Yes, Mercari is a legitimate app and marketplace for selling that is often compared to eBay. The selling process is easy—once listed, your item is available to ship nationwide, offering you a larger pool of potential buyers than if you had listed it locally on Craigslist.
We went straight to digital and broadcast journalist Anna De Souza, a fashion and beauty lifestyle expert who serves as Mercari's Chief Stylist, to get her top tips for secondhand sellers on Mercari. Here they are:
You’d be amazed at what you can sell online. One person’s throw-away item really is another’s treasure. In fact, on Mercari, items in fair or poor condition generally sell faster than brand-new items. And it only takes about three minutes, on average, for Mercari users to create a listing. So jump in!
In-season merchandise always does best: avoid selling swimwear in January. Seasonal shopping surges—like Black Friday or back-to-school—are great times to sell. But for sellers of second-hand items, the periods following those big peaks can be just as fruitful—think of them as retail binge hangovers.
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Different marketplaces work for different items based on their size, value or scarcity. Do you think you can find a local buyer, or do you want to reach a nationwide audience? Are you OK meeting a stranger to exchange the item for payment? On Mercari, everything ships anywhere in the U.S., and there are no meetups.
Help Buyers Picture It