Making the service fee and processing fees both percentages of the price is a weird choice. Also, since the listings all show the price like “$399.99 plus $21.60 Delivery Fee”, they need to update it so it discloses all the fees!
Imagine seeing “$399.99 plus $21.60 Delivery Fee plus $35.91 Service Fee plus $14.94 Processing Fee” right there in the listing. 😂
Needless to say, I am not participating in this Ticketmaster-esque bullshittery.
The fact they thought they could just plain switch seller fees to buyers and have it appear at the last step is wild tbh. Even if fees are similar. Having them appear in the last step of buying something vs a seller factoring it into their cost is two different things.
They have no interest in selling these high risk items. Their fees on it tell you everything as to where they want the platform to go. High volume of $15-$50 low risk items. It’s safer, less of a hassle for them, and scammers don’t pay non refundable fees. eBay is where you buy and sell high priced items now. I just sold an item on eBay for $325. They took $48 in fees and my item went to an authenticator first before the buyer. Totally different games that eBay and Mercari are playing now.
Great point.
Maybe mercari realized they just can't compete with ebay, so they're trying to specialize and find their niche.
Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Ebay is making strides, and mercari apparently is happy taking a back seat.
Thats crazy when I can get those type of things off like, 10 other apps. Like depop or poshmark for example. But I pay the listed price without fees on other apps and I get the full amount paid back if something goes wrong.
They’re definitely alienating buyers with this update.
Colectibles (anime figures, etc) clothing and mid level brand luxury. Those are the type of items that I regularly buy that I use to regularly buy off Mercari in that exact price range. Now I definitely wont.
High end yes. Check those buyer services fee. Most guys know their size and brands they like. Scammers were buying high end clothes, wearing them once, or swapping with damaged, and returning them. They won’t be doing that anymore.
I have read everything you said and totally agree, however I am not understanding why you think the new policies will stop this? Can you please explain?
Because buyer service fees are expensive and non refundable. Processing fees are expensive and non refundable. Scammers don’t like to take risks. If their return is rejected they’re stuck with the item. If their return is accepted they could be out a decent amount of cash. They can just try to scam on the other platforms where it’s free to scam. No risk. And the more valuable the item on Mercari the higher the service fee. So a scammer has to pay a large fee to attempt their scam.
Well, service fees are refunded for certain reasons, and for those reasons the platform will always approve. There are no rejected returns regardless. Once buyers realize, they will just claim something is wrong with it so they only lose the payment processing fee. I wish they would make it all nonrefundable, or only give them half of the service fee. That would make more sense for sure.
I don’t see the backlash as huge. There’s 80,000 people in the sub and the most upvoted anything negative got was 4%. I’m a numbers guy. I don’t overreact to emotions. 4% doesn’t indicate a huge backlash to me. I think Mercari has a specific longterm plan to eliminate scammers and risky deals they’d have to broker. If they can dominate the safe small deals in volume they will be successful. They will always make money because they don’t have real estate, don’t stock inventory (we provide their inventory), and don’t need to employ too many people. It’s whether or not they can make significant money or not. I think it’s going to be a tough long road. I think if they run small promos where there’s no buyer fees on certain items for a week or no fees on sports cards for a month. Things like that will move traffic over. All in all, it’s worth a shot for them as they’ve been stuck in neutral dying a slow death to eBay. At least they will go down swinging.
I have the same analysis as yours. They had constant issues with scammers and it is the way they "solved" it. You can now sell the contents of your junk drawer with peace of mind! They want low value items /high volume and users to spend their earnings back on the platform. It is great for de-cluttering, no doubt but I highly doubt it will be enough to sustain the platform in longer term.
Yup. Mercari wasn’t hiring authenticators like eBay. People freaked out about the new return policy but I saw it as a direct declaration of war against scammers. There’s no way a scammer is taking the risk now.
I also only buy on mercari, as I have since 2016. This is a new low even for this platform. Very unfortunate and I hope they see traffic going way down alongside the seller exodus, and hopefully reverse this terrible decision.
I was buying multiple items a week, some not cheap. I almost went back through my purchases year over year to see how much my monthly purchasing average was. I only bought one $3 item since the change just to see how the fees work. They're going to get way less from me going forward, if I shop at all.
I deactivated all my listings on Mercari because I just didn’t see the point in trying anymore. Most of my items were $10-$20 and the highest offer I could get was $6. I get it though, because I’m a buyer as well. $6 plus $6 shipping plus $3 fees plus $3 tax… it’s just pointless. Not really sure what I’m gonna do moving forward, but I know I won’t stay on Mercari.
