Sellers Ask: Can Poshmark USPS Ground Advantage Supplies Be Used To Ship Orders From Other Sites?
It's been a month since Poshmark announced a new partnership with USPS and while sellers are now starting to receive their free shipping supplies questions still linger about where and how those supplies can be used.
When Poshmark first announced the shipping shakeup last month, moving all Posh labels from Priority Mail to Ground Advantage services, they said that Poshmark sellers will have "exclusive" access to free USPS Ground Advantage boxes and poly-mailers.
Liz Morton
The third party supplier, Victory Packaging, has since been overwhelmed with Poshmark sellers putting in their orders for the free supplies with many reporting difficulty placing orders over the phone or through email.
But sellers who jumped on the offer are finally starting to receive their supplies and have noted that there is no explicit Poshmark branding to be found - leading to questions about whether or not they can use this packaging for any of their USPS Ground Advantage shipments, even if they are orders from eBay, Mercari or other competing marketplaces.
Several sellers say they have used the boxes for other Ground Advantage shipments and so far have not run into any problems.
I’ve used them for private sales with a Ground Advantage label and never had any issues. I think they just check that the label matches and that the boxes (any kind) don’t say they contain batteries. In my opinion, you shouldn’t have any problem.
I've used them for ebay with no issue
They are not restricted to Poshmark - just to Ground Advantage shipping / postage.
While others have pointed out that Poshmark says they cannot be used for other shipments, though they questioned whether that was actually true.
Poshmark's FAQ says they're not allowed to be used on Mercari or eBay but the question is how that's going to be enforced. I also don't think it's accurate that these supplies are Poshmark exclusive, so that might be another lie:
USPS offers free Ground Advantage boxes exclusively for Poshmark sellers, it is not supported for other platforms (Mercari, eBay, etc).
Here's what Poshmark's help page actually says:
USPS offers free Ground Advantage boxes exclusively for Poshmark sellers, it is not supported for other platforms (Mercari, eBay, etc).
If you need packaging, please call 1-800-610-8734 and press 1 to order supplies Monday through Friday 7:00am to 11:00pm EST or Saturdays 7:00am to 6:00pm EST. Please note that they are closed on Sundays and holidays. You can also email USPSPoshmark@victorypackaging.com and be sure to include:
- Your name
- Poshmark closet name
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- Email address
- The type of packaging you need and quantity
Please note that calls and emails may be answered by Victory Packaging, an authorized contractor acting on behalf of USPS. The information you provide will be used to confirm you are a Poshmark seller and to fulfill your packaging request.
Please note, these supplies are NOT available at post offices and must be ordered through the above steps.
However, since the context of that page is clearly about the process to order these free USPS Ground Advantage supplies, one could read that part about "not supported for other platforms" to simply mean that ordering the supplies is not supported - meaning you can't order them using your eBay or Mercari account info and would have to have an active Poshmark selling ID to place the order.
And while that may be true for ordering the supplies, that may not necessarily applying to how the supplies may be used once they are in the seller's possession.
Other sellers across social media have pointed out that Ground Advantage supplies are not exclusive to Poshmark and while they aren't available on the USPS site or in post office locations, they have been made available to some large business shippers with negotiated USPS contracts since shortly after Ground Advantage service was launched in 2023.
As Liz O'Kane of Colorado Reworn points out on Instagram, the packaging simply says that it must be used for fully-paid USPS Ground Advantage shipments only, with no mention of Poshmark, and the copyright date stamped on the packaging is from November 2024, which predates the Poshmark deal by almost a year.
And another popular reselling guru, Kathy Terrill at I Love To Be Selling, has been asking her followers if they'll be using these supplies for shipments from other marketplaces besides Poshmark.
The question of whether or not these supplies can be used for non-Poshmark Ground Advantage shipments has been a contentious issue across social media in recent weeks, prompting a Value Added Resource reader to reach out asking me to try to get official answers to put the subject to rest once and for all - so I reached out to both Poshmark and USPS for comment.
A Poshmark spokesperson said:
"USPS offers free Ground Advantage boxes exclusively for Poshmark sellers to use when shipping Poshmark orders, packaging is not supported for other platforms. You can find additional packaging info for Poshmark sellers here."
But that link just refers back to the same help page as mentioned above, making it still not entirely clear if it is simply the ordering of packaging that is not support for other platforms or if, in fact the packaging can only be used in conjunction with a label printed from Poshmark.
The spokesperson for USPS was much more vague, initially saying:
"We appreciate you reaching out. As a matter of policy, USPS does not discuss the details of our agreements with our customers. Regarding your questions about packaging, there are no plans currently to offer USPS Ground Advantage packaging supplies in our local retail offices or online. Customers can use their own packaging supplies for this service."
I followed up by clarifying I was not asking for specific details of any agreements with their customers, but simply wanted to know if a seller has these Ground Advantage supplies in their possession, can they be used for any Ground Advantage shipment, regardless of where the label is purchased?
The follow up response from the USPS spokesperson was even more enigmatic:
"The Postal Service does not comment on the details of specific contractual agreements; however, we can confirm that official USPS Ground Advantage packaging is provided exclusively to our contracted customers and is intended specifically for use under the terms of those service agreements."
"The Postal Service reserves the right to take appropriate action to address shipments and parties that are using this packaging in an unauthorized manner."
From those responses, it's very clear that Poshmark wants sellers to believe they can only use the Ground Advantage packaging for Poshmark orders (whether it's really true or not) and also very clear that USPS has no desire to provide transparent, direct answers to simple questions about these supplies to clear up the confusion and speculation that is currently swirling around the internet.
Unfortunately, USPS may soon find out that hiding behind vague, carefully polished PR statements might actually result in more "abuse" of the system than if they had provided clear and direct rules and guidelines for sellers to follow.
As it stands now, sellers will decide for themselves what to do with these free Ground Advantage supplies - and both Poshmark and USPS may not be happy with the results.
