Mercari has a rating of 1.2 stars from 2,367 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Mercari most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and phone number problems. Mercari ranks 592nd among Marketplace sites.
This company does not typically respond to reviews
Initially customer service gave me some trouble due to mistaken identity, however the (frustrating) problem was resolved. I must say that I enjoy the simplicity of Mercari. It is a more streamlined method of buying and selling than Ebay.
This web site is terrible. They have pictures of the item but sends you something totally different. For example. The bags are clearly vintage but you receive a brand new fake bag plastic bag. They have so many sellers websites doing this. They are are usually shipping out of Chino, California. You order one thing and receive another. They don't refund money instead they credit.
I have done multiple sales on Mercari. None of my items are junk, knock-offs, etc. Many are vintage and new or minimally used. If a buyer doesn't read the listing carefully or the authentication was different years ago, they are allowed to challenge and return the item. Mercari will always side with the buyer. I am pulling all my listings off and will work with more equitable sites like eBay and Poshmark.
Date of experience: January 8, 2023
I bought a pair of sunglasses that was delivered to my mail box while
I was away for a long weekend. Sunday night I come home, retrieve the item and it is missing a nose pad. I emailed Mercari, they said basically "sorry it's past 72 hours and the transaction is closed, no returns".
I'm not using them again. And, for this transaction I'll have to contest it with my credit card.
Tip for consumers:
Do not use the service. Poor return policy.
Products used:
None. No returns after 72 hours of delivery.
Date of experience: April 12, 2022
My sister died and I wanted items from 1966. In the search male with male pornography was shown. Many pictures. I reported some- only to find more!
Mercari is doing nothing to
Monitor their site.
Also, it is impossible to return fake items.
I will never use them again!
Date of experience: April 12, 2023
My husband bought me a used Louis Vuitton handbag for Christmas, which claimed it was in OK condition. It's not. The handle was hot glued on, so it came off when I picked it up out of the box. No mention of that at all in the description. Even in awful condition, the actual way to carry it is pretty important. At this point I'm pretty sure it's a fake, but Mercari refuses to do anything about it at all. They actually advised us to resell it on their site. So basically even after we sent pictures, and explained that the condition is not only poor, or Ok, it's not useable. This site is a scam, don't expect what you think you're buying, or any help as it says on the return address in bold print'. 'Do Not Return To this Address'. Total scam.
Tip for consumers:
They don’t stand behind buyers, it’s a bait and switch as far as I can tell. Pricey one at that
Products used:
Handbag
Date of experience: May 4, 2022
I sold a golf club for $100 to someone who said they received and empty box. Person just created an account and had no buying or selling history while I've done so plenty of times. They took the side of the scammer so now I'm out a $100 and a golf club worth over $100! Watch out for that site. Be very careful. Posted profile photo of scammer to show how obvious it was. Freaking pathetic.
Tip for consumers:
Make sure buyer/seller has history on the site.
Products used:
Nothing. My golf club was stolen from me.
Date of experience: February 19, 2022
Sometimes Mercari accept my return for gold using acid testing. Sometimes they do not and ask me to bring a jeweler appraisal. Imagine paying $100 for jeweler appraisal to return a piece of jewelry costing 90 dollars. Sometimes I provided proof but my return is not accepted. A friend of mine return was accepted just because she said that it was not gold. It depends on the mood of the Mercari representative you are dealing with. And each time you reply to a case you get an answer from a different person for the same case. This is weird and unprofessional.
Tip for consumers:
You can not return easily especially buying gold and in Mercari a lot of people are selling fake gold and the website doesn’t restrict their account for doing that.
Products used:
Jewelry
Date of experience: March 8, 2023
This site has a maze of hoops and requirements buyers and sellers must suffer thru in a convoluted time frame if anything goes wrong with a transaction. It seems to be designed to frustrate users to the point where they will stop trying to get resolution. If that's just because of poor design and not the intent, it is the outcome. I've made a handful of purchases, and a couple of sales. I've had issues with many of them. Be prepared to wait and wait for ham-fisted support, and perhaps even lose money if you interact with this site and support.
My latest purchase was from a fraudulent seller who printed a UPS shipping label and later told Mercari that I received the item while UPS claimed that they never received it. I have been trying to resolve this nearly $300 issue for more than ten days now. My latest reply from support asked me for the item number, which is literally the first thing in the Subject line of each of my many emails to support...
Date of experience: July 8, 2020
Bought items from two sellers. Neither shipped. Mercari just lets them cancel; no chance to review seller or warn other buyers. But if you look at the seller profiles they haven't shipped an item in three years. It's just cancellation after cancellation. Mercari looks like a scam to me - just a way to collect your data, take your money, play the float (earning interest while they have your money) then cancel with no penalty to the fraudulent seller. Seems like a scam site, so stay away.
Tip for consumers:
Hard. Pass.
