What Makes Thrift-em Different for Sellers:

• 0% Platform Fees: You keep 100% of your asking price on every sale.
• 50% Covered Shipping: We pay half of retail shipping costs to boost your buyer sales.
• Built-in Growth Boosts: Access optional, self-serve spotlight features to scale your reach.

Guide Index:

How Selling Works (End-to-End)

Transparent Fee Breakdown & Payment Processing

How 50% Subsidized Buyer Shipping Works

Active Listing Policies & Volume Caps

Optional Premium Perks & Sales Boosts

Local Pickup & In-Store Options

Seller Support & Priority Onboarding

1. How Selling Works (End-to-End)

Create Your Account & Connect Payouts: Sign up for free and complete a quick 2-minute Stripe Connect setup so your sales revenue routes directly to your bank account.

Snap & List Your Items: Upload photos, set your price, and enter the item's condition and brand. Enter the estimated package weight and box dimensions so shipping calculates accurately.

Buyer Purchases: When an item sells, the buyer pays for the item price plus their 50% subsidized shipping rate through our secure Stripe Connect checkout.

Print Your Subsidized Shipping Label: Download and print your discounted pre-paid shipping label directly from your account dashboard or order notification email.

Pack, Ship, and Get Paid: Drop the parcel off with the carrier. Funds transfer directly to your bank account on Stripe’s rolling payout schedule (typically within 2 business days after account verification).

2. Transparent Fee Breakdown & Payment Processing

We Charge $0.00 in Platform Commission. Unlike Depop, Poshmark, or Etsy, which deduct 10% to 20% of your sales, Thrift-em takes 0% platform fees. When you list an item for $50.00, $50.00 belongs to you.

Standard Credit Card Processing (Stripe Connect):

• You only pay standard online credit card processing fees via Stripe (~2.9% + $0.30 per successful order), which is the exact same standard rate you pay for card transactions in a physical retail shop.
• Stripe processes funds securely directly between buyer and seller.

Why We Don't Charge Commission: Instead of spending heavy budgets on traditional online advertising, we take our platform proceeds and put them directly back into subsidizing half of your buyers' shipping costs. This makes your shop’s inventory significantly more attractive to buyers nationwide without taking a dime out of your profit margin!

3. How 50% Subsidized Buyer Shipping Works

How Shipping Subsidy Works for Your Buyers: When a buyer checks out on Thrift-em, our system calculates the standard carrier retail rate based on your package weight and dimensions. We instantly cover 50% of that retail shipping price.
Example: If standard retail shipping for your 1 lb jacket costs $8.50, your buyer pays only $4.25 at checkout. We cover the other $4.25.

Important Shipping Rules & Guardrails:

• 10 lb Ceiling: Subsidized shipping applies to packages up to 10 lbs (18" x 18" x 18" max dimensions). Items over 10 lbs must be fulfilled via Local Pickup or self-arranged shipping.
• Accurate Weights Matter: Entering accurate package weights during listing ensures your buyer pays the correct 50% rate and prevents shipping label adjustments from carriers.

4. Active Listing Policies & Volume Caps

50 Free Active Listings Included for Every Account To keep the Thrift-em marketplace curated, active, and fast-loading, every seller account receives up to 50 active listings completely free at any given time.

• Casual & Boutique Friendly: You can sell and replace items as often as you like. As items sell or get deactivated, those free listing slots reopen automatically.
• Volume Listing Overages: If you maintain more than 50 active listings simultaneously, additional active inventory is billed at a micro-rate of $0.25 per additional active item / month.

5. Optional Premium Perks & Sales Boosts

Optional Self-Serve Upgrades to Scale Your Reach: While selling on Thrift-em is completely free, you can access optional visibility tools directly inside your account's "Premium Perks" settings menu to jump to the top of search feeds:

• Listing Date Reset ($1.00): On-demand search freshness boost that resets an unsold item’s timestamp to "Today" to bump it back to the top of search results.
• Homepage Spotlight ($2.00 / 7 Days): Pins an individual listing directly to the top-of-homepage "Step into the Spotlight" showcase row.
• Promoted Category Listing ($5.00 / 7 Days): Highlights and pins an individual item near the top of a specific category search grid with a "Featured" badge.
• Creator Collection Drops ($25.00 / 7 Days): Featured shop showcase package including a custom shop header banner, social media push, and 5 included Spotlight credits ($10 value).
• Promoted Category Header Banner ($50.00 / 30 Days): High-impact sponsor banner or featured shop card displayed at the very top of specific category pages.
• 24-Hour Express Dispatch Guarantee ($2.00 Add-On): Buyers can select express dispatch at checkout. If you drop parcels off within 24 hours, you receive a $1.00 tip bonus directly from the platform!

6. Local Pickup & In-Store Options

Drive Foot Traffic to Your Physical Shop Have a physical boutique, pop-up, or local store? You can enable Local Pickup on your listings!

• Free for Local Buyers: Nearby buyers can choose "Local Pickup" at checkout to skip shipping fees entirely and pick up their items directly at your shop.
• Flexible Offline Sales: Use Thrift-em to advertise your curated inventory online and bring local customers right through your store doors.

7. Seller Support & Priority Onboarding

Need Help Onboarding Your Shop?

We offer dedicated priority concierge support for independent vintage boutiques, curated thrifters, and sustainable artisans.

If you have questions about setting up your shop, connecting Stripe payouts, or featuring a Collection Drop, reach out directly to our seller team:

Priority Seller Concierge: sellers@thrift-em.com