Is Mercari a Legit Website – (2022 Reviews) SCAM or SAFE

Mercari is a marketplace where you can sell or buy all types of products very similar to eBay. You might have heard of Mercari and before selling or buying here you wish to clarify whether is Mercari a legit website or a scam.

People have many questions about Mercari like is Mercari safe for buyers?

Does Mercari sell fake shoes?

In order to provide you the authentic information we made many types of research and I assure you that you will go from here with complete satisfaction.

Make sure you read the entire headings to get complete information on Mercari reviews.

 

Is Mercari a Legit Website?

Yes, Mercari is a legit website both for sellers and buyers as they have several securities features. 

But there are few chances of getting scammed by some sellers which are common like on eBay. 

No need to worry as you need to be a little smart while buying from Mercari and that is what I will brief below.

But what about people who keep saying Mercari is a Scam?

Mercari.com is an 18 years old domain and they are in business since 2013. If they were a scam then how are they still in the market with an average of 70 Million visitors coming to their website every month?

Apart from this, if I talk about their app they have more than 10M+ downloads with a 4.5★ rating on Playstore and 4.8★ on the App store.

Don’t worry, I have collected many more information that will give your more satisfaction.

I have never sold anything on Mercari but yes I made many purchases from here yes I know a few of my friends who are selling products here for the last 2 years.

 

 

Mercari Customer Reviews

Customer reviews on any business help you the most to know how legit and safe any organization is for you.

As you are here to know whether is Mercari a legit website or not you must know all related information and customer reviews are very important.

For customer reviews on Mercari, we went on 2 popular reviews websites called Trustpilot and SiteJabber.

Mercari Reviews on Trustpilot

Trust pilot is the biggest and most trusted platform to get reviews of any business.

As of August 2022, there are 18,166 reviews of Mercari on trust pilot with a 3.3★ rating out of 5 which is not good.

 

But as I said most of them giving negative reviews are the people who either did not open the package or took action within 3 days of delivery. 

So, while buying anything on Mercari make sure you check the package immediately, and if not satisfied then return it within 3 days.

However, 61% of the people have also given excellent ratings to Mercari.

 

Mercari Reviews by Customers on Sitejabber and Better Business Bureau?

There are severe bad reviews of Mercari on Sitejabber and BBB as most people come here only when they have a bad experience with any organization.

Most of the reviews are too old when Mercari screening and buyer protection were not strong.

So, the lesson for you after reading all these reviews is

Check the seller badges before buying any product and make sure you check the package within 3 days so you can successfully return the item and get your refund.

 

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Is Mercari safe for Buyers? Is Mercari a Legit Website for Buyers

More people are shopping from Mercari because they charge fewer fees with sellers and so the products are also a little cheaper than on other platforms like eBay.

Merrcari is a marketplace that connects sellers with buyers.

 

As a buyer when you decide on something to order you can connect to the seller for negotiation or to clarify your doubts.

 

Once you buy a product from Mercari and make a payment, the seller has 3 days to ship the time out to you. Once you receive the item you have another 3 days to go over the item to make sure everything is as described.

 

During these 3 days, Mercari holds your payment and only releases the payment to the seller once your 3 days of evaluation are over.

You can read more about this on Mercari buyers protection.

There are even seller badges that you can check while purchasing any product. This gives information like is seller reliable or not and how long they have been selling on Mercari.

 

Is Mercari Safe for Sellers? Is Mercari a legit website for selling?

Yes, Mercari is also safe for sellers and there are many benefits of selling on Mercari as well.

Whenever you sell any product on Mercari there is no risk of getting false payment from buyers or any other kind of payment issues.

Once the buyer makes an order the particular amount safely goes into the Mercari account and gets released to you after 3 days of the buyer evaluation period.

Benefits of Selling on Mercari

• Fees on Mercari are lower than on eBay. Mercari charges 10% at the close of a sale plus $2.9 when it comes to the processing of the payment. 
  
  
• Your Payment is safe. 
  
  
• Mercari has the best product listing system for the sellers. Once you create a listing of any product it displays on the top just like “come first serve first”. 
  
  
• Mercari only gives 3 days to the buyer to evaluate the item which is comparatively less as compared to eBay with 30 days return period. 
  
  
• If you don’t receive the returned product or receive it in a different condition then you are eligible for reimbursement. 
  
  
• With new Mercari local if your items get sold within your state then either FedEx will deliver it with a one-day shipment or uber will come to your place to pick the item and then deliver it to the buyer.

Hopefully, so far you may have understood whether is Mercari a legit website or not and whether is it safe for the buyers & sellers.

 

9 Tips for Buyers to Avoid Scams on Mercari

The article is basically to educate you will all the legit information to save you against any scam.

I am sharing here 9 tips that will help you to avoid any scam on Mercari or any other marketplace.

1 – Verify Seller

Mercari displays all information about sellers like their ratings, reviews, sales, badges, and profiles.

The objective of showing these details on the product page is to allow buyers to go through it and verify all the details.

Reviews – Prefer buying with sellers who have more than 100 reviews with above 4★ ratings. Though there are many new sellers who won’t have such ratings and could be legit.

 

Sales – Sellers with good sales can also be trusted as they are making good sales and are still in the market.

Member since –  This is another best way to identify a legit seller on Mercari. Prefer sellers who are at least members since 2021 and have enough sales as well.

