Mercari Is a Legit Marketplace to Sell Just About Anything

Making a Mercari listing is easy

First of all, if you're trying to sell your stuff, I recommend downloading a cross-listing app like Vendoo so you can post your wares across a variety of apps and marketplaces. It just makes the most sense if your only goal is to generate fast money: While there are definitely users who shop on multiple apps, there are a lot of people who only shop on one, so having your listings appear on not only Mercari, but also Depop, Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, eBay, and others can only help you reach more people—and increase the likelihood of a sale.

But if you're not trying to manage profiles across a bunch of different apps and just want to list in one place, Mercari might be the pick for you. I say this because the process of listing directly on Mercari is easier than listing on its competitors. Just like Depop, you see a menu on the bottom of the app screen: Home, Search, Sell, Inbox, Profile. Tapping Sell brings you to a listing creation page that is notably pared down when compared to other apps. You add your photos, a title, a longer description, up to seven hashtags, a category, a brand, and a condition indicator. You have the opportunity to offer free shipping (which means you pay for it) or make the buyer pay the cost. Then, you set your listing price. That's it.

Listing on Mercari. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

If you're new to resales, that might sound like a lot of information to have to input, but I assure you, it's not. On other apps, you have to enter in much more, like the original price you paid, the color of the item, the weight of the parcel, the dimensions of the item, your address, and more. If you're not using a cross-lister and you're generating each listing manually within the app, that gets really annoying. Mercari does its best to make this part easy. As a pretty active seller, I can appreciate that.

Another cool feature I haven't seen anywhere else is "Smart Pricing." When you finish creating your listing, you can toggle on an automatic price adjuster and set a minimum price. The longer the listing stays up without selling, the lower the app will make the price, all without you having to update it yourself. I use third-party tools, like PrimeLister, to adjust the prices on my Poshmark goods. Mercari handles it for you in a very set-it-and-forget-it way, which is a great bonus add.

Mercari has buyer fees

Every resale app charges you a fee of some kind when you make a sale (although some, like Vestiaire Collective, run special events where fees are waived for a few days). It's simply how these apps make money to stay active, and it can't be avoided. Not every app charges buyer fees, however, which Mercari does as of January 2025: Buyers pay a "Buyer Protection Fee" of 3.6% on Mercari, and that fee is displayed as part of the final price in the item checkout section. Think of it like when you order food off Uber Eats, but only see the true cost, with fees, when you get to the very end. It is less usual in this case, though, and Mercari unfortunately hasn't been clear about why it's implemented this fee.

If you're a seller, you might want to keep that in mind and, unfortunately, lower some of your prices to make your wares more appealing in light of these price increases. You also need to keep in mind the fees you'll pay on the sale. Mercari takes a 10% cut of your earnings and, depending on whether you elected to offer "free shipping" to buyers, you'll could also have to pay around $9 for the shipping cost.

Mercari is extra convenient for people who both buy and sell

I'm a resale buyer in addition to a resale seller, which I'd like you to believe is because I'm all about sustainability, but is actually because I love owning and wearing rare and vintage things. Both can be true! But I review these apps from the perspective of both kinds of user, buyers and sellers, and so I do have to say I don't love the concept of a buyer's fee. One thing that does appeal to me as a buyer-seller, however, is the ability to use my Mercari sales balance to make Mercari purchases. Depop and Vestiaire Collective don't allow that; you have to get paid, move that money into your bank account, and then use it to make a purchase if you want to. I prefer Poshmark—and now Mercari—because I like the idea of limiting my spending on an app to only what I have available in my sales balance. It helps me stick to a "one in, one out" decluttering method, forcing me to make a sale before I make a purchase. Mercari's allowance for your sales balance to be spent in-app is great for anyone who uses both sides of the storefront, like I do.

Another convenient feature is the ability to search for local listings, so you can avoid shipping fees altogether. You can filter search results by distance or even tap the "nearby" tab. If an item is close enough to you, the app will encourage you to "ask to pick up — no delivery fee." Doing so will launch a chat with the seller, which is where you'll hammer out details. This is best if you live in a densely populated area, and since I live in New York City, that's not a problem. But because I grew up in a small town in North Dakota, I also recognize its usefulness is a little limited. If I still lived at home, this feature would not thrill me as much, given there are fewer users in smaller areas and thus, a lower likelihood of any of them selling something I want. Bear in mind that your mileage my vary—literally—but this is a pretty neat option when it works for you. Just be sure to stay safe when picking a place to meet a buyer or seller.

You can also order from Japan, which I find very cool as someone who has long enjoyed Japan's reputation for selling authentic vintage handbags at bizarrely low prices. I am not into collectibles, but I know those are big in Japan, too, and Mercari has a lot of them, so whether you're hunting for Gucci or Pokémon, try tapping the Japan tab at the top of your search results to see what's got going on over there. Fun fact: Mercari was founded in Japan, accumulated over a million listings in its first year of operations, and then expanded here to the States.

As usual, be aware of scams

As with any platform, there will be scammy people on Mercari. A scan of the app's TrustPilot reviews tells you that much. An app can't always be held accountable for the actions of people with bad intentions, but it can be held accountable for how it deals with them. The app does have a customer service chat line you can access and, according to longtime users, does tend to side with buyers on disputes, returns, and problems. If you're a seller, this isn't necessarily bad news, as there aren't a lot of scams a potential buyer can run: If the item doesn't match the description when they get it, they return it to you and you're out what you paid in shipping, plus the money you almost earned, but at least you didn't really get fleeced.

As a buyer though, you can be scammed. As a general rule, never pay anyone outside the app. Don't communicate off app, either. Don't text or WhatsApp a potential buyer, don't Venmo them, and don't believe them if they say they were about to send your item but shipping cost too much and they need more money. These are the common scams that can lead to you losing out on your money, and the app can't do much for you if a transaction doesn't occur on Mercari. In general, use common sense. If something seems too good to be true, it very well may be. Use the in-app chat feature to talk to a potential seller, ask questions, and never take your business off the app. Even if picking up locally, pay through the app to maintain that digital paper trail.

Mercari is a good general buying and selling platform