Poshmark is an e-commerce platform where people can buy and sell second-hand fashion items for men, women, and children.
The company, headquartered in Redwood City, California, was founded in 2011 by Manish Chandra, Tracy Sun, Chetan Pungaliya, and Gautam Golwala.
Best known for its fashion and clothing products, Poshmark lets users trade home goods and electronic products on the platform as well.
Its app and website function similarly to traditional e-commerce platforms. Poshmark, on the other hand, primarily targets fashionistas by providing a wider variety of higher-quality products with quality control and authentication processes.
Poshmark also holds “Posh Parties”—live virtual shopping events where people connect to buy, sell, and trade clothing, beauty products, home goods, and other items. For example, sellers can list their Converse items at the Converse Party, where customers looking for this brand will also browse.
Poshmark is free to all users—sellers and buyers alike. But in the case of sellers, while listing an item for sale is free, fees are imposed once your product has been sold. The company charges $2.95 for products under $15, and goods sold for over $15 will be charged 20% of the sales amount.
This is how Poshmark makes moneyAlthough Poshmark was founded in 2011, the idea of the company began to develop far back in 2005. During that time, Chandra, one of Poshmark’s founders, was running his company Kaboodle, which let users bookmark and share home decor.
The company was sold in 2007, but little did people know that the acquisition of Kaboodle marked the beginning of the second-hand fashion giant Poshmark. In 2011, with some friends from Kaboodle, Chandra made his vision come to life. Chandra, Pungaliya, and Golwala invited the fashion expert Tracy Sun and founded Poshmark, combining the words “posh” and “marketplace.”
Due to the founder’s former connections back at Kaboodle, the team didn’t necessarily start from zero in pitching Poshmark to investors. The company saw gradual growth and expanded to international markets, starting in Canada in 2019 and then in Australia and India in 2021.
During the same year, with a total company valuation of $3 billion, Poshmark went public, allowing it to raise over $277 million. Talks about European expansion also surfaced after Poshmark entered India. However, it’s not yet clear which part of Europe the company will expand into.
In 2021, Poshmark reported over $1.8 billion worth of goods sold on the platform. During the same year, Poshmark earned $326 million in revenue. It was also revealed that in 2021, there would be around 7.6 million active users on the platform.
The methodology by which competitors of Poshmark are ranked is based on various data points. Information such as the gross merchandise volume (GMV), revenue, number of users, and anything else relevant is taken into account.
This analysis, to ensure comparability, only looks at the fashion and clothing resale marketplace competitors of Poshmark. Therefore, the competition in electronics, home decor, and other products is not included (although some of the below-listed companies also operate in those industries).
Additionally, companies that Poshmark (partially) owns are excluded as well. For instance, Totspot, an online marketplace for children’s clothing, was acquired by Poshmark in 2016. Still, the two continue to compete in some states in the US.
Lastly, this analysis does not include indirect competitors of Poshmark. Examples are traditional luxury brands, social media-based clothing lines, fast fashion, in-store shopping malls, boutiques, and so forth.
So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the top 10 competitors of Poshmark.
1. Vinted
Headquarters: Vilnius, LithuaniaFounder(s): Milda Mitkute, Justas JanauskasYear Founded: 2008
Vinted is a well-known international marketplace for pre-loved items, mainly clothing and accessories. Vinted works similarly to Poshmark, but unlike Poshmark, Vinted has a restriction for resellers.
Vinted made it clear that its platform is not intended to generate regular income. Therefore, small businesses aren’t allowed on the platform. Instead, Vinted’s primary goal is to help its users trade their old fashion items.
Unlike many tech giants, Vinted was not expected and planned to be as big as it is now. It only started as a hobby after a software expert, Janauskas, and a Lithuanian woman named Mitkute exchanged a conversation at a party.
Back then, Mitkute had just moved out for college and realized how many clothes she owned that she couldn’t really use. She thought of how many girls were in the exact situation and how helpful it would be if only all girls could trade clothes from their wardrobes.
With that, Mitkute and Janauskas thought of creating a platform where people could exchange pre-loved items in their wardrobes. It wasn’t too serious until the two really thought about how much impact it could make if the idea came to life.
In 2016, Thomas Plantenga was appointed as the company’s new CEO. Vinted experienced significant growth during his tenure. On the other hand, Vinted’s founders had become less involved in Vinted’s operations.
