-
Create solutions that bring maximum success and value under our expert product management guidanceEnsure your product idea viability and get the right market and development strategies to succeedGet a product that directly addresses your customer needs and matches the goals of your businessBring your customers an exceptional user experience and make your product stand out with our designGet designs that amplify your product features with clear, intuitive, and sales-boosting user experienceNurture customer loyalty, boost sales, and expand your market presence with a stand-out mobile appGet higher customer satisfaction, more conversions, and better competitiveness with our UX auditCreate a custom software solution to unlimit your business capabilitiesStart and grow your startup fast or effectively renovate your existing solution with our RoR expertsExtend your product line quicker and cheaper by creating a secure, reliable, and flexible API solutionGet expert technical assistance in building real-time React-based web applications and SPAsBuild a high-performing web application with our Vue.js development company.Create robust native or cross-platform mobile apps for your business with our expert assistanceGet native-like mobile apps for both Android and iOS using the best cross-platform technologiesCreate native iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS applications to cover any of the desired Apple user segmentsCreate 99.9% crash-free native Android applications for any available device and screen typesEnsure the top quality and bug-free performance of your products by fixing all issues at early stagesConsult our experts to build an efficient quality assurance strategy for your productEnable full lifecycle software testing services to detect and fix all product issues at the earliest stageReveal all non-typical performance, security, and usability issues with our manual QA servicesBoost your overall software development velocity with our robust automation testing solutionEnsure the usability, security, performance, compliance, and compatibility of your web appsProvide your customers with mobile apps free from any usability, security, and performance issuesUse our functional testing services to ensure every product feature works as expected in all scenarios.Ensure a seamless user experience across all digital environments with our compatibility testing servicesMake technologies work for your business growth and choose the right ones to achieve specific goalsImprove app performance, setup continuous delivery, cut infrastructure costs with our DevOps servicesKeep your product stably up, running and get timely feature upgrades with our maintenance servicesClean your software from code issues and uncover possible improvements to boost its performanceEnsure security of your healthcare products and achieve HIPAA compliance with our expert assistance
-
Multi-Vendor Marketplace Online Store Custom Marketplace Telemedicine Software Chat App Custom Booking System Video Conferencing For Enterprise For StartupsBuild a custom multi-vendor marketplace fast and cost-efficiently using our MarketAge solutionLaunch a custom B2B marketplace for any type of products with MarketAgeLaunch a unique, custom-functional B2C marketplace at minimum effort with MarketAge white-lable productReduce costs to build an easy-to-use and reliable C2C marketplace using our MarketAge solutionCreate an online store with unique design and features at minimal cost using our MarketAge solutionGet a unique, scalable, and cost-effective online marketplace with minimum time to marketGet a cost-efficient, HIPAA-compliant telemedicine solution tailored to your facility's requirementsGet a customizable chat solution to connect users across multiple apps and platformsImprove your business operations and expand to new markets with our appointment booking solutionAdjust our video conferencing solution for your business needsScale, automate, and improve business processes in your enterprise with our custom software solutionsTurn your startup ideas into viable, value-driven, and commercially successful software solutions
-
Streamline and scale your e-commerce business with a custom platform tailored to your product segmentsAutomate, scale, secure your financial business or launch innovative Fintech products with our helpCut paperwork, lower operating costs, and expand yout market with a custom e-learning platformUpgrade your workflow, enter e-health market, and increase marketability with the right custom software
-
Discover our software engineering culture, what principles we follow to make our clients succeedOur BA office helps clients choose the right development strategy and get maximum value at minimum riskFind out how we manage development risks, ensure on-time delivery, and prevent budget overrunsWe create clear, intuitive, and functional designs to solve specific business problems of our clientsSee what techniques and principles we follow to engineer top-tier software products at RubyGarageSee how our QA office ensures zero usability and functional issues in every product we deliver to clientsDiscover more of RubyGarage’s culture, values, and strengthsDevelop your product in a clear workflow aimed to save your time and budget and boost the qualityJoin our team to build a successful career in software development. See open positions at RubyGarage
- Case Studies
- Blog
What It Costs to Create a Marketplace Like Poshmark: Practical Advice from Our Team
Poshmark is the largest social commerce marketplace for buying and selling used clothes. This popular marketplace raised an $87.5 million round of funding in 2017, valuing the company at $537.5 million.
Here’s an infographic with some key milestones that show the path of Poshmark from its launch to the present:

Inspired by the success of Poshmark? Keep on reading to find out how to build a website like Poshmark and get insights on how to make money with it.
What is Poshmark?
Poshmark is a social marketplace where people in the United States can buy and sell clothing. This marketplace is focused on fashion, accessories, and luxury goods. Poshmark allows customers to browse the marketplace and search according to specific criteria. Users can find everything from everyday items to exclusive designer couture; from middle-market brands like Michael Kors to high-end fashion brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
Moreover, users can not only buy items but also sell their unwanted or unworn clothing and accessories. Secure purchasing is implemented with PayPal, credit cards, and Apple Pay.
Now it’s time to talk about how to create a website like Poshmark. We recommend beginning from a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP allows you to validate your idea at an early stage so you can get feedback from real users and make improvements as soon as possible.
Let’s define the essential functionality of a website like Poshmark.
What are the core features of a Poshmark-like marketplace?
Authorization
Both shoppers and buyers must sign up and provide their names and email addresses to start using the platform. A social login feature is needed for an online marketplace like Poshmark since users don’t like to fill out long signup forms but are willing to use their existing social login credentials from Google or Facebook to sign up for the platform fast.
Seller page
This page provides buyers with information about sellers: recent comments received and given, brands they follow, average shipping time, last activity, start date on the marketplace.
Seller listings page
This page allows buyers to view all products listed by a particular seller and sort them using filters like size, color, and price.
Item search
This feature allows shoppers to choose items with convenient search functionality, intuitive product filtering, and simple product cards.

