Mercari Fees – What You Need To Know Before Getting Started

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Last Updated on July 28, 2021 by Buayifa Ojeogwu

At least that’s how I felt when I found about about the processing fees.

Anyway, let’s dive in.

What Are The Fees For Selling On Mercari?

• Listing fees
• Selling fees
• Smart pricing
• Promotion fees
• Bank deposits
• Shipping rates
• Processing fees

1. Listing fees

First and foremost, listing items on Mercari is 100% free.

2. Mercari selling fees

After you make and complete a sale, Mercari takes 10% of the amount the buyer pays, and the rest is yours.

3. Smart pricing

The smart pricing is just Mercari setting a floor price for your listing based on the demand. That means the price would adjust according to how many searches it is getting. 

So it increases your chances of making a sale. It is not guaranteed to work but sometimes it works.

And smart pricing is free.

4. Mercari promotion fees

The promotion fee is what you pay to boost your listings and appear in more search results on Mercari.

Use the promote button under your listing, and select promote, then your listing price would be reduced by 5% and sent to everyone including people that liked or showed interest.

Promote to likers

To promote to likers, use the same promote button but select offer to likers, and reduce your listing price by at least 10% and send.

Your offer would be sent to all the buyers that liked it.

5. Mercari shipping fees

As for shipping fees, you need to be strategic.

This is what I normally do.

For items that are under 1lb, I use USPS. But if it weighs over 1lb, I prefer to ship with FedEx because their 3lb shipping is $7.99 compared to USPS $12.

I don’t go anywhere near UPS, but you can make your decisions about using them.

And also remember that the cost of shipping affects how fast or slow the item sells.

6. Direct deposit fees

Bank deposits over $10 are free. But direct transfer under $10 attracts a $2 fee. And you get your money in 5 business days.

Now, Mercari also has the instant transfer option if you need your cash right away.

So for that, you’d be charged $2 to transfer your cash to your debit card instantly.

And if for any reason your bank rejects the transfer, you’d be charged $2.

So make sure your bank details are correct. Cross-check several times before sending it.

7. Mercari processing fees

The processing fee is how much it costs Mercari to process the payment made by your buyer to you. It is 3% of the total cost of the item.

So these fees are charged after your buyer has rated you and the transaction is completed.

With this processing fee of 3% and selling fees of 10%, you’re literally paying 13% to Mercari for every completed sale.

Funny enough, Mercari only introduced this recently, and I am not happy about it.

Keep reading for tips on what you can do about it.

How the Mercari processing fees affect sellers

First, take a look at my most recent Mercari sale. Imagine I even offered free shipping.

Lord knows I’m not happy about it. I know some people would say, it’s only 3%.

But it is significant to me, because the shipping rates are already crazy enough.

Anyway, hear it from the horse’s mouth, check the Mercari Terms of Service page.

• With the added Mercari processing fees, sellers would be making way lower than their expectations.
• This can push sellers to other marketplaces or endure selling on Mercari because we have no choice.
• Then again, some sellers would increase the prices of their items because they want to make money. Which can discourage buyers too.

So at the end of the day, buyers cannot afford items, sellers are not making sales, and the little you make, Mercari takes 13% of it.

But here’s what we can do individually or collectively

1. Move to other selling platforms

Yeah this may sound extreme but it’s beginning to look like a sensible thing to do.

But then again, how are we sure the platform we are moving to will not do the same?

Since they all hide behind a wall of unavailable customer service and make selfish decisions.

I mean, how much are resellers making on these selling apps that Mercari felt the need to add an extra processing fee?

it is crazy, selfish and greedy.

You may also enjoy Mercari VS Poshmark – Which Is Better For Selling Online?

2. Price your items higher than you normally would

I’m sorry Mercari buyers, but sellers cannot bear the brunt of this added charge alone.

It is messed up that we sell great items at affordable rates to make little money, and these big companies try to cheat us with fancy words like “processing fees”.

That’s capitalism at its peak.

3. Rethink offering free shipping on Mercari

If you normally offer free shipping on most of your items and the processing fees are not sitting well with you, maybe you should let buyers pay for shipping.

I don’t even like the sound of it because it sounds friggin’ selfish.

And it is also giving big companies leeway to do as they please as long as we can make adjustments.

Not fair at all.

You may also enjoy How To Bundle On Mercari (With Pics) And Sell More.

4. Go complain about the Mercari processing fees on their Facebook page

Since there is no customer service to reach directly, the only option is the Mercari Facebook page.

You can go there and leave a comment about it.

I left one, anyway.

Conclusion

Boom! That’s what you need to know about Mercari fees before you start selling on Mercari.

I hope you find this post helpful.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, I’ll be happy to answer them.

What’s your take on the Mercari processing fees?

What do you think sellers can do about it? Please share your ideas in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

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