Mercari Charges Buyers Unpredictable Fees

by: iheartjacksparrow

I looked at the "Fees on Mercari" section, and found:

"Starting March 27, 2024, when you make a purchase, a service fee will be charged. The amount of the fee will be displayed as part of the final price of your item on the checkout page."

It doesn't state anywhere how this fee is calculated. So I guess everyone needs to be super vigilant and look for the amount of this fee on the checkout page before hitting the "Buy" button. I wonder how many abandoned carts this will lead to?  

by: Shanna

I was selling 5-15 items a week on Mercari. Since the change, not one sale. Their stock has been in decline for a while, but took a nose dive after this change. Its like the new CEO wanted to destroy the company as fast as possible.

by: my2cents

it is pretty spelled out on their site regarding fees.  Here is part of what it says.  Notice it does say if sellers do not reduce pricing by 10% on listings posted prior to 3/27, the seller will still be charged the selling fees.

Fees on Mercari
Listing an item is always free on Mercari. Fees are charged when an item sells or when a service is used. The following charts explain fees on Mercari.

Service Fee
We work hard to make our marketplace a vibrant and secure shopping experience, learn more. Starting March 27, 2024, when you make a purchase, a service fee will be charged. The amount of the fee will be displayed as part of the final price of your item on the checkout page. This fee is charged to the buyer and may not be refunded, depending on the reason for a return.

Seller Fees
Effective March 27, 2024 at 8:30 AM ET, the selling fee for new listings will be 0%

Note: Listings created before 8:30 AM ET on March 27, 2024 will be subject to a selling fee of 10% of the item price when a sale is completed unless the listing has been updated on or after March 27, 2024.

Transaction and Payment Fees
Mercari incurs fees related to payment processing and balance withdraws out of our system by our financial services partners. Some of these service fees are charged to our users.

Payment Processing:
Effective March 27, 2024 at 8:30 AM ET, Mercari will charge buyers a payment processing fee at the time of purchase.


Effective March 27, 2024
2.9% + $0.50 fee


https://www.mercari.com/us/help_center/article/169/

by: toolguy

Hello Mercari,

Bad move!

I haven't bought a single item since you changed the fee structure.

It's not like a wave of new inventory got laid on your sight.

It's the same stuff at a higher price for the buyer.

HARD PASS for this BUYER. . .

by: iheartjacksparrow

@my2cents: The "2.9% + 50 cents fee" you are quoting refers to the Payment Processing Fee; it has nothing to do with the Service Fee. There is no formula given for the Service Fee and it only states that you'll see what that is on the checkout page as I quoted above.

by: Snapped

“ it is pretty spelled out on their site regarding fees.”

Not so pretty if the buyer’s fees are not specifically defined until after numerous attempts to have it clarified the OP needed to be ‘informed’ that “ there's no specific calculation for service fee since this fee depends on a variety of factors such as Item Category, Item Brand, Item Condition, etc. Each service fee will be unique to the overall description and condition of the item."

That’s ugly on both the outside and inside.

by: my2cents

@Jack
True, that is the money processing fee.  The selling fee is 10% from what I understand.

Like most policies on various websites, they really could be better written.

by: my2cents

We have discussed this subject late last month here.  In case anyone is interested.



https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abblog/blo
g.pl?/pl/2024/3/1711544085.html

by: iheartjacksparrow

my2cents writes: "The selling fee is 10% from what I understand."

Yes, the "selling fee," not the buying fee. Nowhere does it state that buyers will be charged a 10% "selling fee." If you re-read the text you quoted, it states that a seller's listing will be charged a 10% "selling fee" if created before March 27th, or if they don't deduct 10% from the listing price after the 0% "selling fee" goes into effect (per the OP's letter). As further stated in the OP's letter, she was charged between 5% to 15% as a "service fee" on her purchases, which was both less than and more than a 10% "selling fee."

I wish the OP would post what she purchased, the category, brand and condition of each item, and what "service fee" she was charged for each.  

by: my2cents

@Jack
The old selling fee is now the buying fee as I understand it.  However I am not an expert on how Mercari works, so I'll defer to others to further explain.  I simply went off of what Ina shared with us in that other article.

"Previously, sellers paid a 10% commission plus a 2.9% plus 50 cents payment-processing fees. To be clear, under the new no-selling fees policy, sellers won't have to pay the commission. Sellers won't have to pay the payment-processing fees either - buyers will."

I must admit, it appears Mercari has gone to great lengths to be about as clear as mud regarding the percentage of the selling fee now to be charged to the buyer.  

I did find this in another article on the internet.  IDK if it is helpful, but here it is.

"Previously, Mercari charged a 10% flat commission for every sale on its platform. Now, the company has instead added a service fee for every purchase shoppers make. The service fee runs as low as 5% and is displayed at checkout."


https://www.modernretail.co/technology/im-not-fr
eaking-macys-sellers-react-to-mercaris-new-return-policy-and-fee-structure/

by: Vigilant Eye On eBay

''Hello Mercari,

Bad move!

I haven't bought a single item since you changed the fee structure.

It's not like a wave of new inventory got laid on your sight.

It's the same stuff at a higher price for the buyer.

HARD PASS for this BUYER. . .''

+1

by: Chicago48

I been watching my Merc listings since the change and can testify that the views are worse.  No views, no likes.