Product view
This page provides buyers with a detailed product description and multiple images to let them see the product from different angles with all details and in all colors.

Payment
A payment gateway handles all transactions between buyers and sellers. This feature allows buyers to pay for their purchases using credit/debit cards or PayPal and allows sellers to withdraw their money effortlessly.

Marketplaces like Poshmark use escrow payments, which means a third party regulates the payment of funds between the two parties involved in the transaction. The escrow payment method makes transactions more secure since the escrow provider keeps the payment until all terms of the agreement are met. In terms of Poshmark and similar marketplaces, this means that payment is withheld until buyers are satisfied with their purchase and accept the goods.
How do websites like Poshmark make money?
Now that we’ve defined the core features, it’s important to figure out how to generate revenue. Poshmark’s annual revenue in 2018 was 150 to 200 million US dollars, up from 50 million in 2016.

So why is the company doing so well in such a competitive space? This is mainly due to its business model. Let’s consider how to make money with an online marketplace like Poshmark:
Seller fees. Charging seller fees is common practice on marketplaces of any type. Poshmark takes a $2.95 commission on all sales under $15 and a 20% commission on any sales above $15.
Adding listings. To list products on a marketplace, sellers have to pay fees. For example, Etsy charges sellers $0.20 to list one product on the website for four months.
Shipping. Poshmark’s flat-rate shipping fee is $6.79 per package, which is paid by the buyer.
Payment processing fees. eBay generates revenue from 2.9 percent transaction fees on the total sale amount when people use PayPal to transfer money.
Promoted listings. Sellers pay fees for their items to be shown above others to get more visibility.
How to build a successful website like Poshmark
To build a successful marketplace like Poshmark, you should give careful thought to each product development move.
We’ve come up with a few useful tips to help you build a successful marketplace.
Provide a positive customer experience
The customer experience is one of the most important areas to focus on. A positive customer experience not only results in happy customers; it can also lead to additional revenue, as it did for Poshmark.
Poshmark provides quick shipping with PoshPost – a collaboration with USPS. PoshPost allows sellers to avoid stamps and hassle. When people buy items, Poshmark offers a pre-paid, pre-addressed label ready to be stuck on the box. After the purchase has been packaged, the seller can drop it off at a USPS mailbox or even have it picked up for free from their home!

Build a community
Poshmark is a bright example of a marketplace with a wide community. It isn’t only a fashion ecommerce website but also a community where people share their views, opinions, and love for fashion.
Poshmark provides Posh Parties: real-time virtual shopping events that allow people to meet up in the Poshmark app to shop, share, and sell clothing and accessories. Posh Parties are a great opportunity to find new Poshers and listings and to gain more followers.
Moreover, Poshmark organizes events called PoshFests where people can meet their so-called Posh friends, listen to industry experts, learn how to grow a business, and gain insider tips.
People enjoy being part of a community. Events and a community can remind your customers that you’re engaged with them. Let’s look at how Poshmark benefits from its social elements.

Prevent scams and inauthentic items
Online marketplaces that sell fashion items from exclusive designers can have problems with fake goods. That’s why Poshmark doesn’t release payment to a seller until the buyer indicates they’ve received their order as described. Buyers have three days to return a product to the seller in case an item is misrepresented. If no claim is made within three days after delivery, payment is automatically released to the seller. After that, all sales are final and buyers can’t get a refund.
How much does it cost to build a website like Poshmark?
In view of the above, we can calculate the approximate cost of developing a social commerce marketplace like Poshmark. The cost is comprised of multiple factors, including the number of features, development company rates, and whether the project is going to be developed from scratch.
Let’s consider how long it will take to develop an MVP for a social commerce marketplace like Poshmark.
- Project management - 335h
- Business analysis - 482h
- UI/UX design - 406h
- Quality assurance - 574h
- Frontend development - 347h
- Backend development - 574h
The development from scratch of a Poshmark MVP requires approximately 2,718 hours. Now let’s find out the average hourly rates for the development services in different regions to estimate the final price.

The development of a social commerce marketplace like Poshmark in Central and Western Europe will cost you around $116,874. To create a similar project in Ukraine, you’ll need to pay approximately $67,950. That's the cost of a custom development from scratch.
So, how to reduce the project cost and maintain high quality? We recommend checking our white-label solution that allows for fast and cost-efficient niche marketplace development. The solution has all the necessary feature modules to build marketplaces for product sales, booking, and consulting services, starting with $40,000 for an MVP.
At the same time, our solution allows us to customize your marketplace: add new, unique features and come up with a custom design.
Subscribe via email and know it all first!