Trying Poshmark
I have been head over heels for the Marchesa Notte navy illusion dress since I rented it for a friend’s wedding back in 2018. My cousin’s wedding is coming up and I had this dress stuck in my mind as the one I wanted to wear, but I’ve seen worsening reviews for Rent the Runway recently so I decided to try tracking one down to buy. I Googled and randomly came across Poshmark. In the back of my mind, I knew this website existed - I just didn’t know much about it. I ended up locating the exact dress in my size from a seller in in Texas. I was really nervous about making a purchase of a pre-owned dress online so I did a lot more Googling for reviews of the site as well as the seller. I ultimately sat on this decision for weeks before I finally decided to pull the trigger and order. In that time, I had also located another of my previous Rent the Runway favorites - a Carven navy coated fit and flare dress that I had worn to a holiday part in 2019 in my size from a seller in Florida. In the end, I purchased both and they arrived in less than a week.
The Marchesa Notte was in just as good if not slightly better condition than the dress I had originally rented. It had a small hole near one of the armpits, but the hole was visible in the pictures on the listing so I knew what I was getting into. The skirt had far less pulls than the rental version, so I was really happy about that. It also fit me just perfectly. The Carven had no visible flaws, but the inside tag did fall off when I tried it on - this wasn’t a big deal to me. It also fit just as I remembered the rental version fitting.
In regards to price, I paid about 1.5 times the rental price to purchase the Marchesa Notte dress. This didn’t phase me since it was still within what I would consider a normal budget for a nice dress to wear to a wedding. The Carven dress was about 15% less to purchase than the original rental price so I was satisfied with this one as well.
Overall, I’m cautiously optimistic about my experience with Poshmark and I would shop the site again. All the items I purchased were exactly as I expected and they arrived pretty quickly. I’d still read plenty of seller reviews and carefully check item listings and photos moving forward in an attempt to avoid any poor experiences.