Vinted started operating in Lithuania in 2008. Currently, the platform serves around 18 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Austria, Slovakia, Spain, Italy, and Indonesia.
In 2019, after reaching a $1 billion valuation, Vinted became Lithuania’s “first tech unicorn.” It also acquired the Netherland-based United Wardrobe the following year, eyeing to dominate Europe’s pre-loved fashion tech industry.
In 2021, estimates say that Vinted made a total of $263 million in revenues. During the same year, the company had almost $2.8 billion worth of merchandise sold on the platform. It was reported that Vinted closed the year 2021 with less than 45 million users.
Sources: Aim Group, EU Startup, Latana, NB Forum, Preloved Delightsttps, Tech EU
2. Vestiaire Collective
Headquarters: Paris, FranceFounder(s): Fanny Moizant, Sophie Hersan, Sébastien Fabre, Christian Jorge, Alexander Cognard, Henrique FernandesYear Founded: 2009
Vestiaire Collective is a buy-and-sell marketplace for luxury brands and pre-loved items, including clothes, accessories, footwear, and many others. Vestiaire Collective operates similarly to Poshmark. After reaching an agreement with the buyer, the seller will ship the product to Vestiaire Collective for authentication. The payment will then be secured once the item is shipped.
Poshmark allows users to sell regular products, whereas Vestiaire Collective only accepts luxury brands. This is the main difference between the two marketplaces. Furthermore, Vestiaire Collective serves 74 markets as opposed to Poshmark’s four.
Vestiaire Collective began in the mind of Moizant, one of the company’s founders, who hails from Paris, the “Fashion Capital of the World.” Back then, she observed that many of her friends owned a lot of unused luxury pieces.
She also noticed that many online influencers used their reach for decluttering used items, and she wondered what about those who don’t. Furthermore, having all second-hand products on one platform would be more convenient for shoppers. That’s when the idea of promoting high-quality fashion at a lower cost occurred to her.
Early in 2022, Vestiaire Collective announced its acquisition of its competitor Tradesy. The two companies combined have 23 million users and GMV of more than $1 billion.
In 2021, Vestiaire Collective became France’s 11th unicorn company (a non-public company valued at least $1 billion). The marketplace, which has yet to go public, doesn’t regularly disclose its revenue. It’s estimated that Vestiaire earns around $250 million every year.
Based on various reports, Vestiaire Collective is estimated to have 8 to 15 million users worldwide. But aside from that, the company did not release reports about its GMV before the acquisition of Tradesy.
Sources: Forbes, Irish Tatler, PR Newswire, Vestiaire Collective Contact & Community
3. StockX
Headquarters: Detroit, MichiganFounder(s): Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, Greg Schwartz, Chris KaufmanYear Founded: 2015
StockX is an online platform where resellers can buy and sell fashion items. StockX differs from Poshmark in that it functions similarly to stock market bidding. In other words, interested buyers make a bid, and the price is determined by the customers and the product’s demand. The highest bidder gets the item.
One of the company’s founders, Luber, was born an entrepreneur, starting his own business when he was just in sixth grade. He grew up wanting and begging his parents for a high-profile brand of shoes, and that’s where he got the inspiration to create a platform to sell cheaper but authentic shoes.
And the timing was on point in the 2010s when the “sneaker craze” was at its peak. Many basketball and NBA fans want to buy signature-branded shoes at a reasonable price.
In 2020, StockX’s co-founder, Josh Luber, stepped down as CEO after five years of working for the company. It was around the time when the company reached a valuation of $1 billion. According to Luber, it was a mutual decision, and he opened up about his plans to establish another startup.
StockX’s authentication and selling processes are also very different from Poshmark’s. At StockX, products are sent to the company. If the product is found to be authentic, the company will now be the one to handle the sale and shipment of the product, and StockX will pay the seller.
After more than five years of operations, StockX is available in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and 200 more countries. It’s estimated that StockX usually earns around $528.7 million every year. As per the latest reports, the company recorded around $1.8 billion in GMV.
Sources: Front Office Sports, Inc Magazine, Quartz, StockX
4. The RealReal
Headquarters: San Francisco, CaliforniaFounder(s): Julie WainwrightYear Founded: 2011
The RealReal is an online marketplace focusing on luxury consignment. What sets it apart from Poshmark is that the latter is essentially a platform where users can directly sell items to one another.
