Look Out eBay, Here comes Mercari

Look Out eBay, Here comes Mercari

The month of January 2018 has been a busy one for the Mercari USA App based marketplace.  

If you have been following the SellerThink blog, you already know that Mercari has been working feverishly on it's new web browser version of its marketplace which will allow anyone with a computer to be able to sell on its already popular and fast growing marketplace.

Two weeks ago I reported that many features were already available to most Mercari sellers including full access to the messaging system, the ability to view order details, initiate label e-mails for printing, the ability to edit already created listings, etc.

Much to my surprise, on this last evening of January, I came across seller Stephanie P.R (courtesy photo) who notified me that she now had full access to her Mercari account on the Mercari website via her browser, including the ability to create entirely new listings.

At first I was skeptical, since I have been taking advantage of the limited access I have on a daily basis and checking for the ability to create new listings and new features. Sure enough, Stephanie took a screen capture of here account on Mercari with the "Create A Listing" button prominently displayed at the top of the page.

Bewildered, I wondered if this was a browser issue, so I asked Stephanie which browser she is using... "Chrome", she replied... Me too.

So I turned off all my private browsing extensions, and IP filters to see if that made a difference, but I still didn't have access to Mercari's Magic Button.

Next I tried a different browser, still nothing.

So I sat back in my office chair and contemplated the situation. I am very familiar with beta testing, meta testing and new feature roll-outs, and then It came to me....  Slow Roll-out!

Obviously, because Mercari is based on individual accounts and not solely on simply visiting the website, and since many other Mercari sellers still did not have full access, It suddenly all made sense.   Mercari is doing either a limited roll-out to a select group of accounts as a trial, or Mercari is simply doing a slow roll-out converting accounts to be able to access the new web based version of the marketplace in general.

Either way, its great news!  Mercari, as promised, will have brought their previously/Currently App Only based marketplace entirely to a web based computer environment this year, most likely within the next month.

This is great for Mercari sellers, for the simple fact that Mercari is the easiest marketplace to sell on, and generates lots of sales.  But the new access option will also introduce a plethora of new sellers wandering over from ebay, after a year or more of dismal sales on eBay; especially small sellers who eBay smacked in the face several times over the past few years.

Many eBay sellers have been dreaming of a marketplace alternative to sell on, where people actually shop.

Bonanza.com also has much to be concerned about; as Bonanza has always been the go to marketplace for sellers who have gotten kicked off eBay, or who simply wanted a change.  Sales on Bonanza have been really slow for at least several years, and little Bonanza has attempted to invigorate its marketplace have been effective. Decisions such as throttling shopper traffic and forcing paid memberships or paying for Bonanza's "Turbo Traffic" haven't helped encourage sellers to stick around either.

Once Mercari roll-outs are completed, eBay will without a doubt feel the pinch if for no other reason than Mercari is multiple times easier to sell on without all the extra fees, Mercari lets you list for free and maintain an inventory without having to pay for a store, and I dare to say as a 15 year eBay Top-Rate Plus seller, Mercari is what eBay should of become and could have become if it hadn't placed its decisions in the hands of unexperienced non-seller corporate types. 

Bonanza I am afraid will be hurt the most, and immediately be displaced from the number 3 position of online marketplaces.  I made this prediction at at the beginning of 2017 in the "Best Places To Sell Online In 2017" YouTube video.

So should eBay and Bonanza sellers pack their backs and head for the higher waters of Mercari?  Not so fast! I'll write it here as I have similarly said it in almost every video I have made about selling on Mercari, "Mercari is a strict marketplace, in some ways stricter than eBay."  If you've been kicked off eBay or Bounced off Bonanza, it will only be a matter of days, a few months if you're lucky before getting kicked off Mercari, and that is what I value most about Mercari. I actually have a lot more confidence as a seller on Mercari, that Mercari will keep its marketplace friendly for sellers, something I can not say is an experience I have had selling on eBay.

One I and several other experienced sellers tell new members to the Facebook Group for Mercari Sellers is make sure you read the entire HELP section in the Mercari app/Website before you decide to start selling to help avoid getting suspended.  Mercari has a low tolerance for bogus sellers and scamy shoppers. "And that's a good thing".

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