What Sells Best On Mercari? (5 Fast-Selling Money Makers)

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During the time we have been selling on eBay we have seen at least a dozen platforms come and go.

Every time something new comes along everyone that isn’t doing so hot on eBay claims that the new platform is the savior of the reselling community and encourages others to jump ship.

Here’s the truth though…if you can’t make it on eBay, you probably can’t make it as a reseller anywhere.

For all its issues, eBay has the largest audience, the best support, and the lowest fees.  However, other platforms have a valuable place in your reselling arsenal.  After all, why would you want to leave money on the table?

So let’s talk about what is (in my opinion) is the best of all of the alternatives to eBayMercari!

Mercari sales screenshot
A few extra sales are nothing to sneeze at!

Mercari, a Japanese company, is a selling platform/app that is currently available in Japan and the U.S.  It has exploded in popularity recently and most resellers have started using it as a way to bring in a little extra income or move slow inventory.  We are no exception and cross-post the majority of our inventory on Mercari.

However, because cross-posting opens a new can of worms (something selling in both places, it takes twice as long to list two items, etc.) we are choosy about the items we list on Mercari which begs the question…what sells the best on Mercari!?

Best Selling Items On Mercari In 2023

Just to give you some context, we’ve now sold over 10,000 items on eBay and just crossed 500 sales on Mercari. While that’s a pretty large disparity it’s allowed us to see which things sell well on eBay and which ones are better off moving to Mercari.

Now, the top-selling items on Mercari are typically the same as the top-selling items on the rest of the internet.

Meaning, that you can typically pick up the same items that sell well on eBay and list them on Mercari. However, if you’re not already confident in finding items that sell well, we’ll run through some of the best sellers on Mercari that you should be on the lookout for while sourcing.

Our research and experience indicate that the best-selling items on Mercari include:

  • Small Electronics (cameras, phones, speakers, etc.)
  • Video Games and Gaming Systems
  • Trendy/Designer Clothing
  • Purses & Bags
  • Outdoor/Sporting Goods

Unlike other platforms, Mercari’s search engine favors mostly new listings or trendy items (leaving behind collectibles, antiques, etc.).

Their search function and filters leave a bit to be desired so the people with lots of sales are people who list items that people are typing into the search bar.

Breakdown Of Our Sold Items (On Mercari)

Obviously, we’re not huge Mercari Sellers, but as we cross 500 sales we thought a breakdown of our sales might be helpful.

Here is how our sales shake out by category:

  • Women’s Clothing: 107 Sales (21%) 
  • Men’s Clothing: 92 Sales (18%)
  • Men’s Shoes: 66 Sales (13%)
  • Electronics: 61 Sales (12%)
  • Bags & Accessories: 51 Sales (10%)
  • Women’s Shoes: 50 Sales (10%)
  • Tools & Outdoors: 20 Sales (4%)
  • Kids Clothing: 15 Sales (3%)
  • Household Goods: 12 Sales (3%)
  • Camera Equipment: 8 Sales (2%)
  • Craft Items: 4 Sales (1%)
  • Jewelry: 3 Sales (<1%)
  • Other: 4 Sales (<1%)

While your sales are obviously dictated by the items you list (and we obviously list a lot of clothing…) this breakdown should illustrate one point: pretty much everything sells on Mercari!

In fact, antique (and most vintage) is about the only nice of items that we have not had much success with on Mercari.

5 Specific Items That We List On Mercari First

1. Trendy Items and Brands

One of the oldest truths in business is: if you want sales…then sell things that people want.  Sourcing and listing trendy items and brands will always lead to lots of exposure which, in turn, leads to lots of sales. Be on the lookout for Nike, Uggs, Funko Pops, Rae Dunn, Patagonia, etc.

2. Electronics

Current electronics are some of the best sellers on Mercari.  While this is the area you are most likely to run into scams (as both a buyer and seller) we have not had any issues.  We have luck with video games, phones, speakers, and calculators to name a few.

3. Large items

We have sold some very oversized and heavy items on Mercari.  For example, a large brass trash can, golf bags, and a grain mill.  The reason that these items sell so well is that Mercari has a flat-rate subsidized shipping option which allows the buyer to save money on shipping!

4. Backpacks and Bags

Before we started selling on Mercari, we rarely picked up purses or bags anymore.  This was mainly because the purse and bag section on eBay is so over-saturated.  We’ve had some purses listed at blowout prices for over a year with almost no traction.  On Mercari however, we have sold many purses and bags within 24 hours of shipping. 

