Why I Like Mercari better than eBay
After researching Mercari for over a year as part of my YouTube reviews process, I finally began selling on Mercari in June 2017.
I originally wrote this review for SiteJabber.com on 06/10/17 (See it here)
I prefer Mercari app over eBay.com for multiple reasons.
1. Simplicity of listing new items = Winner
2. No PayPal, No PayPal Seller Fees, No 180 Day Returns = Winner
3. Easy to communicate with buyers through the chat = Winner
4. No fees on shipping (Ebay and Storenvy both charge 10% on final sales price and shipping costs) = Winner
5. Very active community of shoppers who leave "Likes" on products. The more likes you get, the better your product for sale show up in search results. = Winner
6. Currently getting more sales on Mercari than Ebay. = Winner
7. Mercari has some powerful filters to weed out scammers, crooked buyers and bad sellers = Winner
8. The Feedback Section - In my sales, I sold similar items to two different buyers - same shipping, same product, same packaging. The packages went out for shipping the same day. Were delivered within USPS normal shipping time.
One customer who only buys on Mercari left me a positive rating. The other customer who buys and sells on Mercari left me a neutral rating which basically makes you look bad on Mercari. I left both customers a Positive rating, even though, the customer who both sells and buys on Mercari deserved a neutral buyer for being a bit of a pain during the shipping process. They wanted it to arrive in 3 days aka Priority Mail. It was shipped First Class which takes up to 5 days. = Ehhhh could be better
9. Customer Support so far has responded within 24 hours to all my questions so far - I interact with Mercari Customer Support via Twitter. = Winner
10. Unlike PayPal which I can initiate payment of my sales into my bank anytime I want, Mercari uses their own system, which is probably Stripe, and processes payments once a week. On the upside however, unlike PayPal which charges me a processing fee, there are no processing fees to transfer money to my bank account, unless the amount you want to transfer is less than their minimum withdraw amount = Ehhh, Could be better
11. Unlike Ebay, which wants me to regularly add new products for sale in order to receive better product placement in their search results; Mercari starts to limit and hide your new products once you hit a certain amount. Mercari gives you better placement if you do the opposite. There preference is complete more sales, then list new products. = Ehhh, Could be better
12. Ebay expects sellers to offer a return policy. In fact to be a Top Rated Plus seller on Ebay, you have to ship the product within 24 hours and offer a 30 day return policy, even if its previously owned - and additionally, because eBay sales are exclusively processed through their other company PayPal - PayPal offers a 180 day return policy on anything bought on ebay. Mercari however, holds the customers purchase money until the shipper indicates the product was delivered, then the customer must rate you in order to release the money. If the customer doesn't rate a seller in 3 days, then Mercari will initiate the ratings on behalf of the buyer and release the money. Once ratings have been issued by the buyer and seller - the sale in complete and there are no returns = Winner
13. About Shipping on Mercari - Mercari offers shipping labels. Their price range compared to actual weight can be either bad or really good, depending. A US Priority Label on Ebay for instance is $7.25 but then ebay gives you a "discount" but eBay also charges you 10% on the shipping costs. On Mercari, the same US Priority Label is currently only $6 and NO fees on shipping, but its also based on shipping weight. So 8 oz to 3 Lbs is $6, 3 Lbs to 10 Lbs is $9 and 10 Lbs to 20 Lbs is $18. Those are some really great shipping prices. However, anything O oz to 8 oz is US First Class at the cost of $4 and that can be $1 to $2 higher then eBay. That being said, if you are an experienced seller on Mercari, you are probably going to ship most items yourself through PayPal's multi-shipping feature. = Ehhh, Could be better
Those are my thoughts as a seller on Mercari so far. I have video updates regarding my Mercari sales on YouTube ( Reselling Randy ) and on
VidMe ( SellItOnline ) if you are interested.
VidMe ( SellItOnline ) if you are interested.
Tips for new Mercari Sellers:
1. Don't try to pull any scams, Mercari will catch you and suspend your account.
2. Don't sell counterfeit items on Mercari - they will suspend your account. In fact, unless you are an experienced seller who has studied and learned how to spot fake products, then just skip selling products on Mercari that are frequently counterfeited.
3.Treat everyone with respect.