I don’t know what it is about the fall season that seems to make people want to open cases on me 😝. Maybe it’s the cooler weather, maybe it’s the closing of the year, or maybe it’s been too long of a “good streak” and all good things have to come to an end sometime. Regardless, this is obviously going to be a deep post. If you’ve already seen my post on losing a Poshmark case, you know how I’ve started to approach these situations.

Get your reading eyes out, time to see what’s different, what’s the same, and if I’m able to cope with life after yet another case opened against me.

So let’s see, this case started as any regular case does. I log onto Posh to answer questions, check for sales or comments, and the like. I run across a case opened on an item I had even forgot I sold (not because it was so long ago, but because I had sold so much other stuff since then).

Anyway, the person opening the case seemed legit. They didn’t seem scammy in their profile so I’m wondering what could have possibly gone wrong.

I’m the kind of person that notices the tiny details. A snag here, a pull there, weird smells, nothing gets by me. Well, this person had stated that there was a stain on the interior of the item I sold. They followed up with a very cropped in picture so I really couldn’t tell location wise where on the item it was. It was definitely there, but how it got there? Who knows.

The first honest thought to go through my head was this person was being dishonest! I know the kind of person I am, what I don’t know is who they are. They could be lying to get their money back and could have damaged my poor item to help their side of the story.

The second thought to go through my head was did I somehow overlook a detail??? I always triple check everything so carefully since having last years case closed. I know I didn’t see anything before packing it up. Did I accidentally smear something when I was getting ready to pack it? Was there something on me when I tried it on to take pictures when listing?? Why is there now something on it and I never saw it or felt it or noticed???

*Side note it was very hard to notice, even in the photos sent. And because it’s on the interior, well, there ya go.

The third thing I thought was what if this buyer thinks I was trying to get over on them to make a sale? What if they are sitting in their living room right now looking at the item like “Why would a good seller send me this with a stain on the inside?”…

And that’s when it hit me, this person, they don’t know me. All they know is they’re upset and feeling gypped. I know what that’s like. I’ve had to open a case on someone myself before and it’s really no fun. Even though I won that case, just that FEELING of someone potentially trying to get one over on you leaves a bad taste in your mouth. After a lot of thought I finally decided how to respond.

One of the new things about opening a case is it’s now viewable in a text thread in the app. You’re able to see what the buyer is saying and Poshmark notifies you of the pending review.

After a little back and forth I finally decided to clarify that:

1. I’m not blaming the buyer for the stain, if it’s there it’s there, regardless of how it’s there.

2. I need the buyer to understand what kind of seller I am. I’ve got integrity and I would never knowingly just send out something with an issue.

3. Regardless of the case outcome, I’m still in control of what I do and how I act moving forward.

One time at church our pastor said there’s The Golden Rule and then there’s The Platinum Rule. The Golden Rule is to treat others how you would want to be treated. The Platinum Rule is treat others how Jesus would treat them.

It was hard enough being nice when I FELT like I wasn’t sure how this would go for me. I didn’t put the stain there, I didn’t see it when I packaged it up, it was hard to trust that I wasn’t being taken, but I was sorry it was even if I would never know how. I didn’t put it there so I was able to do The Golden Rule pretty ok. I was cordial and apologetic in my messaging, in no way claiming fault, but sympathizing with what they must be going through.

Then I did the most Platinum Rule thing I could think of…I offered to refund the purchase regardless of the case outcome. (Did I just suck the air out of the room lol).

I don’t know what Poshmark looks for when ruling a case. I don’t know if they look at all my 5 star reviews and selling longevity. I don’t know if they consider previous cases I’ve opened or had opened on me. I don’t know what matters, what I do know is I can control what I do.

When I considered what was going on, I had to look big picture. In my mind I’m not trying to make enemies or be malicious. I’m just trying to sell cool items out of my closet. And regardless of the other person whether ill intent or completely innocent, my reward is not in winning a case, it’s in knowing who I am and what I bring to the table.

So what did I learn this time? Here are 5 key takeaways:

1. Have a plan to deal with returns, especially if you sell a lot! There’s always going to be at least one person who wants to return for some reason. There is no way to catch every little detail even if you take a million pictures and double triple check. And there’s no guarantee that you will win a case either so might as well just have a small portion set aside to deal with the 1% of possible returns.

My husband had this idea. So I decided I would take 50% of my overall weekly profit and dedicate 10% of that to pay for return shipping. I will probably adjust as I move forward. This is only my second case after all, so it’s not like this happens often.

2. Keep the conversation within the Posh app. I actually like that they support that by providing a text thread so you can each speak your piece and not have to go back and forth on an actual listing. The app also notifies you of comments added which makes it so much easier to communicate.

3. Put up as many photos as possible WITHIN REASON. “Am I going to have to start taking pictures of the inside of garments to prove my cases 😐” Nope. I’m not. I usually take pictures of the interior of bags and shoes. I check clothing very thoroughly so I’m not planning to house an archive of extra views just in case someone might open a one off case. Not worth my time.

4. I know I’m talking to other integrity driven Posher’s so if you do end up with a return, re-list and move on. When you know what kind of seller you are, doesn’t matter what kind of buyer you get. Of course do as much as possible to do the right thing while protecting yourself, but just know at the end of the day wins and losses don’t add up to dollars and cents.

Even with offering to refund the money for the item, I still beat my profit goal for the week. Get it? Just because I lose a case doesn’t mean I should ignore the 15 other 5 star review sales and happy customers I had. Those speak more about me than any case. And who knows, maybe showing integrity will win over my ex buyer 🤷🏾‍♀️. Plus I will happily resale the returned item anyway.

5. Video your return. Of course I’d like to think that every person I deal with is on the straight and narrow. I haven’t had anyone do anything questionable to a return yet, but as a safe guard I would rather protect myself in the instance someone might be up to shadiness.

Take a look at the outcome of the case. What’s important to me and what I hope the ex buyer noticed more than anything else was that this was approved on grounds I was willing to accept the return. Who knows what might have happened otherwise. Maybe either way I would have had the item returned, however, I controlled how I acted, and that’s bigger than all of this.

Alrighty well, I’ve said my piece and made my peace. All questions, comments, and the like are welcome. Geeze gotta have thick skin in this game sometimes 😝

Til next time Happy Poshing!