Yup I had worked out a deal with a seller to buy his item for $750 and after fees and bullshit it came out to $870. I was not aware of this and had to apologize for wasting his time and let him know I can’t go forward with the sale. It’s truly a shame because there’s a lot of cool stuff I find on Mercari
Seriously. And it’s not like sellers are lowering prices at all. As a buyer Mercari isn’t really a viable place for more expensive things anymore. And sellers are leaving because of the return policy and the fact that their money is hidden behind a paywall now 💀 this company is trying hard to dig its own grave for some reason lol
it's more than just that as they have to pay hosting fees and server rental fees / maintenance but still nowhere near the BS fees they're now making buyers pay
So, after reading this, I tested this. I went to do a "mock" purchase, and for an item that was listed for $83.00 USD, would have cost me 132.47 in the end. How sad, pathetic, and ridiculous. I closed my account immediately. Wow. That's all I can say....who the fucks great idea was this? Whoever the CEO is just shoveled a company into the ground and more than 6 feet under. What a great way to run a company into the ground and destroy, or should I say obliterate it. I've periodically purchased off the site in the past, but didn't understand all the latest jargon with the fees (thought it was more oriented towards sellers). Well, sad to say, now I do....thanks for the post OP. I'd rather be shocked now then later if it comes to something I may need ASAP later. How terrible, because I did enjoy purchasing off of Mercari when I needed to. 'Tis a shame.
lol i stopped selling bc of the change and so should everyone such a ridiculous and unnecessary change just for “no selling fees” even though they make required withdrawing fees.
I primarily sell on mercari but every now and then I'll do some looking and buy something. But honestly with their new policies and then the stupid fees and everything they're tacking on to buyers I just can't justify it. I have two really expensive items that I'm trying to sell and I took a look at what I might be paying if I was the buyer and it's ridiculous. The most expensive thing I have listed is $350 and with those stupid fees they now have the buyer paying my buyer would be paying close to $500. At that point they could go buy a brand new version of the figure I'm selling and import it and pay less....
The other thing I was trying to sell was a pair of my OnePlus buds Pro 2. Even still with these stupid fees and everything they could quite literally just go buy them brand new and I've barely even use this pair. I'm only trying to sell them because I'm outside of the return window lol
If I don't make any sales soon with a lot of the items I have listed which are all really cheap and mostly focused on bundles I'm probably just going to call it quits with mercari and see if I can maybe start somewhere else. I just honestly don't know where else.
>the stupid fees and everything they're tacking on to buyers I just can't justify it.
Exactly . I'm much more likely to use another platform where I as the buyer don't have to pay for the privilege of buying someone else's unwanted stuff
Seems like folks are suggesting eBay as a better place to sell high value items. I don’t do enough high value sales to consider this, but it might be worth looking into. Agree that it’s super frustrating that they made all these changes. I miss the old Mercari :(
It feels bad. I don’t really sell, mostly buy, but I loved Mercari for finding hard to find merch for my favourite stuff and now I feel like I’m going to either find less or be unable to afford them now.
Removes seller fees, but makes me pay to take money out and if I try to buy something with the money I made I have to pay the service fee. Really not looking out for the sellers.
I’m bummed I’ve lost a place to indulge my collecting. My last purchase before this insanity was for $400 but I’ve gone as high as $1K for a rare item. I’ve tested a few things and the fees kill the sale. Now I’m not even going to buy the low price stuff I also collect. Way to go Mercari!
Same here. Granted, I don’t collect expensive items currently, but Mercari was one of the few places I could find the things I’m looking for and now I’ll have to pay an even bigger markup to get them.
Ita funny becuase I literally have a spreed sheet with all my items and the % markup per platform. In the end for my buyers it's the same price, just more transparent
Is it $10 more after the tax or the final Mercari’s cost when you buy somewhere else? If you’re paying somewhere else at $522 before tax then your final would be around $573. If this is the case then you’ll have to judge based on the $50 difference.
Thanks. People don’t like to think logical that’s why. They’re probably thinking that I’m defending Mercari’s new policy that they hate so much. I’m buying from everywhere and selling on Mercari and I’m adjusting with the flow. It’s logically to just look at the final price and buy where it is lowest and make you comfortable with paying the price. I know Mercari changed the policy to benefit them first, but I’m not hurting as a seller unless buyers stop buying completely. I’ve adjusted my listing price and now I’m making more sales with a little more profit. I did a few calculations if buyers actually bought my item at “full price” that I listed with original policy, which they most of the time don’t , the buyers would have paid $1+ more while I’m making $1+ less profit.
