Poshmark's fee structure has two tiers: sales under $15 pay a flat $2.95 commission, and sales at $15 or above pay 20% of the sale price. That structure creates a specific temptation — if you're listing a $75 item, the 20% fee looks enormous ($15.00), and the $2.95 flat fee looks like a bargain. So sellers mark items down, sometimes far down, chasing that flat fee. The math usually punishes them for it.
Before running through the numbers, you can check any price point directly with the Poshmark Fee Calculator, which applies Poshmark's published fee tiers and shows your exact payout.
How Poshmark's Fee Tiers Actually Work
Poshmark's published fee schedule (Poshmark Seller Fees) sets two rules:
- Sales under $15: flat $2.95 commission.
- Sales of $15 or more: 20% of the sale price.
There are no category exceptions, no seller-tier discounts, and no volume thresholds. The only variable is the sale price itself.
One important scope note: Poshmark's fee is taken from the sale price only. Poshmark charges buyers a separate shipping fee — sellers are not responsible for that cost under the standard shipping program. This guide covers the seller-side commission only.
The Crossover Point
The flat fee and the percentage fee produce the same dollar amount at exactly one price: $14.75.
- 20% of $14.75 = $2.95
Below $14.75, the flat $2.95 fee is higher than 20% would be. Above $14.75 — but still under $15 — the flat fee is lower. At $15 and above, the 20% tier kicks in and the flat fee is no longer available.
This means the flat-fee tier is only genuinely cheaper in a narrow band: items priced between $14.75 and $14.99. For everything above $15, you're paying 20%, and for everything below $14.75, you're paying more than 20% in effective rate terms.
Example: A $10 item pays $2.95 flat — an effective rate of 29.5%. A $15 item pays $3.00 (20%) — a lower fee on a higher price.
The Markdown Trap: A Worked Example
Here's where sellers lose money. Suppose you have a blouse with a cost basis of $20 and you've listed it at $75.
Scenario A: Sell at $75 (20% tier)
- Sale price: $75.00
- Poshmark commission (20%): −$15.00
- Your payout: $60.00
- Gross margin over cost: $60.00 − $20.00 = $40.00
Scenario B: Mark down to $14 to hit the flat-fee tier
- Sale price: $14.00
- Poshmark commission (flat): −$2.95
- Your payout: $11.05
- Gross margin over cost: $11.05 − $20.00 = −$8.95 (a loss)
The flat fee saved $12.05 in commission. It also cost $48.95 in revenue. No commission structure makes that trade worth taking.
Scenario C: The more realistic version of the trap
Sellers don't usually drop $75 items to $14. The more common version: a $30 item gets marked to $12 because the seller is anxious about the $6.00 commission (20% of $30).
- Scenario at $30: payout = $30.00 − $6.00 = $24.00
- Scenario at $12: payout = $12.00 − $2.95 = $9.05
The $6.00 commission felt expensive. Avoiding it cost $14.95 in payout. The seller kept $9.05 instead of $24.00 — less than 38 cents on the dollar compared to holding the price.
When the Flat Fee Is Actually Better
The flat-fee tier is genuinely favorable in one scenario: items you'd price between $15 and $14.75 anyway, where dropping below $15 is a small concession. That's a $0.01–$0.25 price difference, and the commission savings are minimal ($3.00 vs. $2.95 at $15.00 exactly).
For items naturally priced under $15 — costume jewelry, small accessories, bundled socks — the flat fee is just the cost of doing business. You're not gaming anything by pricing a $9 scrunchie at $9.
The trap only closes when a seller artificially drops a higher-priced item into the flat-fee tier. The commission savings never compensate for the revenue lost.
What This Means for Offer Strategy
Poshmark's "Send Offer to Likers" feature lets you discount listings by at least 10% to trigger a notification to users who've liked the item. If you're considering sending an offer on a $16 item and you're tempted to drop it to $14 to "save" the 20% fee, run the numbers first:
- $16 at 20%: payout = $12.80
- $14 at flat fee: payout = $11.05
The offer that feels like it saves you money costs you $1.75 per sale. On 20 sales, that's $35 left on the table.
The same logic applies to bundle discounts. Poshmark's bundle feature lets buyers combine items for a discount. If bundling drops a $20 item to $11 to sweeten the deal, you've moved from a $4.00 commission to a $2.95 commission — but your payout dropped from $16.00 to $8.05. The commission "savings" of $1.05 cost you $7.95 in revenue.
This fee dynamic isn't unique to Poshmark. Reverb sellers face a similar crossover problem with that platform's $0.50 minimum fee — covered in detail in When Flat Fees Beat Percentages: The $5 Reverb Item That Costs More Than a $500 One.
Running Your Own Numbers
The crossover arithmetic is straightforward, but it's easy to miscalculate when you're also factoring in your cost basis, shipping assumptions, or a bundle discount. The Poshmark Fee Calculator applies the current fee tiers to any price you enter and shows the exact payout — useful before you send an offer or set a markdown.
Assumption to note: all figures here use Poshmark's published fee schedule as of the last-reviewed date below. Fee schedules change; verify current rates at poshmark.com/fees before making pricing decisions. This guide is informational only and does not constitute financial or tax advice.
Last reviewed: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
At what price does Poshmark's flat fee stop being cheaper than 20%?
The flat $2.95 fee equals 20% at a sale price of $14.75. Above that price — but still under $15 — the flat fee is cheaper, but only by cents. At $15 and above, Poshmark switches to the 20% tier automatically, so the flat fee is no longer available.
Does marking an item down to $14 save money on Poshmark fees?
It saves on the commission itself, but almost always costs more in lost revenue than the fee savings are worth. A $30 item at 20% yields a $24.00 payout. The same item priced at $12 to hit the flat fee yields $9.05. The commission dropped by $3.05; the payout dropped by $14.95.
Does Poshmark's 20% fee apply to shipping?
No. Poshmark's commission is calculated on the sale price only. Under the standard shipping program, buyers pay a separate flat shipping fee. Sellers are not charged commission on shipping revenue.
Are there any seller tiers or volume discounts on Poshmark's commission?
No. Poshmark's published fee schedule does not include seller-tier discounts or volume thresholds. The two-tier structure — $2.95 flat under $15, 20% at $15 and above — applies to all sellers regardless of sales history or Poshmark Ambassador status.
Should I use bundles to reduce the Poshmark commission I pay?
Bundles reduce the sale price, which can push items from the 20% tier into the flat-fee tier — but the revenue loss from the discount almost always exceeds the commission savings. Run the payout numbers on the bundled price before offering a discount, not just the fee comparison.