✨selling on mercari tips✨
I’ve sold over $2,000 worth of things on mercari so far so I figured I’d share some of my tips and tricks for quick and high value sales! This post is long so you might want to come back to it later, I’ll leave it at the top of my feed for a while for easy access.
♡ 1. Always take high quality photos of the front, back, and any flaws of the item. If you have more photos available, take a photo of the label of the item and any tags it comes with if it is NWT. Make sure that the photos are not blurry or pixelated.
- I myself will click away from a seller’s item immediately if there is only one photo of the item, or if all photos are oddly zoomed in on or blurry. It causes suspicion about the true condition of the item if the seller appears to not want to post a photo of all parts.
♡ 2. Be descriptive in your title and listing! Be honest about the condition of the item and list ALL flaws. If there is a period stain on a pair of shorts, address it. Use “New” only for items New With Tags. Use “Like New” for items never worn. Mercari frequently sides with the buyer if they determine that you did not describe your item accurately and honestly. Use appropriate keywords and make your description concise but not short.
- I click away from any item that does not have a description. It shows low effort and makes me question the true condition of the item as well as the seller’s ship time.
♡ 3. Be smart. Document all interactions between yourself and your buyer. If the item you are selling is expensive like an iPhone, videotape yourself boxing up the item all the way through to taking it to the post office and dropping it off. I once won a Mercari dispute because I documented my buyer saying that the item didn’t fit her, and showed this to Mercari because their policy is that they do not allow returns based on size issues.
♡ 4. Do not cheat on shipping labels! Sometimes you can get away with putting a heavy pair of jeans under a $4 shipping label weight, but be prepared to get a poor rating and a pissy buyer who will expect you to make up the postal difference if it comes down to it. And never use a priority FLAT RATE box for a priority $6 label. The basic priority boxes are for the $6 label, not the flat rate. Your buyer WILL have to pay the $7-14 difference on the flat rate if you send it with a $4-$6 label. The only way to get around using a flat rate box with the wrong label is to wrap it in something, but that can look very sloppy and cheap and earn you a poor rating as well.
♡ 5. Give measurements accurately and do not solely size the item by the tag size. Items may shrink in the wash. If your size 8 pants have the waist size of 24", SAY THIS in your description to avoid getting an upset buyer! Just because Mercari doesn’t issue returns based on size doesn’t mean that you should screw over your buyer because you can. Besides, sometimes they side with the buyer anyway, so it’s best to not put yourself in this situation. I give the measurements of all inseams and waist sizes on pants regardless of tag label.
♡ 6. Package items with care and a thank you note. Do not put your item in a cardboard box without any protective wrapping or else it may get wet. I use waterproof polymailers, but on the rare occasion that I do use boxes, I put the items in a ziplock bag. If your packaging looks sloppy, you will get a bad rating. And for the love of God– I shouldn’t even have to say this, but don’t leave popcorn kernel crumbs or dead roaches in your packaging! It is disgusting and I have had this happen to me, and I have never bought from those buyers again.
♡ 7. Ignore lowball offers. You will have some people approach you about a NWT item that was originally $120 from Zara and say “I’ll buy for $3 free shipping”. Don’t even justify this with a response. Many will later say something like “sorry” or “hello :)” or “Please my mom is dying of cancer and bla blah blah” ignore it. These are the scam artists that will screw you over anyway or the lowballers who will take advantage of your item.
♡ 8. Be patient! Your more obscure brand items may take months or even years to sell. Don’t lowball yourself unless you absolutely have to get rid of the item (but if you’re going to sell everything for $3, you may as well take them to Plato’s or Clothes Mentor). If you have a heavily stained or worn item and it’s a brand nobody cares about, just take it to Goodwill and get the tax credit for it instead of trying to sell it when it’s likely not worth your gas money and packaging efforts to send it for $3 anyway.
♡ 9. Buy from other sellers as well to build up your ratings, and be a pleasant buyer (I will make my next post about this).
- I personally do not buy or sell to anyone who has 0 ratings, because many turn out to be bots or scam artists.