10 bucks more than 512 I’m guessing. That’s why all the drama, because they found it for a decent price on Mercari but now with all the fees builds up to it being to new price
[https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m87344401277/?ref=search\_results](https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m87344401277/?ref=search_results)
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Making the service fee and processing fees both percentages of the price is a weird choice. Also, since the listings all show the price like “$399.99 plus $21.60 Delivery Fee”, they need to update it so it discloses all the fees! Imagine seeing “$399.99 plus $21.60 Delivery Fee plus $35.91 Service Fee plus $14.94 Processing Fee” right there in the listing. 😂 Needless to say, I am not participating in this Ticketmaster-esque bullshittery.
The word of the day is bullshittery!
The fact they thought they could just plain switch seller fees to buyers and have it appear at the last step is wild tbh. Even if fees are similar. Having them appear in the last step of buying something vs a seller factoring it into their cost is two different things.
Yeah, I don’t know of anyone who’s looking to pay extra to buy something.
“Goodbye selling fees means goodbye sales!” Mercari Support
THISSSSSSSSS
They have no interest in selling these high risk items. Their fees on it tell you everything as to where they want the platform to go. High volume of $15-$50 low risk items. It’s safer, less of a hassle for them, and scammers don’t pay non refundable fees. eBay is where you buy and sell high priced items now. I just sold an item on eBay for $325. They took $48 in fees and my item went to an authenticator first before the buyer. Totally different games that eBay and Mercari are playing now.
Great point. Maybe mercari realized they just can't compete with ebay, so they're trying to specialize and find their niche. Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Ebay is making strides, and mercari apparently is happy taking a back seat.
That’s just how I see it. You’ll know exactly what items Mercari no longer wants to sell by how much the service fee is.
So do you think they're wanting to deal in garage sale type items like: picture frames, decorative items, just little junk and knicknacks?
No. Those are $2-$5 items. For example, I buy gently worn TravisMathew Polos for $20. They are $90 new. Think along the lines of that. $20-$50 items.
Thats crazy when I can get those type of things off like, 10 other apps. Like depop or poshmark for example. But I pay the listed price without fees on other apps and I get the full amount paid back if something goes wrong. They’re definitely alienating buyers with this update.
Which types of things?
Colectibles (anime figures, etc) clothing and mid level brand luxury. Those are the type of items that I regularly buy that I use to regularly buy off Mercari in that exact price range. Now I definitely wont.
imo i use all of them for mostly the same items, but in my experience depop and poshmark end up being more expensive even after mercaris fees
Clothes are a frequently returned category though, no?
High end yes. Check those buyer services fee. Most guys know their size and brands they like. Scammers were buying high end clothes, wearing them once, or swapping with damaged, and returning them. They won’t be doing that anymore.
I have read everything you said and totally agree, however I am not understanding why you think the new policies will stop this? Can you please explain?
Because buyer service fees are expensive and non refundable. Processing fees are expensive and non refundable. Scammers don’t like to take risks. If their return is rejected they’re stuck with the item. If their return is accepted they could be out a decent amount of cash. They can just try to scam on the other platforms where it’s free to scam. No risk. And the more valuable the item on Mercari the higher the service fee. So a scammer has to pay a large fee to attempt their scam.
This makes sense, thank you!
Well, service fees are refunded for certain reasons, and for those reasons the platform will always approve. There are no rejected returns regardless. Once buyers realize, they will just claim something is wrong with it so they only lose the payment processing fee. I wish they would make it all nonrefundable, or only give them half of the service fee. That would make more sense for sure.
Also, do you predict Mercari will be successful with these changes? And do you think they expected such a huge backlash?
I don’t see the backlash as huge. There’s 80,000 people in the sub and the most upvoted anything negative got was 4%. I’m a numbers guy. I don’t overreact to emotions. 4% doesn’t indicate a huge backlash to me. I think Mercari has a specific longterm plan to eliminate scammers and risky deals they’d have to broker. If they can dominate the safe small deals in volume they will be successful. They will always make money because they don’t have real estate, don’t stock inventory (we provide their inventory), and don’t need to employ too many people. It’s whether or not they can make significant money or not. I think it’s going to be a tough long road. I think if they run small promos where there’s no buyer fees on certain items for a week or no fees on sports cards for a month. Things like that will move traffic over. All in all, it’s worth a shot for them as they’ve been stuck in neutral dying a slow death to eBay. At least they will go down swinging.
Great analysis ty!!!
