One forgotten sticker on a reused box can now cost you $50. That is the USPS hazardous materials noncompliance fee, and as of October 19 Poshmark stopped protecting sellers from it. Here is where every major platform stands.
The fee in plain English
USPS started charging a $50 noncompliance fee on July 12, 2026. It hits commercial packages with missing or mismatched hazardous materials information or markings. It also applies when real hazardous goods are not declared or packed correctly, including everyday resale items like perfume, nail polish, aerosols, and electronics with lithium batteries.
The sneaky part is that the item does not have to be hazardous. A package can be treated as hazardous just because the box still has old markings on it, like the black-and-white Limited Quantity diamond found on boxes from beauty products, aerosols, and cleaning supplies.
Separately, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express shipments that are declared as HAZMAT carry a $7.50 handling fee. Ground Advantage does not have that handling charge right now.
Who pays on each platform
- Poshmark: Covered the full $50 at launch, then charged sellers $5 and covered $45 starting August 1. As of October 19, sellers pay the full $50. Poshmark has not said why.
- Mercari: Started splitting the fee on September 1. Mercari covers $25 and takes the other $25 from your earnings.
- eBay and Etsy: Never offered this kind of protection, so sellers carry the full charge.
With Poshmark backing out, it is fair to wonder how long Mercari will keep covering its half.
How packages get flagged
Poshmark says old HAZMAT markings on reused boxes are one of the most common reasons. The fix is boring but important: completely remove or cover old markings before you ship. And know which of your items are actually regulated, so they get declared and packed the right way.
The cost of checking by hand
Most resellers do not know which of their listings count as regulated. Going through a 1,000-listing catalog and judging each item at about 45 seconds apiece is roughly twelve and a half hours. Then new inventory comes in and the list is stale. A single miss costs more than most of the items it would catch.
The smarter fix
Nifty creates my listings, crosslists them, and handles sale detection, so I am not rebuilding anything by hand. What it does not do is flag which items in your catalog are likely regulated, like fragrance, polish, aerosols, and anything with a lithium battery, so you can pack them right before they ship. An AI assistant can sweep your whole catalog for those, and the brief for it is in the Playbook.
Want to see how I run my shop on autopilot? The AI Reselling Playbook is where I share it.
Bottom line
Peel or cover every old marking, know which items are regulated, and assume you are paying the full $50 if you get it wrong. A little prep beats a big deduction. Do less, earn more.
New here? Nifty is the AI crosslister I use to list once and sell everywhere – and if you want in, my code ALEXIS44 gets you 15% off: https://nifty.ai/?referral=ALEXIS44