Mobile Apps

    These days you can do just about anything on your mobile device. Every day our technology is expanding with new apps that make our lives a little bit easier. In the past, if you were thinking about getting rid of your clothes or selling them for a little extra cash then you would have to take your items to a resell shop such as Plato's Closet. Now, there are apps like Poshmark, Curtsy, and Mercari that make selling your old clothes from your couch possible. All three of these apps are very similar in a lot of ways, each of them just has a few minor details that make their app unique. How do these apps work you might ask? Well, let me give you the rundown. 

    Poshmark

    Poshmark allows you to post your old clothing items, shoes, gadget, and just about anything else you can think of. Items that you typically see on Posmark are work clothes, athletic clothes, all kinds of shoes, and sunglasses, and now and then you will run across technology. Selling your items is as easy as taking a few pictures of the items, answering a few questions about the item, and choosing the price which you would like to sell it for. The questions usually include things like whether there is anything wrong with the item, how it fits, what size it is, whether is it new or older, what is the brand, and what the color is. The app will give you a suggested price depending on the brand and what an item like it usually sells for. From there you can decide how much shipping would cost based on the weight of the item or you have the option to do free shipping. Just as fun as it is to sell items on the app, you can also buy trade and bundle items as well. The more items you will post, the more attention your page will receive from other poshers, and this lead to a rise in followers that will start sharing your items to their feeds. If you get on the app and don't really know what you are looking for, then you can simply scroll through the home page feed and see what the people you are following are selling. On another note, if you find yourself looking for a specific item, you can save a search and Poshmark will notify you if there is an item posted that fits the description of the item you are looking for. As you scroll through the feed and find items you like, you would give it a like, and sometimes the seller will send you a private offer with a percentage off and lower shipping cost. You can also request a discount on an item you like in hopes that the seller accepts your offer. Once you sell an item you have three days to ship it to the buyer. Once they receive the item, they will rate you and from there you will able to get your earnings from your sale. Because you are using Poshmark services to sell the item they will receive a portion of the earnings.

    Curtsy

    Curtsy is a very bright and aesthetically pleasing buying and selling app. This goes as far as the pictures that people post of the items they are selling being really good quality. Not to say any app is better than the other but Curtsy has more expensive and higher quality items that cycle through the app. Selling on Curtsy is very similar to Poshmark including the same questions that you have to answer about the item you are selling. Curtsy does take out a bigger portion of your earnings than Poshmark does but they also offer more services to help you sell your items faster. For example, once you put an item up for sale, you can set up autopilot that will try to sell your item for you within a set time and a set minimum earning. Looking for items you love is made easy on Curtsy. When you set up your account the app gives you the option to include your size for pants, shirts, shoes, etc. This allows the app to find items that will specifically fit you when you search for an item. This feature is also beneficial to selling items. For example, if you are selling a pair of jeans a buyer could look at your size and see how they fit you and compare it to how it should fit them accurately. Like Poshmark, you can save searches and you will be notified when a new item is added to the category. Curtsy has also just added an effect where you can post a video of the item you are selling along with a voice-over so the potential buyer can get a more realistic look at the item they are interested in. As you scroll through your feed and like items so are other people and sadly sometimes people will purchase an item you like before you do but don't worry! Curtsy will notify you when an item you love was just sold but don't freak out because they have already found a huge list of other items very similar to the item you liked. If you receive an item that is in worse condition than was described to you then you can contact Curtsy and they will let you return your item and get your money back or you can get a percentage of the money back that you spent if you waited too long to notify Curtsy.

    Mercari

    Mercari is very similar to Poshmark and Curtsy. I would say that it is very comparable to Poshmark in an aesthetic way. You will see more of your everyday items on Mercari. Just like the previous apps when you sell an item you have to describe and answer a list of questions about your item and choose the price you are willing to sell it for. Once you sell your item, you print out the shipping label and send it out within three days. When the buyer gets their item they will check off all of the boxes and rate you as a seller and then you will receive your earnings. Instead of having a list of the people you follow on the home page feed that you can scroll through, Mercari has a for you page. When you first join Mercari you build your for you page by your searches and items you like and it will curate to things you are more likely to buy. Mercari definitely helps you buy and sell apps but it would probably be the first choice for most people. Again people usually tend to flock to apps that have what they are looking for.

    All of these apps are very similar and are used for the same purpose. Depending on what you are looking for will usually depend on which app you choose to use when you want to find a specific item quickly. With each of these apps, you can message the buyer before they receive their item and after in case they have any questions or if you would like to thank them for purchasing your item. Each of these apps makes it very convenient to sell your older and used items from home and this shows that technology and mobile apps are making our lives easier to do everyday things online.