Mercari launched a new feature this week called bundle offers. It pitched it as helpful for shoppers, but sellers will benefit as well.
With bundle offers, buyers can send an offer on multiple items from a single seller. “Just add multiple items from the same seller to your cart, then in your cart, select “bundle items and make offer,” and input your offer price. The seller has 24 hours to accept, decline, or counter, and the minimum offer amount is 75% of the combined listings’ prices.”
Buyers can add up to 10 items in a single bundle offer with a maximum price of $2,000.
Mercari pitched the new feature as a way for shoppers to save money on shipping – “because the seller can ship all items together in a single package with a Mercari prepaid label, you can spend less on shipping.”
It also pointed out that shoppers could complete a set for gift giving, such as buying a sweater, scarf, and mittens together.
“No need to wait for a custom listing,… without the back and forth with the seller,” it said.
Mercari offered some advice to sellers to take advantage of the new feature:
Tips to maximize sales with bundle offers:
Update your descriptions. Got a bunch of similar items listed? Include a line in your description that lets shoppers know you’ve got related items listed, and encourage them to create a bundle offer.
List bundle-friendly items (and lots of them). Now’s the time to heavy-up on listings with complementary sets, multiple listings in the same category, and similarly sized items people might want to buy as a set.
Think gift-giving. Because shoppers can save on combined shipping, bundles can be great for lower priced items, too. Now’s the time to list last year’s scarves, cute hair accessories, and inexpensive toys that make perfect presents.
The new feature is available only through the Mercari mobile app, however. (Make sure you’re using the most recent update.) More on the Mercari blog.
This is going to come as a shock to the eBay sycophants, but when a Mercari buyers makes an offer like this, and the seller accepts, the transaction is completed right then. Because the buyer has a payment on file and Mercari charges that payment at acceptance.
It will take the eBay team a few more years to figure out how to do this, and once implemented, the new system will charge the seller and pay the buyer, and eBay will claim its just a glitch.