♡ 10. DO NOT PUT YOUR ITEM IN YOUR MAILBOX. This can depend on where you live, but if you’re going to do this, hand it off to your mailman personally to avoid it getting stolen. Your buyer will be pissed if it never arrives and they’ve paid for it.
♡ 11. Get direct deposits as often as possible. Mercari is known for randomly closing down accounts due to “violations” and keeping the money in these accounts. This has gotten a lot better, but is still not worth the risk. As soon as you reach your $10 cashout, request it to protect yourself. Keeping $500 in your account for a month is foolish.
♡ 12. DO NOT SELL COUNTERFIT OR NON-AUTHENTIC OR “INSPIRED” ITEMS. YOU CAN AND WILL BE PUNISHED FOR THIS. I had $55 in my account when I was told that if I posted another Ivory Ella dupe that my account would be terminated without notice, and this has happened to many others before. I was suspended instead. I didn’t even use the words “dupe” or “fake” in my description or title. My guess is that a competitor seller reported my listing personally.
♡ 13. Answer questions from buyers as soon as possible, granted that they aren’t trolling or harassing you. You might have many men comment something like “nice panties” if you’re selling new underwear or whatever. Block them. Don’t let them buy from you and get your address from the label. If the question is honest, do your best to give more photos or measurements or describe the condition as accurately as possible.
- I do not buy from people who do not answer me.
♡ 14. Model photos of items generally help them to sell faster as long as they are appropriate in nature.
♡ 15. In relation to the above, DO NOT MODEL AN ITEM AND THEN SAY “NEVER WORN/TRIED ON”!!! This looks stupid as hell and I always laugh my ass off when I see it. If you want to say that the item was never worn, use an image off google… BUT know that stock photos are not allowed on Mercari! I have had listings removed because of stock photos. Your best bet is to just model the item and say “like new” condition and “only worn for the model photo”.
♡ 16. Do not get an attitude with buyers. If they are trolling or lowballing, ignore them. They can report you and get your account terminated for snarky comments. Try to appear as pleasant as possible, but don’t be a kissass.
“Hi, I’d like to offer $18 on this $20 top!” - potential buyer
“can you not read? My price says firm dumbass” - seller ❌ Even though it may seem like common sense to read the description, it wasn’t a lowball offer and doesn’t warrant a smartass response. And if you’ve had this item up for a while then you should probably just take the offer anyway as it’s barely off from your original asking price.
“Hello, my price is firm, sorry, but I will let you know if that changes in the future!” ✅ Mature and doesn’t offend the potential buyer.
“Hello! I have uploaded another photo like you requested. :)” ✅
“Hi girl :) Your profile pic is super cute btw. For your convenience I’ve added three more photos even though you just asked to see the size label photo. Feel free to make me an offer. I’ll even ship out next day for you.” 3 min later “Hello? Are you interested?” 2 min later “Hi let me know if you want it or not” ❌
- If a buyer wants it, they will make an offer or buy it. You don’t need to ask 5 times. If they asked for another photo and ended up not buying it, the photo likely told them something about the item that they did not want like the condition or size, and there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. Do not feel pressured to lie for fast sales.
♡ 17. Don’t flip free items for their “original prices”. If you get a free blanket from VS when you spend $75 and claim that you paid “full price” 89.95 like it says on the tag, you look like an ass and insult everyone around you by insinuating that everyone is stupid enough to believe that.
VS Blanket $30 NWT - Got this free with purchase and don’t need it, hoping someone else can use it. Price is firm otherwise I’d keep it. ✅
VS Blanket $89.95 - My price is FIRM, I paid full price for this and am just trying to make my money back because I lost the receipt. I did not get this free no matter what you say. ❌
♡ 18. The above brings me to my next point… don’t extravagantly lie about why you’re selling items. It looks weird and suspicious.