Sellers on The RealReal, on the other hand, sell their items to the company. In other words, luxury products are handed over to the company, and The RealReal is in charge of selling them to customers.
Before The RealReal started, Wainwright, the company’s founder, was running both Pets.com (one of the dot-com bubble’s poster children) and Reel.com. In 2000, amidst a divorce settlement with her husband, Wainwright decided to shut down Reel — an action met with public scrutiny.
Wainwright thought of how people often crowd into the consignment sections of department stores in San Francisco, from which she got the concept for her new venture. Also, she noticed that customers crave to experience the “elite world” with a more affordable but authentic wardrobe—something top e-commerce companies lack.
In 2011, Wainwright finally established The RealReal to let customers shop for authenticated designer items. Unlike Poshmark, The RealReal takes possession of the items sold on its platform and adds them to The RealReal’s inventory.
The company went public early in 2019, making it the first “Resale’s New Wave” startup to go public. The RealReal had previously raised $115 million in its most recent funding round, and after the public offering, it managed to add another $300 million to its balance sheet.
Currently, The RealReal ships to more than 60 countries. It sold more than $1.4 billion worth of items and earned over $120 million in revenue in 2021. During the same period, the company also had around 797,000 users.
Sources: Forbes, Forbes, The New Yorker, The RealReal Annual Report
5. ThredUp
Headquarters: Oakland, CaliforniaFounder(s): James Reinhart, Chris Homer, Oliver LubinYear Founded: 2009
ThredUp, known as one of the companies that showcase pride in thrift clothing, is a NASDAQ-listed online marketplace for women’s and children’s fashion.
Unlike Poshmark, ThredUp works by keeping all the products in its internal inventory and warehouses. It means that, upon having the seller’s product authenticated, ThredUp will take the item and pay you when it’s sold.
Before ThredUp was founded, Reinhart, the company’s founder, studied business in Cambridge as a regular student. During that time, he needed some cash, and the only way he saw to improve his financial situation was to sell some of his lightly worn clothes. To his dismay, none of the thrift stores he went to were interested in buying his goods.
After taking out his frustration, he thought of how relevant it is for people like him to have a place to get rid of their hardly used clothes. That’s where he got the idea of creating a peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling second-hand items.
Initially, ThredUp only focused on men’s clothing but later realigned the company’s attention to children’s clothing. After sorting out ThredUp’s processes, the company launched the Clean Out Kit—a reusable bag where sellers can put the clothes they want to sell.
Over 1.6 million people are using ThredUp to buy and sell second-hand clothes and accessories, per the company’s 2021 annual report. Currently, ThredUp only serves the US and Canada, and no expansion plans are being discussed yet.
In 2021, the same year ThredUp went public, it earned more than $251.7 million in revenues. However, the company doesn’t disclose anything specific regarding its gross merchandise volume, although it’s been said that its GMV rose to 50% from the previous year.
Sources: Crunchbase, Insider Intelligence, ThredUp Annual Report, ThredUp Help Center
6. Tradesy
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CaliforniaFounder(s): Tracy DiNunzio, Sash CatanzariteYear Founded: 2009
Tradesy is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of pre-loved clothing for women. It mainly focuses on serving women and takes possession of the approved inventory. In addition, Tradesy offers a wide-ranging variety of authenticated wedding items.
After seeing her closet full of clothes she rarely wears, the company’s founder, DiNunzio, was inspired to start her own company with the goal of connecting women and their closets. With that problem in mind, DiNunzio founded the company in her apartment in 2009.
Back then, Tradesy was called “Recycled Bride,” focusing on reselling wedding items to women. The platform was then gradually transformed and expanded. And in 2012, Recycled Bride was finally rebranded to Tradesy.
Early in 2022, Tradesy announced that it was acquired by one of its competitors, Vestiaire Collective, for an undisclosed price. The two companies had a total of 23 million combined users and an annual GMV of over $1 billion.
Before the acquisition, Tradesy had an estimated annual revenue of $30 million and around 7 million users. The gross merchandise value, however, was not disclosed.
Sources: About Tradesy, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, Observer, PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance
7. eBay
Headquarters: San Jose, CaliforniaFounder(s): Pierre OmidyarYear Founded: 1995
eBay is an e-commerce giant offering various items such as electronics, home decor, clothing, and many other products. The platform works similarly to Poshmark in that sellers keep all their products on hand until a buyer is interested in purchasing them. Although eBay allows the sale of inauthentic brands on the platform, it also offers an internal authentication process.
eBay Authenticity Guarantee lets shoppers buy authenticated items on the platform with maximum protection and confidence. With the Authenticity Guarantee, luxury items are physically inspected by eBay before shipping them to the buyer.
