I just re-downloaded the Mercari app to sell some old items I have sitting in storage, and thought it would be a good time to begin documenting my experience and opinions here.
Founded in 2013, this younger cousin of e-commerce giants like eBay and Amazon rose to fame after being positioned in the industry as the best place someone can sell their old clothes and other used items lying around their house. Their super-straight-forward listing process, unlimited free listing spots for all, and user-friendly mobile app were able to reflect the marketing hype and allow the platform to grow significantly in recent years.
Without further ado, let's take a deeper dive into this proverbial new kid on the block:
History
Though the Mercari Marketplace and its user-friendly app have over 20 million users worldwide, and a fair amount of these users are US residents, Mercari Inc. did not start here. It was founded in Japan in 2013 by CEO Shintaro Yamada, and they entered the United States market just the next year. They went public in the States in June of 2018. The latest and largest catalyst to the growth of the platform was the online-buying boom sparked by the global pandemic in 2020.
Ease of Use
At times referred to as a "flea-market app," there is no doubt that this is the easiest-to-use of any of the competing services in this niche. Additionally, it provides sellers with possibly the only opportunity in its respective market to "start today" with minimal effort, as each user gets unlimited free listings starting the day they sign up. Not only do competitors like eBay charge insertion fees once you exceed a certain number of listings, they limit new personal accounts to only five total listing slots until they can build trust with the moderators and the eBay Cassini algorithm. Mercari accounts also have easy-to-find reviews and public follower counts, making the platform more fun and secure for buyers. They also have industry-leading simplicity in their shipping options.
Downsides
The downsides and limitations to the Mercari Marketplace come from the same simple fact from which it derives its strengths: it is designed to help people get rid of their old stuff for cash, and fast - not for people to build e-commerce businesses. They only offer one account type, which simplifies things for casual sellers, but prevents people from being able to scale by getting fee reductions, promoting listings, and making decisions based off of personalized analytics stats. They have no hidden or even complex-to-understand fees, as do the likes of eBay and amazon, but they charge an 18% final value fee across the board, which is questionably high even if you are charged no other fees. In contrast to the best-in-class user interface of their mobile app, the Mercari desktop platform is harder to work with and much more liable to freeze/glitch.
Start Today
If you think this platform is right for you, and you want to use e-commerce as an easy option for selling used goods, or just want to learn the ropes of e-commerce with an easy-to-use platform, rather than launching a full-fledged online business, you have come to the right place. Go through my link to sign up and get started and we will both get rewarded when you buy and sell: https://merc.li/XABJgcr2b .
(This is an affiliate link and I will make a slight commission when new users who signed up through this link make their first purchases and sales.)
Conclusion
Mercari has a very well-defined niche and position in the e-commerce industry which is not likely to change any time soon. If you are looking to buy affordable one-off products online or to sell old items that may be taking up space, it is probably the perfect place for you. If your e-commerce goal, rather, is to become the next Jeff Bezos, you may want to start elsewhere. Let me know in the comments what you think of the Mercari Marketplace and how your experiences using it have gone.
If you derived any value from this article, I would appreciate a tip, as they are free. Best of luck surviving this crypto bear market.
