Mercari is an online marketplace where you can sell anything from $2 candles to used Nikes to designer handbags, jewelry, and crafts.
Currently rated 3.5 on Trustpilot, 4.6 on Google Play Store, and 4.8 on the App Store, most users describe the platform as an easy-to-use website.
Is Mercari Legit and Worth Your Time?
Professors at the State University of New York Buffalo conducted research that found getting a good deal gives you the same feeling as getting high.
Anecdotal evidence from shopper testimonials confirms that this is the case. Getting a great deal is one of the best things that can happen to you.
There may be others who would find it useful to quickly learn the pros and cons of Mercari and learn a few of the secrets and purchase products to resell in an in-depth review of Mercari.
How Does Mercari Work?
A plethora of home-based products can be listed and sold on Mercari, which is an online community marketplace and selling platform. As a result of the expansion of Mercari’s physical presence to the United States in 2014, the company was founded in 2013 in Japan.
It’s no secret that the Mercari App has become one of the most popular selling apps in the world, having been downloaded more than 100 million times.
On a monthly basis, more than $100,000,000 in transactions are carried out on the platform.
In a similar way to Facebook Marketplace and eBay, Mercari is a platform that is aimed at simplifying the process of buying and selling goods online by providing its users with a uniquely simple way to create listings and ship products.
Clothing and merchandise, gaming equipment, instruments, clothing, collectibles, and more are some of the most common items that are sold on the website.
Get Your Items Sold
One of the world’s largest marketplaces for buying and selling, Mercari is a Japanese e-commerce company based in the United States since 2014.
Unlike their competitors, they offer a simple user interface that makes buying and selling simple.
Pros:
- Bonus of $30 when you sign up
- It is a legitimate product that is safe to use.
- Protection for both buyers and sellers.
- Fees for selling are low.
- Using it is quick and easy.
- Pickup and shipping options are available locally.
- It is helpful to have automated systems (when they work properly).
- Customer service that is responsive and helpful.
Cons:
- A con for sellers who require nuanced shipping options is that the shipping options can be limited.
- There can be a few glitches with the app from time to time.
- There may be a difficulty navigating the app/website in order to report a problem.
- It is possible for automated systems to malfunction from time to time.
- This product is not intended for high volume sellers.
What is the legitimacy of Mercari?
With more than 200 employees and seven years of experience in the United States, Mercari is an established brand. When it comes to handling and resolving customer complaints, the company holds an A+ rating with the BBB.
In the last year earnings were made public, they did $4 billion in sales with over 15 million active monthly users. In addition to Mercari’s fantastic buyer and seller protection program and industry-leading security, using Mercari is as safe as using any other major buy and sell platform on the market today.
As a buyer or seller, it is important that you take all precautions when using this app which has served you well. The BBB lists 1,423 closed complaints, many of which are the result of users skirting or going outside Mercari policies that are designed to protect them.
The Mercari Process (How Mercari Works?)
You can download the Mercari app for Android and iOS smartphones and similar devices, or you can access it through your web browser on your desktop computer as well.
In order for users to be able to buy and sell items as quickly and as easily as possible, the platform has been designed with user-friendly features that allow beginners to get started right away.
What Are the Steps to Buying Items on Mercari?
It is the ease of use that we like most about Mercari. That is one of the things we like the most about this platform. It takes no time at all to create an account, log in, and then you can begin to search for or browse for items that might be of interest to you. At the time of registration or before making a purchase, you will be asked to add a payment method to your account.
The seller has three business days after you make a purchase to ship your item, and you have three days to inspect your item and rate the seller after you receive it. If the item appears to be in good condition, make sure to give the seller a good review. Please reach out to us within the next three days if there is a defect and/or you have a valid reason for returning the item.
It is critically important that you pay attention to this. After an item has been marked as delivered by Mercari, the transaction will be automatically completed 72 hours later.
It is not necessary to rate the seller if the item is broken, defective, or not as described. Instead, contact Mercari to initiate a return (rating a seller confirms your approval and unlocks the seller’s escrowed funds).
The “Make offer” feature of listings, which is present on the platform, may be its most underrated feature.
It is advisable to start there and see if the seller counters if at all, as the platform prohibits offers that are 25% below the listed price to avoid petty lowball offers.
In essence, when you use Mercari, you are protected by the best buyer protection system available. As long as an item is shipped back in its original condition, Mercari will side with the buyers and refund your escrowed funds if the order arrives damaged, is missing parts, or is not as described.
As an example, when purchasing and selling Pokemon cards, it is often the case that sellers will send the cards to you without providing adequate protection for the cards, and as a result, the cards will be damaged in transit as soon as they are received.
It may be possible to show the new damage by taking photos, and if the damage is extensive, then you may be able to request a refund. As long as you inspect your products within three days of receiving them, you will be protected in case anything goes wrong with your purchase as long as you inspect them within three days.
