Lili L.

I like Amazon, it's where most of my online purchases come from. But there are a lot of counterfeit listings on this site, and some listings that outright lie to you but don't get punished on a technicality (they'll lie in the listing title, but in the description it tells the truth). Sometimes, Amazon will push counterfeit listing to the top of the search for the sole reason it has prime. They also keep part of your refund if you try to make a return though a channel that's more convenient for you, so be careful when buying because you might buy a counterfeit product or buy the wrong item and have to pay the price for it. I brought a $46+ battery I brought to replace my old laptop battery. Unfortunately it was the wrong one, so I had to return it. Amazon has a free return option for you that allows you to take it to one of their Amazon sights, but when I checked the closets one to me it was an hour+ away. Meanwhile, if I want to return to the UPS couple minutes from my house I get charged and only given a partial refund. You already hit me with a tax fee, I'm paying for Amazon prime, and you charge a seller's fee on their saleswhy the heck are they only me part of the money that was MINE to begin with? Where is that money even going other than right into Jeff Bezo's pockets? It seems like such a greedy move. "Oh, you can't drive an hour to make a return and want to drive for a few minutes instead? Then you're gonna have to pay us." What is even the difference between returning via UPS and via Amazon sight other than UPS is now the middle man? The only reason I should be getting charged is if I requested UPS pickup. If you were to tell me "it goes to the UPS employees" then I'd call bull. I don't understand why they allow you to do pickups for free when you buy something, but when you go to that same place to make a return you're charged. So what changed from then to now? Now I'm out of a few dollars, and STILL have to buy a laptop battery to replace my old one.

Made a site on there a few days ago just to try it out, and while it feels smoother than Wix, it's too restrictive in editing. Even the box through which you edit the site is tiny and feels suffocating. Wish there were more editing options.

I'm actually pretty surprised at the reviews for Mercari. It seems a lot of them are more so problems with the people themselves (not to deny the ones that are genuinely Mercari's fault). I've mainly sold stuff on the app and brought a few things, and I gotta say it's a blessing to me tbh. The idea of meeting a stranger scares me, and eBay and Amazon are really cold. Unfortunately I can't seem to get away from the percentage cuts, which can get pretty steep if you're selling items into the $100s. The cut is lower than others I've tried so I can't really complain. Otherwise I'd sell in person. Starting with the negatives: like any other site you get lowballers who basically want the item for free or for you to pay for shipping (which means you'd basically make nothing if you're selling a low priced item). There are a lot of good and genuine people on the app, but also those who will ask you a question and never get back to you. They also seem to try and squeeze you out of every penny. On top of selling fee, they also automatically recommend you to pay for shipping, and you have to lower your price to have your item promoted (even though that feature really doesn't do anything but give you about 4 extra views). I'm also sick of people liking my posts but not buying! Once had 27 likes on a fish tank and not one buyer. Some of those that did offered me a price despite my asking price being so much more power than it would cost to buy the tank. Eventually found a sensible person. You notice that when you dropped the price via promotion, the further it goes the more people want to pounce at the opportunity. I also wish I could cashout with PayPal rather than wait so long for my money to come through. Lastly, I notice that once you hit around $500 in sales it can be extremely difficult to sell any more items. It's like when you're a new member they throw everyone your way, and then you just stop getting as much sales as you use to.

Onto the good, I feel pretty protected as a seller for the most part. Some buyer(s) tried to scam me buy purchasing the item from a separate account and another account claimed they new that person. The first account was deleted while I kept into contact with the other. They tried to claim I didn't send the item, while the other account was deleted, but luckily Mercari reimbursed me. On top of that, the support to actually answers fast and feels like an ACTUAL person rather than bots. I've even had a small conversation with one, and the team member was pretty funny. I come running to them the moment I have a problem and I can count on them to answer within an hour or two. I also like the new feature where you can add things to a shopping cart. Just wish you'd have the option to sell more than one of what you're selling on listing rather than each listing being its post.

One thing that I definitely want changed is counterfeit accounts. I don't understand why Mercari keeps them around, and why their reviews are always far into the thousands (despite their negative reviews being in the thousands as well). I feel like maybe they buy reviews or somehow fake them. There's no way you can sell counterfeit items and all the people calling you out for it are in the minority. Just doesn't make sense. The bad reviews are extremely detailed while the good ones are basic or have no description, plus there's a lot of "automated posting by Mercari." With that said: if there's something that's extremely expensive and you stumble upon it for an unbelievable price and the deal is too go to be true, it probably is.

They want your information, and if you don't adhere to their rules then you can't be a part of the community. You can't even view their listings. Other local sell sites like Letgo, despite being trash, let's you opt-out of your data being collected and sold. In this app, they want your real name, real face, and if you opt out of your data being collected, it logs you out because you can't use the app unless you give them your information. It wouldn't be suspicious for the real name being needed if it weren't for that fact. What makes them think they can compete against other sites that allow people of any community to sell to others, when they won't even let you in to sell to a community you're not even that far away from? It's even worst if you're in a small community. The rules are so strict, and verification takes too long. The admins think they're more important than they really are.

And don't trust some of the 5 star reviews. Notice how most of their account were all made in August, and how the reviews were all made on August 30th or 31st. Fairly suspicious if you ask me.