As Poshmark Rolls Back Fee Changes, Buyers Demand Refund For Fees Paid
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%.
Liz Morton
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!