Mercari Buying Tips
Mercari is regarded as one of the best platforms for snagging good deals, and a big part of that is due to the algorithm that it uses and the way it allows sellers to market their products effectively.
- It is recommended that you allow “Price Drop” notifications if you are a flipper or reseller. It is quite common for people to strategically “Like” one or more items they are interested in, especially if the price of the item falls below a certain point. In Mercari, sellers can automatically reduce their prices by 5% each day until their items sell, and users receive notifications when the prices of the items they watch continue to decrease. If it drops below a certain threshold, then you should take advantage of it.
- Be sure to read the listings carefully and examine the pictures carefully. The generous buyer protections of Mercari protect you from deceitful sellers, but if you misunderstand and/or fail to look closely at an item, your return may not be accepted. Make sure you do your research.
- Make sure you’re active. It is undoubtedly chronological freshness that plays a major role in how listings are sorted algorithmically (which is why sellers are allowed to boost 10 items every 24 hours). You will be able to find the best deals by using the “Newest” filter which can be found at the very top of the app in the upper right corner if you are looking for good deals.
- Save searches. You may find that it is a good idea to establish “Saved Searches” for items that you are interested in; you will be notified whenever something matches your predetermined criteria, so you can decide quickly whether to purchase it.
- Make sure you are a courteous buyer. In order to receive their funds, a seller must wait until the item has been inspected and rated following delivery. Review your purchases as soon as possible and rate your sellers accordingly. In the event that you have a problem with a purchase, do not rate the buyer. Before rating the buyer, please contact Mercari with any concerns or to initiate a return.
Coupon Codes for Mercari
One-time coupon codes are frequently offered by Mercari for general use throughout the app. The credit is essentially just a $5 credit that can be applied towards your purchase. The code does not need to be entered.
According to Mercari, coupons are available in a wide variety of values and can be used to save on future purchases. The coupon itself contains information concerning the savings, the type of coupon, and the expiration date. By going to your profile > Settings > Coupons, you can easily determine whether you have any coupons and when they expire.
As of the time of this writing, there are no current coupon codes available.
Mercari: How to Sell Items
Mercari is distinguished from other platforms by its simplicity of listing items. However, its simplicity can be a disadvantage for high-volume sellers who need to sell hundreds or even thousands of the same product in bulk. Definitely not a platform for commercial enterprises, it is a platform for mom-and-pop businesses (which means you won’t be drowned out by thousands of similar listings).
What You Need to Know About Listings
Snapping a few pictures and adding a description is all it takes to create a listing. In addition, if you describe items accurately, use the correct category for sorting, and take great pictures, you’ll see more engagement and more relevant eyeballs (and offers).
There is no better friend for a seller than a picture. As a seller, they protect you by accurately describing an item and helping users ensure they’re getting what they want.
Your listing’s engagement will also be increased if you categorize your item correctly.
When your title and description are keyword-rich, you will ensure maximum visibility (see what people are searching for similar items using Mercari’s autocomplete feature under “Suggested searches”). Be careful not to overuse keywords that are similar but irrelevant in your descriptions. Your listing will be shown to users searching for these similar terms, but if your item isn’t what they’re looking for, your engagement will drop, and your listing is likely to be demoted. The more, the better, doesn’t always apply.
The Best Ways to Sell
- Shipping weights should be taken into consideration. There is nothing more annoying than going to the post office and finding out you don’t have enough postage.
- Don’t be afraid to be honest. There is no need to worry about negative reviews from others. Moreover, if you are honest about your products, you will not be subject to criticism in the first place. Being courteous and working with buyers if there are issues with your order will help you make more money as a seller. It is sometimes necessary to lose small battles in order to win the longer, more lucrative conflict.
- Ensure accuracy. You will increase engagement with your listing by using great titles, descriptions, and categories. Mercari wants to show engaging listings, so if your listing is as accurate as possible, it is likely to receive an algorithmic boost over similar listings.
- Take advantage of their “Promote” features. As a result of their daily 5% boost, you will be able to get an algorithmic boost and more people will be able to see your listing. The best part is that it is completely free of charge. It is possible to offer a discount to a user who “Likes” your item if that user then “Likes” your item on Facebook. Neither of these selling techniques is available on many apps, but they are extremely powerful.
- Make use of their “Smart Pricing” feature. Added to the list of killers is another seller-friendly weapon. Certain sellers tend to price their items at a higher level than what the market appears to be willing to pay for similar items. Once the price has been dropped towards the average or slightly above average market price, they will use the price drop feature to move it down. As a result, one is able to prevent demonstrably low offers and ensure that one receives the maximum amount for all sales.
- You should take pictures of your package as you are packaging the item. As we have already mentioned, great photographs are one of the best methods of protecting yourself as a seller, and there is no doubt about that.
In order for sellers to reach potential buyers, Mercari provides them with unprecedented access. There is no doubt in our minds that this is our favorite part about selling on the app, and this is one of the main points we wanted to highlight in our Mercari review.
