy that split fees between buyers and sellers.

The announcement said, in part:

We’re offering a rebate: To give you time to adapt your listings and pricing strategies, we will issue a rebate** for the difference in seller fees on listings created or edited during the fee change period and sold via Buy Now, from October 24, 2024, through the weekend until October 27, 2024.

Unfortunately, no real acknowledgement was given for how the changes impacted buyers on the marketplace and buyers have since taken to Reddit sharing the responses they've received from Poshmark when inquiring about the possibility of rebates or credits for fees they paid during that time.

I asked about a refund to buyers since sellers are getting a rebate/refund but they said they aren't doing that. They should. If you purchased anything from posh during the new fees period you should contact them thru their support page. The more of us that say something, we may get our fees back too.

Buyers should def get reimbursed too. It’s not fair to just undo the “damage” to one of the parties. Besides, if buyers aren’t happy they’re not gonna be buying and sellers are gonna be affected. Make it fair.

If they were smart and wanted to get buyers back, they’d issue those of us who did buy items Posh credit for the fees. It would probably drive up their sales after the slump if they did.

Several buyers say they believe they are owed refunds because the fee allegedly violates California law and possibly other states as well, since Poshmark was folding it in with sales tax and hiding the breakout of costs a click away in an informational pop up.

Those buyers are encouraging others to report Poshmark to relevant state authorities, with some even saying they are pursuing chargebacks to recover the fees - though it's important to note Poshmark may shut down accounts who they believer are "abusing" the chargeback process.

I emailed Posh support and requested my “buyer protection fees” back either as a refund or site credit, citing California SB 478.

I received a prompt reply stating the old fees will go into effect on 10/24 but they will not refund me.

I replied back once again, stating they may not have a choice.

I will report to the CA DOJ next if they don’t want to refund/credit me.

Has anyone else done the same?

Side note - I am a CA resident and Posh is a CA business.

I’m pleased they’re going back to the prior model but I think they owe it and may be required to reimburse their users what are essentially hidden “junk” fees.

I emailed about this too and am also a California resident. Even though I made one purchase during the fee restructure and they buyer fee was like $4 I want the refund. They said the same to me so I'm just going to start a dispute with amex and report them to the attorney general's office.

I reported thredup before for misleading advertising and their legal counsel was forced to respond. So even if it amounts to nothing, it's totally worth wasting their time and resources to report them.

I wonder if there are any lawyers that could take this to court for CA residents in a class action lawsuit. I bought a pair of $500 boots and used some credits under my account to pay. In doing this, I didn’t realize I paid an extra $75 in fees. I am really pissed and want my money back.

Do you think Poshmark should consider refunding buyer fees or at least offering some kind of goodwill credit to those who purchased during this failed fee experiment?

Let us know in the comments below what would be fair and enticing to keep buyers coming back to the site!

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.

2 comments
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EmilyN
Also, since I wrote them emails regarding my opinion and anger, I’m almost Carson they messed with my account and changed the algorithm. It’s as if I’m completely invisible to everyone on the app no matter what I do. I’m trying to sell everything I can to make up for the money I spent out of my husbands pocket. Even gifts he got me. There was an active shooter at my kids school the day I had the issue with the seller and Poshmark and they were so incredibly rude and insulting, I cried the rest of the day. They did care at all, Poshmark just let the woman tell me I was a waste of everyone’s time, that I was stupid and to stop shopping for things I didn’t need. The woman literally lied to me about sizes and completing away with being able to charge me $155 for the wrong sizes! $21 of that sent to Poshmark for buyer protection. They bullied me and got paid to do so. They should be ashamed of themselves.
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EmilyN
Yes! I finally found someone who agrees! I just started buying on Poshmark resell the moment those 3 weeks of buyer protection fees took place. I had no idea until they ended it! I spent thousands! Now I’m at such a financial loss, it’s hurting my family. I emailed so many times and never got a response! And buyer protection?! I was used and abused by a seller, Poshmark wouldn’t even speak with me just defended the buyer completely and wouldn’t even allow me to respond in the conversation! I’m so upset with Poshmark but now I have so much inventory I planned on earning money from but I’m actually out all of the money I spent. My husband still isn’t speaking to me over it. To be trestdd
With such disrespect, sick disregard… not to even acknowledge my existence when I paid them tons of money for absolutely no reason is incredibly insulting and disgusting. How they have Ben allowed to get away with this is beyond me. It is theft. Why are the sellers being treated so well with all of this and the buyers are treated like absolute trash?! I’m sooo mad!!!!

Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderConcerned44 minutes ago
It is Slowwwwwww and is more expensive to the buyer. In the past items I have ordered will sit at the hub for around 2 weeks. I avoid ebay unless I cannot get it elsewhere.
Avatar Placeholdermarks30474 hours ago
Hi, I have a friend who had an interesting experience recently that fell under this issue. They sold an item, packed and dispatched to the UK Ebay hub, this was midway through the period as the pause occurred. They then received a message from the buyer that they had checked tracking and discovered that the item had disappeared on ebay, no advice. It then turned out that the tracking had been fudged and the package was with them but not forwarded on to the USA. A few hours of to and fro to get the answer that it was due to the tariff dilemma. NO fault of the buyer(who had paid) or the seller ((who had been paid) and a strange response that the item could not be delivered. The buyer would be refunded in full, the seller would keep payment and the item would not be returned. Strange, Ebay must be hurting paying our both sides of the deal+
Avatar PlaceholdercwiYesterday
  1. Start building out the brand and promoting the heck out of Canadian sellers to our domestic market. Work with Federal/Provincial level governments in the push to build a strong presence here in Canada.

  2. Add other calculated shipping options than Canada Post UPS/FedEx for domestic shipping - partner with couriers nationwide, leverage agreements and software integrations with courier reseller platforms such as Stallion Express. Build out a crowd sourced network using national/regional retail locations as drop points for rural regions, leveraging transport networks to move packages to courier pickup points, akin to the UK courier model but adapted to the Canadian realities.

  3. Create a centralized international shipping clearing house to aide micro businesses with affordable shipping rates and customs clearance to avoid pitfalls and complexities (akin to US eIS).

  4. Bring features forward to the platform from other localizations, such as prepaid best offer acceptance, etc.