Mercari: Buy and Sell App

Review by eFreeware

Mercari is a marketplace app from Mercari, Inc. that lets people buy and sell new and used goods in the US. It sits in the Shopping category, costs nothing to download, and has been around long enough to build a sizable audience: over 10 million installs and a 4.7 average from more than 618,000 ratings. The core appeal is straightforward. You can list items you no longer want, earn money from them, and shop the same catalog for secondhand pieces and deals at up to 70 percent off retail.

What makes it worth considering is that it handles both sides of the transaction in one place. Sellers get tools to get items seen and paid for; buyers get search, offers, bundling and shipping support. It is not a single-purpose thrift store or a classifieds board, but a full marketplace with protections on both ends.

I'd expect this to suit two broad groups: people with closets, shelves or storage bins full of things they no longer use, and shoppers who enjoy hunting for specific brands, collectibles or used electronics at lower prices. The app is rated Teen and the developer notes it is available in the US for anyone 18 or older.

Listing and selling: the tools that do the heavy lifting

Selling gets the most attention here. The pitch is that you can list in seconds, whether you are decluttering unused items or building a side hustle. Categories called out include collectibles, clothing, toys, vintage items, electronics, trading cards, makeup and antiques. That range matters because it tells you the app is not limited to fashion or media; it is meant to absorb whatever you have lying around.

Two features stand out for getting items sold. Promote and Offer to Likers are tools aimed at drawing attention from shoppers, and the developer says the marketplace has millions of shoppers browsing daily. For payment, sellers can use Instant Pay or direct deposit, or keep the balance to fund a future purchase. That last option is a small convenience if you plan to buy as well as sell.

Safety on the seller side comes through ratings, reviews and Seller Protection. The developer also asks sellers to ship sold items within three business days, which sets a clear expectation for how quickly a sale should move. If you have sold online before, the rhythm will feel familiar; if you have not, the app provides the structure.

Buying: offers, bundles and the hunt for deals

On the buying side, Mercari covers new, like-new, used and sale items. The catalog spans everyday clothing and shoes from brands like Lululemon, Athleta, Vuori, Nike, Adidas and Jordan, through to Apple, Sony and Microsoft devices. Niche interests get their own space too: figurines from Tamashii Nations, Funko and Sonny Angel, Loungefly backpacks, Hello Kitty toys, Calico Critters and Sylvanian Families.

Collectors are clearly a target audience. The categories include trading cards such as Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering, sports cards from Topps and Upper Deck, photo cards of BTS and ATEEZ, and action figures from DC, Marvel, Dragon Ball Z and Star Wars. Used electronics get a section of their own, including vintage gaming consoles, computers, laptops, tablets, cameras, lenses and instruments such as guitars, keyboards, electric drums and amps.

Pricing is flexible, and you can make offers to negotiate. Bundling items into one package is another way to save on shipping, which is useful if you find several small things from the same seller. The app also sends notifications for price drops and exclusive offers, so you can wait for a better number rather than paying the first price you see.

Higher-priced items carrying a diamond badge go through checks by outside experts, and purchases come with protection.

Shipping, payments and cross-border shopping

Prepaid labels let sellers set a price, print a label and follow the shipment, with either side covering the cost. Shipping Protection covers up to $200. Sellers can print labels for UPS, FedEx and USPS, covering Media Mail and First-Class envelopes, or handle shipping themselves.

Payment options include Venmo, PayPal, credit card, split payments or a Mercari balance. Buyer Protection covers items that arrive unlike their listing, with returns shipped at no cost. Seller communication happens through direct messages, and ratings and reviews sit alongside those protections.

One feature that stands out from typical US marketplaces is direct shopping from Mercari Japan. It is a Japanese marketplace with millions of items, including brands like Evisu, Visvim, Comme des Garçons, BAPE, Beams, Stüssy, Nintendo, Coach and Asics. That opens up inventory you would not find in a domestic thrift or resale app.

What it asks of you: time, shipping and eligibility

Mercari is free to download and contains no ads, and there are no in-app purchases. The costs that exist are the ordinary ones of buying and selling: you pay for what you buy, and shipping is handled through prepaid labels or your own arrangements. Sellers are asked to ship within three business days, so listing means committing to a quick turnaround.

The app is available in the US and is meant for anyone 18 or older. The content rating is Teen.

Selling does require some effort. Selling does involve listing items and shipping them promptly.

Getting the most from it in practice

If you are selling, the Promote and Offer to Likers tools are there to help your listings stand out. They are meant to get items seen and sold quickly, so using them on the pieces you most want to move makes sense. Pricing flexibly and being open to offers is part of how the marketplace works, and it can help a sale happen sooner.

For buyers, bundling is the practical lever. If you find multiple items from one seller, combining them into a single package saves on shipping. Watching for price drops and offers is another habit worth forming, since the app notifies you when sellers adjust prices. Making an offer is built into the experience, so there is no reason to treat listed prices as fixed.

The diamond badge is the signal to look for on luxury items. Those pieces are authenticated by independent experts, which adds a layer of confidence when you are spending more. For everything else, ratings and reviews on sellers give you a sense of who you are buying from.

The latest update is a small one, mainly bug fixes and minor tweaks. That suggests the app is being maintained, but it does not change how you would use it day to day.

A marketplace for declutterers and deal hunters

Mercari is a well-established US marketplace app with a broad catalog and a strong rating history. It handles the full loop of selling used items and buying new or pre-owned ones, with tools for promotion, offers, bundling and shipping. The addition of direct shopping from Mercari Japan gives it a reach beyond the domestic catalog.

The main trade-offs are practical. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so the costs are the ordinary ones of buying items and paying for shipping.

I would recommend Mercari to anyone in the US with items to clear out, and to shoppers who enjoy browsing secondhand goods, collectibles or used electronics. If you want a marketplace that covers both selling and buying with protections on each side, this is a sensible place to start.

What's new in version 9.45.1

Minor update with some bug fixes and slight tweaks.