If you choose to do so, you have the option of choosing up to 10 items to “promote to everyone” on a daily basis, which essentially refreshes your listing and gives it an algorithmic boost.
As well as notifying eager buyers who have “Liked” your listing of a 5% drop in price, it also encourages them to go ahead and buy the item before their competition does by beating their competition to the checkout.
The effectiveness of this psychological tool is insanely high when it comes to boosting sales.
Additionally, one of the advantages of being able to send personalized offers to your “Likers” is that you can get your message into the notification inbox of your prospective customers.
Your Item Will Be Shipped
Mercari’s shipping options are fairly straightforward in and of themselves, which is both a pro and a con. Once you have weighed (and sometimes measured) your item, the shipping service you have chosen will generate a prepaid label for it.
Shipping carriers offered by Mercari include:
- USPS
- UPS
- FedEx
Mercari Pack and Ship offers a “do it all” option where you can drop off your item at a store (The UPS Store) and they’ll pack and ship it for you (this comes at a hefty premium than your economy services, so only use it if you’re in a hurry/don’t mind paying a substantial shipping fee).
One of the major drawbacks of this option is that you only have a few ways to pay for shipping if you are the buyer.
You will only be able to send your parcel using First Class Mail and Priority Mail if you use USPS – the most commonly used carrier. As Mercari is a regional marketplace, there are no flat rate options or international shipping options available, and there is no flat rate option available, either.
Although, you have the option of covering shipping on your own – instead of using their buyer-covered prepaid options – and uploading your own tracking information, you will need to cover shipping on your own.
In order to accomplish this, you will need to make sure that you will have to increase the price of your item in order to cover the cost of shipping. In this way, you are able to choose more nuanced options than you might be able to find at your local post office/shipping company.
Fees for Mercari
In comparison to its competitors, Mercari’s fee structure is transparent and comparable to the industry standard.
You do not have to pay any listing fees when you place an item on Mercari; this means that you can create an account for free and list an item for free, regardless of whether it sells or not. The seller will be charged a 10% commission on the final sale price of the transaction when it is completed.
Last but not least, there is a 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee added to each transaction, which is common for nearly all retailers to charge.
Summary of Mercari Fees:
- Listing fees are 0 for items.
- There is a 10% fee on the final sale value.
- Payment processing fees are 2.9% + $0.30.
As a result, Mercari is able to undercut these sites by a very small margin, making it an attractive alternative to eBay and other websites of the same nature. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that places like Facebook Marketplace, which now has shipping options for completed sales, don’t have a final value fee – which means sellers can save as much as 10% on the sale price of their product whenever they choose to sell it on the site.
Additionally, you can cross-promote your products on different servers and platforms to ensure that you get more views for your products.
Money Withdrawals
As soon as the buyer has rated the seller, the proceeds are available for withdrawal after the fees have been deducted. Instant Pay allows users to withdraw up to $500 per month at the same rate as cash ($2 fee for each withdrawal).
If the seller is not in a hurry or if the balance exceeds $500, direct deposit (with no fee) can take up to five business days for the funds to reach their bank account.
The Promotion “Invite a Friend”
You can receive a free $10 towards your first purchase on Mercari if you sign up for the app by clicking the link in this post. In addition, if you earn $100 from selling items on the app, you will be able to unlock an additional $20 in free money. When you declutter your home and sell a hundred dollars’ worth of items you have lying around, you will be able to increase your income.
In addition, you can earn an additional $50 if you refer a friend or family member to use the app for purchasing or selling items worth $100.
Despite the fact that we haven’t fully explored this feature, anyone is welcome to give it a try.
Mercari Contact Information
The sheer volume of support requests that big tech companies receive on a daily basis is probably why Mercari has tightened up how users can get in touch with them due to the sheer volume of support requests they receive.
In addition to filtering out extraneous or frivolous requests, this also ensures people are directed to the correct support channels. However, when users run into problems, it may take some time to get a response from a human and it can be frustrating for them as it can be a time-consuming process.
Final Thoughts on The Mercari
As with any selling platform, it is imperative that both buyers and sellers take precautions in order to protect themselves. With its powerful array of features that connect buyers to sellers, Mercari is an attractive buy-and-sell platform, offering nearly complete buyer protections and reasonable seller protections. Mercari is best suited to buyers and sellers who have a purchase or sale price of $200 or less (the maximum amount covered by the Seller Shipping Protection).
Though they allow purchases of up to $2,000, we recommend taking extra precautions as a seller in case you have to contest a bogus return and/or an opened case from a buyer, especially if you are selling high value items (take excellent pictures before and during shipping and handling).
Last but not least, it is important to keep track of your expenses as well as your earnings. The IRS requires sellers to report profits to them regardless of whether they earn $20,000 in a calendar year – the amount for which Mercari automatically issues a 1099-K. Tracking fees, shipping materials, and similar business purchases may allow you to reduce your tax burden.