Products used:
Clothing
Date of experience: June 17, 2023
I have been selling on Mercari for about 3 years and have been very successful. But in the past 5 months I have been ripped off with fraudulent shipping fees. Three of my packages sent with Fed Ex were hit with a shipping surcharge AFTER they were delivered to the buyer and there was nothing I could do. Mercari does not care, says there's nothing they can do, pathetic customer service. The latest sale was a queen lightweight comforter. I shipped it, buyer paid $9 for shipping, the amount due to me was $41. Comforter was delivered and Fed Ex stole $31 in extra shipping charges! I ended up with no comforter and only $10. So Fed Ex is saying it cost $40 to ship a queen comforter that weighs about 5 lbs! I'm just sick about it. And a week before this transaction I shipped Pottery Barn slip covers. The buyer paid $25 for shipping, they weighed 15lbs. The item was delivered and Fed Ex stole another $15 for shipping. It's so unethical I can't believe Mercari is ok with this. Fed Ex just makes up an amount to steal on the back end, rather than being ethical and addressing concerns on the front end when you mail the package. My other incident was back in Sept with some Rosenthal China plates...again Fed Ex stole a huge amount for shipping and I got $6 for my plates. Be very very careful using this site and whatever you do, do not ship with Fed Ex! Horrible.
Date of experience: February 10, 2024
I have been selling on Mercari for two years. Yesterday one of my items arrived at the buyers and Fed Ex claims the package weighed 7 lbs so they notified Mercari that they took an additional $8. Mercari in turn took that $8 from me and paid me $4 for the 6 Rosenthal China plates I sent. I provided the Fed Ex receipt from when I shipped the item showing 3.5lbs and Mercari doesn't care, they said sorry, Fed Ex already charged them so they are charging me. So so wrong...and deceitful. No proof was given by Fed Ex showing the package was 7lbs...so they basically could say any weight they want and take more money. Mercari did not back me even after providing the receipt. I have already sold over $12,000 on their site and made them good money. Pathetic customer service so beware. Going forward I am very leary of what could happen because apparently even with a receipt...the shipping co could say the weight was wrong when they went to deliver and take more money. The seller is out the item and the additional fee. I am just ticked and not sure I'll continue with this company.
Date of experience: September 22, 2023
Two buyers got my name and address reported they sent package and it was never sent! Mercari held onto $565 for several weeks. I've sent 15 or more requests and zero response. I fear identity theft in one seller that received all my info, I paid and then she immediately cancelled. If you receive no product or damaged YOU CANNOT Leave a review. Only good completed sales allow reviews. DO NOT USE mercari please. Save yourself the nightmare!
Tip for consumers:
My tip is don’t use the site
Date of experience: April 13, 2022
I purchased a set of pillowcases and when they arrived, they were not the pictured pattern, but in fact a different set from another listing of the seller. I notified the seller that they sent me the wrong item. Little did I know, you only have 72 hours to let Mercari know or they will automatically rate the seller and complete the purchase. Then a day later, the seller relisted the pillowcases I originally purchased. Mercari won't do anything. Never purchase from here because it's likely you'll get screwed over and no one cares.
Date of experience: May 21, 2023
I bought Balenciaga shoes for $676.00 and the seller sent empty box. Mercari didn't refund me even after i sent proof of pictures that box was empty. Do not fall victim to these scams. Make sure to pay with credit cards that will protect you or just do not use this platform for any purchases.
Date of experience: June 25, 2022
Mercari does not grant returns. Immediately after rating an expensive purchase i noticed a tear in the item. I offered proof of this but this app would not accept a return because i simply accepted the order. I find it extremely unfair and feel like i got taken advantage of because i did not see it at first! Mercari knows of this and will not offer any help or support…there are several other shopping sites that sell used items, and i swear by NEVER giving this app any attention or support because all of the other apps would never nor never have done this to me. For example, POSHMARK offers dual refunds if a mistake like this was made (this happened to me). I will forever hate this company because they did me wrong and did not support a very loyal user! What company can run a successful business if they do not take care of its customers!? I pray on this company's downfall. Don't waste your time with this app because they won't take care of you!
Tip for consumers:
don’t trust mercari, they will let you get scammed and deny you a refund. i regret using mercari.
Products used:
purse
Date of experience: June 24, 2023
I brought a purse that was suppose to be a coach bag. When I received the bag it was in good condition so I did the rating. Come to fund out a week later when I was going to start using it that it was a fake bag. Contacted CS and was told I would have to take it to a coach store and get it put in writing that it is fake. I sent pics of a real bag to show them the differences but was told they would not have the seller refund me. I will be closing my account and not doing business with this site. Total disappointment in the way this was handled
Date of experience: December 22, 2023
Buyers are unable to critically rate sellers if the buyer chooses to return an item, so if/when the buyer is unhappy with the seller for whatever reason, however egregious, if the buyer wants his money back, he The biggest problem with Mercari is that buyers are unable to leave a review for the seller. This fosters inaccurate and bloated 5 star ratings for the sellers and buyers having no way to tell whether or not they're about to deal with a shady seller. Mercari also gives each seller an automatic 5 star rating after a period of 3 days has elapsed if the buyer hasn't left the seller a review. Most of my transactions on Mercari have been good, but I have no way of warning others about the one really bad seller who pulled a bait & switch. That seller currently has 4,283 items listed as of now, so there will surely be some very disappointed buyers in the future.
