Are you wondering if you should start selling on Mercari? With so many marketplaces, it can be a challenge to decide which platforms will bring you the most profit. In this Mercari review, I’ll share my personal pros and cons as a reseller who has been selling on Mercari for the last 5+ years. You’ll learn everything you need to know to decide if Mercari is right for your reselling business.
One of the biggest benefits of selling on Mercari is that there are no longer any selling fees. Previously, there was a 10% selling fee with a 2.9% + .30 payment processing fee for each sale, but that is officially gone! This is a recent (somewhat controversial) change that Mercari has made, taking away selling fees and transferring those fees to buyers.
So you sell a top on Mercari for $30, you get the full $30 in your balance to cash out. However, there is a small fee for withdrawing your funds, which I’ll cover later in the article.
While Mercari recently eliminated seller fees, it’s important to consider that buyers now shoulder those costs. Keep reading our Mercari review to read more about buyer fees.
One feature of Mercari that sets it apart from other marketplaces is how easy it is to use. Top of mind for this Mercari review is its user-friendly interface and mobile app, which are both definite advantages of the marketplace.
This might be why it’s one of the more popular platforms for new sellers to start on. Listing an item on Mercari is pretty simple with an easy-to-follow listing form that guides you through each step. As long as you know how to fill out a form, you can easily list your items on Mercari.
Additionally, the Mercari app is available for both Android and iOS devices, enabling sellers to manage listings, respond to buyer messages, and check their sales from the app. It’s a great option for anyone who doesn’t have easy access to a computer and wants to run their reselling business from a mobile device.
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If you’re new to shipping, it can be one of the most confusing concepts for new resellers. Luckily setting up shipping on Mercari is pretty straightforward. All you need is a shipping scale so you know how much an item weighs and select the appropriate shipping option.
There are a few options for shipping on Mercari, ship on your own or ship through Mercari. If you’re already comfortable with shipping and want to use your own service such as PirateShip, you can select to ship on your own.
However, if you’re new to shipping, I recommend shipping through Mercari. To do this, you enter the weight of your item in the listing (plus any packaging you’ll be using to ship it) and select that you’ll be shipping through Mercari. It will provide you with options from USPS, UPS, and FedEx, which your buyer will pay (unless you decide to offer free shipping). These are all discounted commercial rates, so this is a much better option than going directly to the post office and paying retail.
Don’t have access to a printer? Mercari allows you to ship with a QR code if you use a UPS or USPS label. You simply take it to the carrier and have them scan the QR code so they can print the label for you.
As long as you have a bank account, getting paid with Mercari is quick and easy. I’ve never had any issues! The first time you get paid, you will need to enter your bank info for direct deposit (or your debit card info if you want to do an instant transfer).
Here’s how it works: Once your item has been shipped, Mercari will hold the money until it has been delivered and rated. If the buyer doesn’t leave a rating within three days, Mercari will leave one on their behalf. Once that happens, you’ll be prompted to leave your own rating and the funds from that sale will be released into your Mercari balance.
To cash out your Mercari balance, you can choose one of two options:
Instant Pay ($3 fee): deposited directly to your debit card within minutes
Direct Deposit ($2 fee): deposited to your checking account within 5 business days
While this isn’t a feature of Mercari directly, it’s an important feature for serious resellers who are selling on multiple marketplaces. Crosslisting items across different platforms allows you to make more sales by getting your items in front of more people. But it’s not always easy to manage manually.
Vendoo is one of the best tools for resellers, which allows you to crosslist and manage your items. One of the reasons I sell on Mercari, in addition to other Marketplaces, is because Vendoo has an automatic sales detection feature that can detect your sales on Mercari, eBay, and Poshmark. If an item sells on any of these three marketplaces, it gets marked in Vendoo and automatically removed from the remaining platforms so you don’t sell that item multiple times.
As stated above, Mercari has removed seller fees so if, for example, you sell an item for $30, you get that full $30. However, they have transferred those fees to buyers. So when a buyer is about to check out, they will pay not just the price of your item, but also several fees on top of that.
While this may not directly impact you, it may impact your sales because additional fees can be a turn-off for buyers who are on the fence about purchasing.
Although Mercari is well known, it’s not quite as popular as some other marketplaces. I don’t make as many sales on Mercari as I do on eBay or Poshmark. However, since I use Vendoo and can quickly cross-post my items to Mercari, it’s still a no brainer.
For casual part-time sellers who just want to make a few dollars here and there, it is a great place to sell. However, if you are looking to sell on only one platform and want to make a more significant income, you may want to think about whether Mercari can generate enough sales to meet your goals.
Even though Mercari got rid of seller fees, there is one fee that sellers will pay and that’s the direct deposit fee. Previously, if you were just requesting a direct deposit to your bank, you didn’t have to pay any fees to cash out your Mercari balance. There was just a small fee if you wanted an instant payment to a debit card.
Now, there is a $2 fee for direct deposits to our bank and a $3 fee for instant payments. While this is an inconvenience, it is much less than the original Mercari selling fees. If you don’t need the cash right away, you can minimize this fee by just requesting a deposit once or twice a month.
Hopefully, this Mercari review has provided you with all the information you need to decide if Mercari is right for you. Whether you’re just starting with reselling online, or you’re looking to expand your reselling business to multiple platforms by cross listing your items, Mercari may be one of the best platforms for you. With no selling fees, straightforward shipping, and a wide variety of items that can be sold on the marketplace, almost any seller can thrive on Mercari.
Ready to start crosslisting to Mercari? Sign up for Vendoo for FREE today!