Online buy-and-sell marketplace Poshmark has introduced new shipping options for its Canadian customers, leading to mixed reactions from sellers.  

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Poshmark Canada announced its partnership with courier service Purolator in a Jun. 14 blog post, saying the move will offer less expensive shipping for customers whose only option had been regular home delivery by Canada Post.  

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The new rates are as follows:

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$8.99 – Pick up at local Purolator point

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$13.49 – Purolator home delivery

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$17.99 – Canada Post home delivery

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The switch means that buyers within a Purolator pickup or delivery zone can choose to use the courier service. Those who aren’t can still opt for Canada Post — but the flat-rate shipping price has increased 33 per cent from its previous rate of $13.49.

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Resellers who have received orders specifying Purolator can either bring packages to a Purolator or Purolator-approved drop-off outlet, or schedule a pickup.

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Sellers respond

In a video for her YouTube series The Every Closet, Poshmark reseller Stephanie calls the new Canada Post fee “prohibitively expensive” and predicts it will deter customers from continuing to select the postal service, which she says is her preferred shipping outlet as a seller.

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In the Poshmark Canada Reddit thread, user u/Defiant-Ad-86 concurs. “Being able to just drop a package in a mailbox was the thing that made it work for me,” they say.

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In a statement, Poshmark Canada bills the new shipping tiers as more “eco-friendly” because of the package pickup option.

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The company, which pre-pays shipping on behalf of sellers, says that increasing shipping costs led to the negotiation of new rates with additional partners. (Purolator is 91 per cent owned by Canada Post, but they operate as separate entities.)

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Sellers still have the ability to discount shipping rates or offer free shipping for their customers by covering part or all of the buyer’s shipping costs.

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“I’m actually hoping this will lead to an uptick in sales,” says Reddit user u/javajunkie10. “Hopefully $8.99 shipping will entice a few more buyers.”

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In an informal poll of The Vintage Seeker’s Instagram followers, several buyers said they’d be more likely to purchase from Poshmark with the cheaper pickup option. But as a seller, having to coordinate pickups, drop-offs and shipping supplies between two shippers “feels like a hassle,” said one respondent.

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Working through initial issues

Users on the Poshmark Canada Reddit thread have shared mixed experiences since the announcement. Some have so far been satisfied with speedy pickups and drop-offs: “My first Purolator shipment went really smoothly,” shares Reddit user u/buyinsellin, whose buyer had their package within 24 hours of drop off.

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Others have encountered unsuccessful delivery attempts, photo IDs not matching shipping names (e.g. if a buyer uses their Poshmark closet name instead of their given name) and confusion about P.O. boxes.

A buyer still has the ability to enter a P.O. box as their shipping address after selecting Purolator even though the courier doesn’t ship to P.O. boxes, which has led sellers to cancel orders. The company says it is currently working on a solution for P.O. boxes.

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“We appreciate our community members and your flexibility while we work through these changes in shipping,” Poshmark Canada says in a Jun. 20 follow-up blog post.

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Pick-up hiccups

The difference in flat-rate shipping for Canada Post is leading buyer and Reddit user u/Electrical-Ant9823 to leave the platform altogether. “The item has to be *really really* worth it for me to either fork up $18 shipping or make a trip to the Purolator center [sic] or shift all my plans around so I can be home when the item is being delivered,” they say.

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Stephanie at The Every Closet says that in her experience, if the recipient is not home when Purolator attempts delivery, the buyer will receive a notice to pick up the package at a location chosen by the courier.

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Selecting the $8.99 pickup option instead of home delivery will allow a buyer to determine where they want to pick up their package instead of the courier default, she says.

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“I would honestly every time from now on use the pickup option, if you have access to one,” she advises.

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Has the change in shipping rates affected your experience with Poshmark Canada? Let us know in the comments!

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