Mercari App Review: Scam or a Safe & Legit Shopping Site? Read this First…

How Do I join?

Signing up is fairly easy to do if you follow these steps.

• Step 1: Download the app (iOS – Android)  or visit the website.
• Step 2: Click the sign-up button and fill out your information. To make this easier, you can also choose to connect your Facebook account, which will link the accounts and share information.
• Step 3: Start selling or buying!

How Do I Sell Stuff on Mercari?

You can list whatever you want in just a few minutes. After you make your account, take a few photos of the item you want to sell. Then add a description of the item, including any possible defects the item has. After that, all you have to do is set the price.

Once you sell your item, you will be emailed a printable shipping label. Print that out, tape it to your package, and you are ready to go. After that, you get your money!

Listings are free for each item you post. If you sell it, Mercari takes a flat %10 fee on every item. That’s it. No hidden costs.

Here are some tips to help you make sales faster:

• Use a nice camera when you’re taking photos so that your products can be seen clearly.
• Display your products on a clean surface with good lighting. This can be done by displaying the item on a clean table that is near a window.
• In your description, cover the size of the item, color, flaws, and anything else that you think a buyer would be interested in knowing about an item. Remember, a picture will only get you so far in a sale.
• Buyers usually ask questions before buying something. Check your messages often and be prompt with your answer!
• Once an item sells, you need to ship it right away. The faster your item arrives, the happier the customer will be.
• Add new items regularly so that people can see you are an active seller.
• If something doesn’t sell, lower the price after a few weeks. Anyone who liked the product will be notified of the price drop.
• Share your listings on social media so that even more people can see it!

What Can I Sell on the Site?

Here are the most popular categories on the site:

• Women’s Clothing
• Men’s Clothing
• Toys
• Kid’s Clothing
• Home Goods
• Vintage Goods
• Beauty Products
• Electronics
• Sports
• Handmade Goods

You can, of course, sell other items outside of this list. They even allow automotive parts on the site.

The site does have a few items that it prohibits the sale of. You can find this list here. It’s fairly standard and mostly prohibits items like weapons, safety hazards, cigarettes, and so on.

Shipping policy

Every package that you ship out, if you chose to use the package label that Mercari emails you, has up to $200 insurance on them. This means if it gets lost or broken in the package, you will be reimbursed the price you set on it up to $200.

Mercari provides a shipping guide to help you figure out what type of packaging is right for your item. You can find the guide, complete with images, here.

Getting Paid

When a buyer confirms they have received an item, funds will be transferred to your site balance. You can view how much you are owed by visiting your profile and tapping “Balance” at the top of the screen.

To receive your money, you will need a valid bank account, complete with the account holder’s name, checking account number, and routing number.

The only method you can get paid as of right now is via ACH Direct Deposit. They may plan to add more ways to get paid in the future.

A direct deposit can be requested as long as the amount is over $2. However, there will be a $2 fee if the request is under $10. If it is over $10, there will be no fees.

How to Buy on Mercari

Don’t pay full retail price for items that are basically like new. On Mercari, you can get very nice products at a low cost. They have over 10k brands on the site, with an average of 150k items being added every day.

Is Mercari safe for buyers?

Mercari is very concerned with buyer production. When you buy something, Mercari will hold onto your payment until you confirm that you received the order and its as it was described. Only then will the seller receive the money.

After this confirmation, however, you will not be able to request a refund. So make sure you check your item carefully after you receive it!

Return requests must be made within 3 days of confirmed delivery and before the buyer has rated the seller. All sales are final after the buyer rates the seller or 3 days after delivery.

An item is eligible for a return or refund if it meets one of the following conditions:

• Item is not as described.
• There is undisclosed damage to the item.
• Seller has not shipped the item.
• Incorrect or missing item from the package.

Better Business Bureau Rating

Mercari is rated B by the Better Business Bureau. 1,008 complaints have been closed in the last three years. 303 have been closed in the last 12 months.

On the BBB site, 343 customer reviews have been left. The rating of these average out to just a little over one star out of five.

However, Mercari still received a B rating because of their effort to close complaints to the satisfaction of the customers.

If you’d like to see the full profile of Mercari on the Better Business Bureau, click here.

Customer Reviews

Here are some Mercari reviews on Reddit from both buyers and sellers on the app.

“I’ve sold three laptops on Mercari and have bought a few things. On the buying front, it’s been great for the most part. Sellers are bad at describing things properly but Mercari’s return process has been okay, if somewhat long. But, I got my money back and the items returned. But, the things that are well described have been great and I’ve been able to source things from there successfully. On the selling front, no problems so far. Two transactions completed with no issues and the third one was just yesterday so it’s still in transit,” said one Reddit reviewer.

“I sell about 80% of my stuff on Mercari. It works well for me on kids & women’s clothes, shoes, and vintage toys, I’ve found it is filled with more low ballers than eBay. People want to group items together and often expect a bundle discount. Post on Friday night/ Saturday for the best sales,” said another reviewer on Reddit.

“I have a ton of experience on it! My favorite platform personally. I don’t get many lowballers. People tend to buy things at asking price without asking too many questions. I have sold over 500 things on there. It’s pretty easy to tell when someone is a time waster so I just ignore those people,” said one reviewer on Reddit.

Additionally, the Mercari app is currently ranked within the top 25 shopping apps on the Apple App Store. It has over 379 thousand reviews, with an average rating of 4.8 stars out of five.

On the Google Play store, it has 126 thousand ratings which also average out to almost five stars.

Final Thoughts

There are very few cons when it comes to using Mercari. The only possible issue is that when you sell an item, you have to wait until the item arrives and the seller rates you. If the seller doesn’t rate you, you’ll receive your money within a three day period.

Other than that, this is actually a fantastic app to use for selling and buying items. Because the app encourages communication between the buyer and the seller, you can always make sure you are getting what you are paying for.

Hopefully, this Mercari app review has been helpful for you as you decide if you want to use it. Have you bought or sold anything on this app before? Are there any other shopping apps you like to use? Let us and our readers know about your experiences in the comments below!