DIY

Like a lot of women (and men), I have a much larger wardrobe than I actually need.

I mean, needs-wise, you’ve got what – a couple pairs of jeans, a few sweaters, some tshirts, enough underwear to get to the next laundry day, a handful of socks, a couple of pairs of good shoes, and whatever might be required for your chosen profession. My workplace is casual, so my “dress slacks” (UGH) have been in storage for years.

What I actually have? TONS of shirts, jeans, sweaters, cardigans, shoes, underwear, socks, etc. Enough to fill my closet… and my dresser. Enough to make it difficult to put away laundry when I try to wash it all at the same time because there’s just not enough space. So it lives in the laundry basket.

A couple of years ago I did a massive purge. Bags and bags of clothes went to donation. Last year I sold a big box of clothes to a girl on Facebook. YET, here I am again. Still stuffed to the gills.

Enter Poshmark. I joined a couple of years ago and bought a pair of LulaRoe leggings because 2016. I posted a few items and sold a couple of jackets, but the rest of my closet went ignored and unpurchased. What was I doing wrong? How did people make a living off this? All I want to do is sell some random crap from my closet!

Last month, I made about $250 from Poshmark sales. Here are 5 things that I did differently this time:

Follow People – Lots of People

The point of “following” on Poshmark should be that you’d follow a closet that had a similar style to your own, creating a timeline of shares of items you actually like. In practice? Follow as many people as you care to click “follow” on. Following people increases your audience and increases the number of people viewing your item. This might seem silly because most people just search Poshmark for what they want, but I’ve gained likes and sold a few items just moments after sharing and having my item re-shared by a follower. It doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t take a long time, so why not?

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE

Like, at least once a day. This sets your item back at the top of search results. If you don’t share your item, it will be lower on the list of search results. Location, location, location. It also signals to a buyer that you’re an active seller and not someone who posted items and completely forgot that Poshmark exists. The joy of sharing extends to sharing from others’ closets. Whether it’s something you like or something you just think is interesting, this will hopefully result in a person sharing an item from your closet, too – which means that they clicked into your closet and shopped around. Sometimes this can result in a sale! I usually share from people’s closets who have posted similar brands to the ones in my closet. They might just see something that tickles their fancy.

Delete and Re-Post – Even If Your Item Has a Bunch of Likes

This seems counterintuitive on the surface but has worked for me more than once. You post an item. Your item gets a bunch of likes. YAY! You do a couple of private price drops and no one bites. Then you do a couple of public drops… and now you don’t want to go lower but it’s still sitting there. Girl, the odds of someone changing their mind is slim. They might be following your item for any number of reasons, but so far the price hasn’t been the deciding factor. Delete the listing and post it again. Change up the description if you’d like. Add a couple of new photos. Or post the exact same listing again – you do you. Re-posting resets the ‘clock’ on your item – it shows up as “Recent Listings” on feeds and refreshes it in the system. It also deletes your history of price drops. Give it a try.

Check “Sold” Prices – Not Just “For Sale”

You might think your Kate Spade bag is super presh and in excellent used condition, but that doesn’t mean that someone else agrees with you. I always check for comparable items, both currently for sale and already sold. I can usually figure out a reasonable landing price and decide if it’s worth it for me.

Follow Users Who Purchased Items Like Yours

OK, this one takes a minute. Search for an item like yours. Look under “Sold” and click on a recent sale. Check who “liked” the post and follow them. That’s all. There’s good reason to believe that if someone liked an item, but didn’t buy it, maybe they will be pleasantly surprised to see a similar item in your closet. If not, NBD.

I’m sure that people who do this as a full-time job have lots more tips and tricks but I cleared some closet space and earned enough to buy myself a little something – that will eventually meet the same fate. Sigh. The cycle continues…

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently won a Scentsy warmer from a Facebook party after a friend of mine became a consultant. But when my warmer arrived on Wednesday, I had nothing to warm in it. As a dedicated scented candle enthusiast, I’m not sure how I’ve missed this whole “wax warmer” trend the last several years. Scentsy is the OG direct sales kinda thing, but Walmart (and some other stores) now carry a few knockoffs. I ordered a few bars from Scentsy that haven’t arrived yet and honestly, I guess $5 for a wax “bar” from Scentsy isn’t a huge deal if I can a lot of hours of use from it. But that $8 shipping, Scentsy. Unless I’m buying stuff other than a few wax bars, that’s a deal killer. On my limited budget, a $2 knockoff from Walmart is definitely enticing. But why buy when you can DIY? And it’s seriously easy.

I managed to drip some oil in the pan. Oops.

A wax bar only needs two things: wax (or some other meltable oil) and scent. As a handmade soap maker, I already had those two things on hand. I decided to use plain old coconut oil and beeswax to make my bars, but I did read some recommendations to use soy wax for a better scent throw. If you have soy wax laying around, you could definitely try using that too.

That bump on the back of the bottom cube was from my trying to salvage the last few drops after it had started cooling. Waste not, want not!

I used a 2:1 ratio, beeswax to coconut oil. I added 4 tablespoons beeswax pellets (you can easily purchase these on Amazon) and 2 tablespoons coconut oil (any kind you wish) to a glass measuring cup and placed it in about an inch and a half of water in a pot on my stove. This makes a quick, cheap, and convenient double boiler that I’ve used on many occasions. After turning my heat to medium, it took about 10 minutes for my wax and oil to melt down to liquid. I added about 30 drops of peach fragrance oil that I had kicking around my craft room (you can also use essential oils if that’s your jam), then carefully poured the wax into a silicone mold and let it cool on the counter. After about 30 minutes on the counter, I popped it into the fridge for a few minutes to make sure it was solid because I was impatient.

Look at that cute owl!

It worked! I turned on my warmer around 9 am and got a full day of peach scent in my living and dining rooms. Since I live in a century-old farm house that’s basically the opposite of open concept, it’s tough for any scent to make it around the whole house. I could smell it faintly in the kitchen and upstairs, but I really had to search for it. Overall, I was pleased with my results. I’ll definitely give my actual Scentsy bars a comparison when they arrive (I ordered a few bars and a second warmer during the “flash sale” last week) but I’d be surprised if I get drastically different results. I’ll update further when I receive them, but until then this flexible, super easy DIY has my vote!

How I Make Money on Poshmark

Super Easy DIY “Scentsy” Wax Melts