 

Badges – There are a few badges assigned to the sellers accordingly to their performance.

Sellers with at least 3 badges are considered to be the most trustworthy to deal with.

• Reliable
• Fast responder
• Quick shipper

This means they are reliable so far, responds quickly to their buyer, and also ships item quickly. 

 

2 – Avoid products with Price too Low

The majority of us get attracted toward the deal with a very low price and that is one of the biggest strategies of the scammers.

However, there are chances that few sellers are giving great deals but in such cases, you better check their seller’s badges, reviews, and sales mentioned above.

So if you find any seller selling items at extremely low prices and is new on Mercari with no reviews and badges, then better avoid such deals.

 

3 – Check the Product Photos Properly

Checking product images is another way to get an idea about the seller.

If the seller has uploaded multiple photos clicked from different angles and all these pictures seem real then it indicates that the seller is legit.

You need to be aware of sellers uploading photos few pictures and that also from the internet.

 

4 – Read Item Description Carefully

Reading the description properly will give you many clues about the seller’s strategy.

If you find some very appealing words like brand new with the huge discount then probably he is tricking.

This is generally recommended that you must read every piece of information before buying any product either from Mercari or any other marketplace.

 

5 – Checkout with PayPal

PayPal is one of the best and safest ways to pay for your orders or product online.

This adds additional security to your payment but you must check how much money you can send on PayPal depending on what type of account you have.

With PayPal safety and security, your money will be safe as they can put the payment on hold if you create a dispute in case of receiving the wrong item.

Even if the seller is a scammer he won’t recommend you to pay with PayPal, so that’s another indication of a fake seller.

 

6 – External Payment outside of Mercari or Direct Payment 

This rarely happens on Mercari but recently one of the known people faced this situation where the seller was asking him to pay through the gift card.

My friend was smarter and refused to continue.

So if any seller asks you to pay through any other external payment option apart from what is offered by Mercari then kindly do not deal with the seller and even report them.

 

7 – Ask for Tracking ID

Once you have placed an order on Mercari and paid for it, kindly message the seller and ask for the tracking ID.

 

If the seller says that he has shipped the product and will send the tracking I then wait for 7 days.

If you don’t receive the tracking ID within 7 days even if you have received the product then you are eligible to cancel the order and will get your refund.

 

8 – Record when you Unbox your Package

Always record your package while unboxing it. 

This is the best evidence when you record an entire video while checking the item you received from the Mercari seller.

You can use this video as evidence and send it to Mercari for dispute. 

You can even use this for further dispute by sending it to PayPal, your bank, or even to the police.

 

9 – Confirm Order within 3 Days

According to Mercari, you get 3 days after receiving the product to evaluate it. 

If you receive the wrong or damaged product within these 3 days you are eligible for a refund.

So make sure you check your order within 3 days to assure that everything is ok and you received the right item.

 

You must be feeling relaxed now after reading all these tips.

There are options to be safe, you only need to be aware and hopefully, you are now.

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How to Sell Safely & Avoid Scams on Mercari

Mercari is a big marketplace to sell your used or new products. 

After knowing if is Mercari a legit website or not you must know how to sell safely on Mercari.

You can make good money as many sellers are, but you need to care and know how to sell safely without getting scammed.

Just check the below tips

 

TIP 1. Do not sell the Item Prohibited by Mercari

If you are selling any product that falls on the Mercari prohibited product list then you won’t be able to do anything even if you are scammed by the buyer.

Even Mercari can cancel your listing, and suspend your account for listing prohibited items.

So better be legit and go safe side by selling products allowed by Mercari.

 

Now check below tip no 2.

 

TIP 2 . Do Proper Listing

Always take your time and do the proper listing of your products on Mercari.

There is two major and important section of the listing.

Photos, and 

Description

 

Product photos and descriptions are two major parts of listing on basis of which buyers buy the product.

If your photo color is different than the real item or your description doesn’t match the product, the buyer will cancel the order and go with the dispute.

This is recommended that you should let the buyer know what you are providing.

So the worst part here is that in such a scenario according to buyer protection, the buyer will get a full refund from Mercari.

 

 

TIP 3. Ship the Product on Time and with Care

Once you have received the order, make sure you ship the product within 3 business days from the purchase, or else the buyer can cancel the order.

Ship the product with care to avoid damage as in such cased your item will be canceled and the buyer will dispute the payment.

This is more important for the seller who is regularly selling on Mercari.

Shipping the right product on time will increase their positive reviews and also badges like fast shippers.

 

TIP 4 – Provide Tracking ID asap (Is Mercari a Legit Website)

Once you have shipped the product, update and share the tracking ID with the buyer.

If you forget or anyhow failed to update the tracking ID within 7 days of shipment, buyers can cancel the order even if they have received the package.

They will even get a full refund.

So, make this in the practice of updating the tracking ID after shipping the item.

 

What to do if you get Scammed on Mercari?

Above we mentioned how you can avoid getting scammed on Mercari both as a buyer and seller.

 But what if you have already got scammed on Mercari?

• Speak to Mercari customer support immediately.

   

• Make a dispute if the payment is done with Paypal.
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• Speak to the bank for dispute if the payment is done with a credit card.

   

• If you are a seller and have recorded video while packaging your product then share with Mercari, PayPal, or your bank.

Rest better speak to all of them and also make a point that by what mistake you got scammed.

 

Frequently Asked Questions