5. Cameras/Camera Gear

Cameras and their gear get a place on this list because we have had exceptional luck selling them on Mercari.  Why this is, I don’t know but it doesn’t seem to matter.  Every camera we find goes straight onto Mercari and sells within days!

Interested in other great items to flip online? Check out our guide of 31 Non-Clothing Items To Resell on eBay and Mercari if you’re ready to start making more money!

The Pros of Selling on Mercari (Over eBay or Poshmark)

There are several areas in which Mercari is actually better than eBay..at least for now. If you want to make some extra sales, now is the time!

The two main advantages of Mercari are:

  • Less Market Saturation (fewer items from fewer sellers means you have the potential to get a larger piece of the pie)
  • Low Rate of Returns (buyers have only 3 days to request a return.  If they don’t, the sale is final)

You can also check out our eBay vs. Mercari Comparison for a full treatment of the platforms!

The Secret To Massive Success on Mercari

Much like eBay, selling on Mercari is a numbers game.

The more items you have listed, the more you will sell.

Unlike eBay, however, Mercari has a very simple algorithm that you’ll need to understand if you want to succeed. The main issue is this: unless someone puts in a significant number of filters and changes the sorting, they will be shown items that were recently listed first in results and browsing.

This means that, as your items age, it becomes drastically less likely that they will sell. In fact, over 80% of the items we’ve sold on Mercari sold within 3 days of listing (and most of those within the first day). After that, they were typically so buried in new listings that very few people ever saw them.

The best way to handle this is to constantly be ending and re-listing items on Mercari.

However, for full-time eBay or Poshmark sellers, this may be easier said than done. We currently have over 1500 items live on eBay and crosspost around 1,000 of them to Mercari. If we tried to end and relist them all on Mercari every month (which is the period I suggest) it would be almost a full-time job.

The solution is to use a crossposting software that will pull all the pictures and information from either Poshmark or eBay and populate a fresh listing on Mercari. You can simply check the information and post it. The software we use has changed from a 2-hour daily task to a 20-minute one for us.

And if you’re worried about breaking rules? Don’t worry, crossposting software is allowed on all platforms as long as they follow a certain set of rules. The best one out there (and the only one I recommend) is ListPerfectly.

You can check them out here and use our discount code “ResellingRevealed” for 30% off your first month!

Now that that secret is out of the bag, let’s get to the types of items you should actually be listing on Mercari if you want to rake in sales.

Selling On Mercari for “Fast Money”

If one of your friends came to you and said, “Hey, I just got laid off from my job and really need to pay my rent soon.  Do you have any ideas on how I can get some fast money?”  What would your response be?  Would you tell them to go start their own business?

People who are unfamiliar with selling on eBay, Mercari, Posh, etc. often associate it with selling to a pawnshop which, fortunately, is not at all correct.  It is closer to starting your own pawnshop.  The money and opportunities can be great but it is in no way, “fast money.”

As much as I love flipping items online, my response would be to tell my friend to go out and get a job ASAP.  If you want to sell on Mercari for fast money, don’t do it.  While some items do sell fast, Mercari holds your money until the person has received their item and rated you (which can take up to three days after delivery).

You then have to transfer the money to your bank account.  It is not uncommon for it to take 7-10 days after you sell an item to have the money from the sale.  If you need money now, sell your items locally on Craigslist or FB Marketplace.  You’ll get less for them but you’ll have cash in hand!

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Conclusion – One Final Trick For Selling On Mercari

The search function on Mercari is not quite like the one that you’re using on eBay (or Poshmark).  It returns results only in the order that they were listed (new to old).  Because of this, items that have been listed for a longer period of time are very unlikely to sell.  In our experience, things either gain traction and sell quickly or never sell.

If we have something that has been on Mercari for several weeks without any offers or likes we’ll do one of two things: delete it and relist it or promote it.  Either one will get your item back to the top of search results and increase your chances of a sale!

We use List Perfectly to make this task as easy as possible but you can do it manually if you’re not looking to grow a large reselling business on Mercari or eBay.

4 thoughts on “What Sells Best On Mercari? (5 Fast-Selling Money Makers)”

    • Not much. I’d buy 10 phones from eBay before trying my luck on Mercari. I’ve bought the last 3 of my phones from eBay and had only good experiences.

    • I almost never offer free shipping. The only time I consider it is on light items where I have to ship it for free to be competitive with other listings.

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