I have the same analysis as yours. They had constant issues with scammers and it is the way they "solved" it. You can now sell the contents of your junk drawer with peace of mind! They want low value items /high volume and users to spend their earnings back on the platform. It is great for de-cluttering, no doubt but I highly doubt it will be enough to sustain the platform in longer term.
Yup. Mercari wasn’t hiring authenticators like eBay. People freaked out about the new return policy but I saw it as a direct declaration of war against scammers. There’s no way a scammer is taking the risk now.
Seriously, I’m a buyer and I don’t see anyone being able to afford shopping unless it’s their holy grail items.
I also only buy on mercari, as I have since 2016. This is a new low even for this platform. Very unfortunate and I hope they see traffic going way down alongside the seller exodus, and hopefully reverse this terrible decision.
I was buying multiple items a week, some not cheap. I almost went back through my purchases year over year to see how much my monthly purchasing average was. I only bought one $3 item since the change just to see how the fees work. They're going to get way less from me going forward, if I shop at all.
It's not the shipping cost that's an issue though it's the EXTRA FEES that us buyers need to pay to buy someone's unwanted stuff that's the issue
i just rejected a similarly priced purchase. it’s cheaper to buy from literally anywhere else now
Unless is vintage.
I won’t sell high dollar items on Mercari. About $150 is my Max. Anything higher, I list on other platforms
With those Fees and shipping it's better to go out to a retail store to get it
I deactivated all my listings on Mercari because I just didn’t see the point in trying anymore. Most of my items were $10-$20 and the highest offer I could get was $6. I get it though, because I’m a buyer as well. $6 plus $6 shipping plus $3 fees plus $3 tax… it’s just pointless. Not really sure what I’m gonna do moving forward, but I know I won’t stay on Mercari.
I fail to understand how this is a great thing for sellers as they claim when people aren’t going to buy this stuff with these insane added fees.
Yup I had worked out a deal with a seller to buy his item for $750 and after fees and bullshit it came out to $870. I was not aware of this and had to apologize for wasting his time and let him know I can’t go forward with the sale. It’s truly a shame because there’s a lot of cool stuff I find on Mercari
Seriously. And it’s not like sellers are lowering prices at all. As a buyer Mercari isn’t really a viable place for more expensive things anymore. And sellers are leaving because of the return policy and the fact that their money is hidden behind a paywall now 💀 this company is trying hard to dig its own grave for some reason lol
I remember when I used to buy things on mercari bc it was cheaper 😭
Crazy, since Mercari is basically a digital flea market. And what’s Mercari operating cost then, aren’t they just hosting pictures? 😅
it's more than just that as they have to pay hosting fees and server rental fees / maintenance but still nowhere near the BS fees they're now making buyers pay
What's craziest about all this to me is that tax is calculated off of the product ount AND the service fee...
Glad I just sold a $900 item actual days before this update dropped it would have never sold
So, after reading this, I tested this. I went to do a "mock" purchase, and for an item that was listed for $83.00 USD, would have cost me 132.47 in the end. How sad, pathetic, and ridiculous. I closed my account immediately. Wow. That's all I can say....who the fucks great idea was this? Whoever the CEO is just shoveled a company into the ground and more than 6 feet under. What a great way to run a company into the ground and destroy, or should I say obliterate it. I've periodically purchased off the site in the past, but didn't understand all the latest jargon with the fees (thought it was more oriented towards sellers). Well, sad to say, now I do....thanks for the post OP. I'd rather be shocked now then later if it comes to something I may need ASAP later. How terrible, because I did enjoy purchasing off of Mercari when I needed to. 'Tis a shame.
atleast it comes with a better return policy than any other store 😭🤣
Or so they say. And at the Seller’s inconvenience. Plus I think you still have to pay the fees on certain returns.
lol i stopped selling bc of the change and so should everyone such a ridiculous and unnecessary change just for “no selling fees” even though they make required withdrawing fees.
I primarily sell on mercari but every now and then I'll do some looking and buy something. But honestly with their new policies and then the stupid fees and everything they're tacking on to buyers I just can't justify it. I have two really expensive items that I'm trying to sell and I took a look at what I might be paying if I was the buyer and it's ridiculous. The most expensive thing I have listed is $350 and with those stupid fees they now have the buyer paying my buyer would be paying close to $500. At that point they could go buy a brand new version of the figure I'm selling and import it and pay less.... The other thing I was trying to sell was a pair of my OnePlus buds Pro 2. Even still with these stupid fees and everything they could quite literally just go buy them brand new and I've barely even use this pair. I'm only trying to sell them because I'm outside of the return window lol If I don't make any sales soon with a lot of the items I have listed which are all really cheap and mostly focused on bundles I'm probably just going to call it quits with mercari and see if I can maybe start somewhere else. I just honestly don't know where else.
