What is Mercari?

Mercari, Inc. is a Japanese e-commerce company founded in 2013, with offices in the United States. Their main product, the Mercari marketplace app, was first launched in Japan in July 2013. Mercari is a free app that's available in the App Store and on Google Play. Footwear is the most popular listing on Mercari but you can find tons of fashion and other items. Listing an item could take minutes and once the item sells, a printable shipping label is emailed to the seller (no meetups). Listings are free but there is a flat 10 percent selling fee charged when the sale completes.

How Does Mercari Work?

Mercari is a free app that's available in the App Store and on Google Play. Listing an item could take minutes and once the item sells, a printable shipping label is emailed to the seller (no meetups). Listings are free but there is a flat 10 percent selling fee charged when the sale completes.

Mercari holds the seller's payment until you rate them after receiving the product (for a maximum of three days). You can get a full refund within three days of receiving (and before rating the seller) any item if it's damaged, not as described, or incorrect/missing.

Everything You Must Know About Mercari

Mercari is a marketplace platform where you can buy and sell almost anything, provided the item can be shipped.

This app sets itself apart by restricting in-person meetups and requiring that sellers ship the merchandise to buyers. Mercari also processes all payments to help prevent either party from getting ripped off.

The platform uses identification verification and reviews to help ensure all parties are fully informed during each transaction.

Mercari charges a flat 10% sales fee. You may incur other charges, but I’ll have more on that later.

In my experience, Mercari was upfront about all of its fees, and it showed me in advance exactly how much I’d earn from my sale.

To sell on Mercari, you’ll have to follow a few steps either online or in the app. You can read the steps below or watch our video to learn more.

Mercari Review: What People Are Saying

Overall, my experience as a seller on Mercari has been positive. The information provided in the app is extremely detailed and easy to understand.

The fact that Mercari lets you set an earnings goal in the app can be really encouraging. You can easily set a target and track your progress.

Mercari also lets you expose your item to more people without promotion fees. Plus, you get notifications and emails to ensure that you complete your duty as a seller correctly.

Tracking the item in transit was easy to do in the app and gave me peace of mind during that part of the process.

Consider the 10% selling fee, shipping label cost and potential cash transfer fees when making your selections as a seller. You can eliminate the transfer fee by accumulating $10 in sales and using direct deposit for the transfer.

While there wasn’t the instant gratification of making a sale and getting paid right away, you don’t have to meet anyone in person or arrange the payment yourself. The only other negative is that when you ship, you are disclosing your address to a stranger.