Poshmark Mulling Expansion to Europe Amid Growing Resale Market

(Bloomberg) -- Poshmark Inc. is considering expanding its online resale marketplace into Europe, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.

It’s unclear which countries the company is targeting in Europe. The people familiar with the company’s plans asked not to be identified because the deliberations aren’t public. Chief Executive Officer Manish Chandra has said in the past that Poshmark plans to target English-speaking countries for expansion. Poshmark has 7.3 million active buyers and 80 million registered users in the U.S., Canada, Australia and India as of the third quarter.

The resale market has boomed in recent years. ThredUp Inc., a competitor, projects that global secondhand sales will double in the next five years to about $77 billion annually -- a growth rate that’s 11 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector. So far, Poshmark’s expansion outside of North America has provided less of a boost to revenue than some analysts and investors expected as pandemic-related restrictions drag on.

Poshmark launched in Australia in February, just weeks after its initial public offering in the U.S., and in India later in the year. The stock has fallen more than 50% since its debut in part due to sluggish growth overseas. In August, the company appointed Sylvie De Wever to the newly created position of general manager of international.

Poshmark, which Chandra founded in 2011, is an online marketplace where users post photos of items they are selling and set their own prices, then ship goods once they are purchased. The company, which doesn’t hold any inventory, takes 20% of each sale on items that sell for more than $15 and charges a flat fee of $2.95 for items under $15. 

ThredUp, by contrast, collects used clothing and accessories from individuals and then sells the inventory itself, paying the original owner a percentage of the listing price after a sale.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.