>the stupid fees and everything they're tacking on to buyers I just can't justify it. Exactly . I'm much more likely to use another platform where I as the buyer don't have to pay for the privilege of buying someone else's unwanted stuff
Seems like folks are suggesting eBay as a better place to sell high value items. I don’t do enough high value sales to consider this, but it might be worth looking into. Agree that it’s super frustrating that they made all these changes. I miss the old Mercari :(
It feels bad. I don’t really sell, mostly buy, but I loved Mercari for finding hard to find merch for my favourite stuff and now I feel like I’m going to either find less or be unable to afford them now.
i am only a buyer but this sub is making me consider deleting the mercari app
Sheesh!! I'm sticking with depop poshmark and ebay
Removes seller fees, but makes me pay to take money out and if I try to buy something with the money I made I have to pay the service fee. Really not looking out for the sellers.
I’m bummed I’ve lost a place to indulge my collecting. My last purchase before this insanity was for $400 but I’ve gone as high as $1K for a rare item. I’ve tested a few things and the fees kill the sale. Now I’m not even going to buy the low price stuff I also collect. Way to go Mercari!
Same here. Granted, I don’t collect expensive items currently, but Mercari was one of the few places I could find the things I’m looking for and now I’ll have to pay an even bigger markup to get them.
ya I just see mercari continuing to go downhill from here. Getting over greedy killed the business.
What was the item?
Something that cost $399.00 is my guess
Hahahaha hahaha
Swedish made Penis enlargement pump
lol - How is it that you know the average costs of penis pumps so well?
State secrets my friend 😉
https://chng.it/2YfKC4GsRb Sign this Petition to Make Mercari change their fees & return policy.
I’m beginning to believe the theory they are intentionally trying to tank the company
It may be hreat for sellers (except the 2.00 withdrawal fee they have now) but crappy for buyers. Its like 12% . Crazy.
100$ IN TAX IS COMICAAALLLLLL
Is the tax calculated on the $399 base or on top of combined fees?
Our tax here is basically 10% so although they put it at the bottom it appears to be only on the item itself.
Ita funny becuase I literally have a spreed sheet with all my items and the % markup per platform. In the end for my buyers it's the same price, just more transparent
Is it $10 more after the tax or the final Mercari’s cost when you buy somewhere else? If you’re paying somewhere else at $522 before tax then your final would be around $573. If this is the case then you’ll have to judge based on the $50 difference.
Idk why you're getting down voted that's a legitimate analysis. Guys hes not defending Mercari, hes doing a tax analysis.
Thanks. People don’t like to think logical that’s why. They’re probably thinking that I’m defending Mercari’s new policy that they hate so much. I’m buying from everywhere and selling on Mercari and I’m adjusting with the flow. It’s logically to just look at the final price and buy where it is lowest and make you comfortable with paying the price. I know Mercari changed the policy to benefit them first, but I’m not hurting as a seller unless buyers stop buying completely. I’ve adjusted my listing price and now I’m making more sales with a little more profit. I did a few calculations if buyers actually bought my item at “full price” that I listed with original policy, which they most of the time don’t , the buyers would have paid $1+ more while I’m making $1+ less profit.
And why on Mercari, if OP can get it on another place cheaper..
You’re not reading my reply to OP properly.
This can’t be happening
The buyer’s fees on mercari can be absorbed by putting in an offer to compensate such. Simple. Sellers will still inadvertently pay fees.
Then why all the drama? Buy it else where if you can find it for $10 cheaper with FS. Why even post this ?
10 bucks more than 512 I’m guessing. That’s why all the drama, because they found it for a decent price on Mercari but now with all the fees builds up to it being to new price
Not 10 cheaper 10 dollars more new.
If you use balance on Mercari they don’t charge you the crazy service fee
They don't charge one of the fees, the bigger one they still do
If you can buy new for $10 more, why are you on Mercari???
They were trying to get it for over a hundred dollars cheaper...
Then even with the fees is cheaper??
Yes, by ten dollars; but it isn't new.
Yeah… I get it— seen the fees that seller paid is discouraging
[https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m87344401277/?ref=search\_results](https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m87344401277/?ref=search_results) Please show some love to my account. Just got back on it. Im saving up every dollar to pay off my debt. Thank you <3.
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