NWT Makeup Palette Naked3 $75 - Got the wrong one in stores yesterday, lost my receipt. Nobody in my family wants it and none of my friends do. Don’t ask me any more questions. PRICE IS FIRM!!! (Has 20 other palettes listed on their page) ❌ Lies lies lies, and rude. Obvious shoplifter.
NWT Makeup Palette Naked3 $25 (only one listed on page) - Got this as a gift, don’t want it. ✅ To the point and doesn’t look suspicious.
NWT Makeup Palette Naked3 $25 - Price is firm. ✅ In general, you don’t even owe anyone an explanation as to why you are selling an item if it is unused. Making up stories makes it sound like you’ve acquired the item through illegal or counterfit means and are trying to pre-convince people of this not being true.
♡ 19. Your price point needs to be fair. In general, Mercari is a used goods marketplace.
Hollister shirt size xs - has some stains and holes. Just trying to make back what I paid for it. $49.95 price is firm. ❌
Hollister shirt size xs - nwt, $49.95, price is firm. ❌ Nobody gives a shit what you paid for it. It’s on sale in stores for $8 NWT right now. The only items that you can get away with up charging are from PINK that are sold out (such as the Sherpa quarter zips that frequently sold for $140 on Merc when they were originally $65 in stores) and cosmetic items.
Hollister shirt size xs - nwt, $10. ✅ Even though this item is on sale in stores, you might have the only size or color left, and your price point is reasonable. You can expect a relatively easy sale. Some people also prefer to use their Mercari credits for transactions rather than their cards and will only buy from Mercari because of this.
♡ 20. Put actual care into the presentation of your items. If cat hair is visible in your photos that is disgusting. If your item is wrinkled and thrown down on a stained carpet that is disgusting. If your item is being held up by your completely visible boyfriend that is weird. If your item is stained but is hung up nicely against a solid background and has obviously been adjusted to look as nice as possible, you will have more buyers.
♡ 21. Spamming your items with tags is annoying and you will get blocked by many for this. I automatically block those annoying people who post pictures of their popsockets with the tags Kylie vs vspink Zara michaelkors tommyhilfiger pacsun and clog up those tags with 500 listings to the point where I can’t even see the items I’m looking for. I will also report these sellers. The funny thing is that I’d definitely buy from them if they wouldn’t do that as their items are generally nice.
♡ 22. Do not write your description like you are in third grade.
Kylie lip kittttt 👄👄👄👅 sooooo cute, 39.95 🤑🤑 only broke 5 parts of the kit, like new otherwise ❌
Kylie Lip Kit - Maliboo. 5 parts of the kit’s box and metal case are broken, hence the low price. The cosmetics are still functional and have not been swatched or used. Make me an offer. $12 ✅
♡ 23. Be respectful when writing your description and be careful of your wording.
Zara pants size 8 would be better for a fat girl, too big for me. $50 ❌
Zara orange pants - size 8. Too big for me so I’m hoping someone else can use them as they are great quality pants. NWT. I would say these are true to size. Their inseam is 33" and their waist is 15" laying flat. $50 ✅
♡ 24. Since Mercari has taken off the ship time option, you need to address this yourself in your description. If you only ship once a week, say that. If you ship same or next day, say that! If you get a rating AFTER you’ve said that you ship in 3-4 days that says “took 3 days to ship! Poor!” you can dispute this as you can prove that you’ve already addressed the buyer about this before purchase. If you don’t specify, then people will be pissy about wait time and pester you with “ship asap” or “I need this by Tuesday.” (buys on a Sunday) A lot of Mercari issues can be prevented with simple pre-communication.
♡ 25. Ship out as soon as possible. If you are on your way to work, leave 5 min earlier and drop off your package at the PO or the appropriate dropbox for the package.
♡ 26. Most of all, enjoy your Mercari experience! Don’t rush on getting everything out of your closet, don’t sell your favorite items because you’re tempted to get a high price for them if they’re selling well at the time, don’t accept lowball offers if you know it’s going to make you feel cheated after, take precaution and be safe, etc. Be patient, considerate, and thorough, and you should have no issues with selling items with ease and building your seller ratings!
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