Tip for consumers:
The one thing Amazon does better than anyone is showing critical reviews; both of the products as well as the sellers. It's the first thing I look for, since they are the only ones I can know for sure are legit if/when there's a common theme/problem with said item or seller. With Mercari, the buyer clearly isn't able to search reviews of the items being purchased, so they place all their faith on (mistakenly) trusting a seller with inflated 5 star reviews.
Products used:
I bought mostly shirts and sweatshirts, all but the last purchase have been good, but the fact that there's no way to warn buyers that a seller is shady means that a buyer is gambling with every purchase.
Date of experience: October 16, 2023
Without a way to report fraud, requiring reviews as soon as you accept a shipment, not being able to properly test or evaluate products, and general 'no refunds' policy. It seems like Mercari as a platform has been designed from the ground up to enable and facilitate scams.
Tip for consumers:
Avoid for electronics items.
Products used:
Beats Studio Buds
Date of experience: January 29, 2022
I contacted Mercari because I had an unknown charge on my credit card statement. I talked to one person to the next about wanting a refund on an item I never purchased. Each one of their associates wanted me to confirm information for an existing Mercari account. Such as phone number,
Email and Shipping address. After I repeated over and over I did not nor have I ever had an account with them, let alone ever heard of their company. I've also sent over a screenshot multiple times of my bank statement. That's ok because I've contacted my bank to dispute this charge and I'll continue to write bad reviews on different platforms about this company because people need to hear what kind of shady business this is. This company has done absolutely nothing whatsoever to be helpful. How many people do I need to speak to and repeat myself and information to until they actually refund me?
Date of experience: June 9, 2023
My first purchase on this website I bought an item I had long been searching for and the seller immediately cancelled my transaction.NO reason given. Very disappointing. A contract had been made and summarily broken without so much as a reason why. Amateurs.
Tip for consumers:
Offer made and I accepted, paid for it, then it was retracted and my funds tied up for several days. .
Products used:
none
Date of experience: December 16, 2023
I sold two dining room chairs through on Mercari. They would not allow the transaction to happen. I wrote to them and they didn't respond. In essence Mercari blocked my sale. Steer clear of this company
Date of experience: March 18, 2022
I've been working with Mercari for over a year. Let me say that different, I've been working FOR MERCARI. I'm easy going and organized, yet this company seems to think they can mess around with you at every stage of the sale. They are POOR communicators and don't express much value the customers or the sellers. Especially the sellers!
Too many times, I've tried to write to them to only get a generic message back. It is like talking to a computer writing them. And, it gets you NO WHERE, until hours or days later they decide you were correct all along. Emailing them is like talking to the wall.
Disappointing is the word I'd use to describe their performance. It always takes them too long to get it right. Shows little care for sellers. Disappointed, and cost me money.
Date of experience: February 3, 2022
Mercari has turned into a disaster for sellers. They added additional seller fees. Unlike several other apps they haven't figured out how to negotiate rates for shipping. I sold an item and when I weighted prior to listing then USPS said it was over a bit. They charged me but instead of charging me what USPS would have they rounded up to the nearest pound. Mercari allows you to pick a label by pounds and ounces. I took the same Amazon box to the post office and asked them with the weight mercari claims my package was and the rep stated it was 8.50 to ship but mercari insisted it was rounded up. Which means they are over charging everyone because they are only basing shipping in pounds.
Not only is their shipping ridiculous their customer service is equally not as helpful. Just stay away from them
Tip for consumers:
Stay away
Date of experience: February 13, 2021
Bought a rice cooker. It arrived wrapped in plastic bags and tape. Upon cutting the tape off, I noticed the item was dented. I immediately filed a claim with Mercari with photo evidence of the damaged item. They denied my claim and won't give my money back. I deleted this app and will never EVER buy anything from these scammers. BEWARE!
Tip for consumers:
No protection for buyers.
Products used:
None. Throwing it out.
Date of experience: September 14, 2023
Beware if you are tricked into buying an broken item Mercari will not help you! We were their biggest fans but now feel that they do not help their loyal clients with issue. I got a pair of broken headphones and am now SOL
Date of experience: December 2, 2022
I've been a seller on Mercari for approx 2 years. I have over 70 5 star reviews. I purchased a Chanel bag to resell for $1,600. When the package came it was stuffed with wrapping paper and no bag. I contacted Mercari and they offered me a $1600 credit to use on Mercari. I financed this bag and have to continue making payments on it so told them I don't want credits, I want a refund. They refused and sided with the seller, issuing them their full payment for the bag. I've now contacted American Express and am starting a charge back. Do not sell or buy from this website unless you don't care about losing your money. I will never go back and will stick to Poshmark.
Tip for consumers:
Use with caution
Products used:
Never received
Date of experience: September 16, 2021
The most unprofessional site. The support team applies rules as they feel. I guess they have underpaid not well trained employees that dislike Mercari as much as I do. Poshmark or EBay work way better for buyers and sellers.
Date of experience: September 16, 2023
This is Mercari: The Selling App. The fast and easy way to sell or buy almost anything.