Unlike Poshmark, eBay, of course, has wider options. But if Poshmark has one advantage, it may be its exclusivity, focusing only on fashion, clothing, and accessories.
eBay, however, has undeniably more areas covered than Poshmark (currently serving in only four countries). In comparison, eBay had already established its platform in around 180 countries.
eBay generates around $10 billion in revenue annually. However, the company doesn’t disclose how much it earns from branded fashion items. In 2021, eBay reportedly sold over $87 billion worth of products (= GMV). During the same year, around 159 million people were using eBay.
Sources: Ebay Annual Report, Ebay Authenticity Guarantee, Ebay History, Statista
8. Depop
Headquarters: London, EnglandFounder(s): Simon BeckermanYear Founded: 2011
Depop is an e-commerce platform mainly focusing on clothing and fashion. It offers items for men, women, and children. Customers may also opt to shop under the branded category, in which products are checked with Real Authentication, the company’s official brand checking partner.
Beckerman, the company’s founder, has always been passionate about industrial design—a field he later pursued in college. He was the “artsy” type of kid, always willing to go against the grain.
After only one semester, Beckerman dropped out to “build his business empire.” He then gave up his short music career and founded a magazine business called PIG. Years later, the Beckerman family also established an eyewear brand, which increased Simon Beckerman’s interest in advertising.
Realizing that digital technology may be the future of businesses, he realigned his goals and targeted to conquer the online world. Initially, Beckerman’s app was a social platform, letting magazine readers purchase advertised products. From there, the app gradually expanded to how it looks now—an online fashion marketplace.
The key difference between Poshmark and Depop is that while Poshmark is focused on offering mid-to-high-end items, Depop may be seen more like a thrift store. On Depop, premium prices are paid for high-quality brands.
The company has an estimated annual revenue of $332 million. In 2021, Depop was acquired by Etsy, an e-commerce platform that sells vintage and handmade items. Before the acquisition, though, the company had already sold almost $670 million worth of products. As of 2021, more than 30 million people use Depop.
Sources: Depop Newsroom, Digital Commerce 360, PR Newswire, Trovalarisposta
9. Mercari
Headquarters: Tokyo, JapanFounder(s): Shintaro Yamada, Tommy Tomishima, Ryo IshizukaYear Founded: 2013
Mercari is an e-commerce company with a strong presence in Japan and the US. Like Poshmark, Mercari offers brand authentication services for high-end items with Mercari Authenticate.
Yamada, the company’s founder, got the inspiration for the company while traveling around the world. As a serial entrepreneur, Yamada is a natural when it comes to formulating a business concept, and at that time, he felt that people needed an easy way to buy and sell stuff to each other.
Within just a year, Mercari already had over 1 million product listings. In 2018, Mercari became Japan’s first unicorn and raised over $1.2 billion when it went public in the same year.
Per the company’s annual report, Mercari earned $1.15 billion in revenues in 2021 and had almost $5 billion worth of products sold on the platform. During the same year, the company reported that it had around 19 million active users.
Sources: About Mercari, Companies Market Cap, Digital Innovation and Transformation, Mercari UK, Statista, Tech in Asia
10. Amazon
Headquarters: Seattle, WashingtonFounder(s): Jeff BezosYear Founded: 1994
Amazon is an e-commerce giant that dominates many parts of the world. As one of the largest tech companies, Amazon is the go-to place for many people looking for any kind of product imaginable.
The platform also sells high-end fashion items, but unlike Poshmark, Amazon doesn’t offer secure authentication services for high-end brands. Because of this, people who purchase luxury goods do so at the risk of fraud. They may, however, shop at official stores of their favorite brands to ensure authenticity.
In 2020, rumors about Amazon taking over luxury retail surfaced but never materialized. It was said that many luxury brand sellers are usually not confident in selling on Amazon due to the devaluation of their brand.
In 2021, Amazon earned almost $470 billion in revenue. The company’s GMV was over $600 billion during that period, and over 98 million people were using the platform.
Sources: Amazon Investor Relations, Glossy, Marketplace Pulse
