How to Negotiate Price on Mercari
Mercari is one of my favorite marketplaces to both buy and sell online. It's a place where both buyers and sellers can get or give great deals leaving both parties happy. One way to do that is to negotiate the price of items on Mercari. In this post, I'll cover how to negotiate on Mercari from the perspective of both a buyer and a seller including several important but often overlooked factors to consider.
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Ways to negotiate price as a buyer
There are two main ways to negotiate price as a buyer on Mercari. The first is to make an offer. The second is to message the seller.
1) Use the "make offer" option
On the website or the app, find the item that you want and click on "make offer".
This will bring up a place for you to enter a number, or you can select from Mercari's suggestions of 10%, 15%, or 20% off the listed price.
Note that Mercari lets you offer up to 25% off the listed price of individually listed items. If you try to do more than that, it will state that you cannot go lower than a certain number and will not let your offer go through.
Click "review your offer" to see your total including tax and shipping and confirm your offer.
The seller then has 24 hours to accept or decline your offer or make a counteroffer. Once accepted, an offer is binding and the buyer is charged the new price.
2) Message the seller
Another way to negotiate is to message the seller directly. You may have to do this if you want to offer less than 75% of the listed price of an item.
This is also a great way to ask questions or show additional interest in an item. Not every seller will be so keen to give more than 25% off an item. It doesn't hurt to express your interest and ask though.
I've had people message me that they would love some article of clothing for their child and ask if I would accept a certain amount. It may have been lower than I had hoped, but I would rather make the sale and a small profit than have the item sit there unsold, so I happily obliged.
Once you and the seller agree on a price, ask the seller to lower the price to that amount so you can purchase it.
Ways to negotiate price as a seller
As a seller, you have options to negotiate price as well. You can make an offer to likers or promote an item by lowering its public price.
1) Offer to likers
Sellers can make offers on an item once every 3 days. Once you offer a certain price, the next offer must be at least 10% lower than the listing's lowest previous price. This is true even if new people have liked the item.
For example, you have an item listed for $10. Two people like the item. You offer the item for $9 to the likers. Then three more people like the item.
Your next offer can only be $8 or lower, even though those new likers did not receive the $9 offer. That's just how Mercari works.
Be sure to list your items above your desired sale price to make room for offers.
2) Promote to everyone
You have the option to promote the item to everyone by lowering the public price of the item. Mercari gives you a new price that is 5% less than your lowest historical price.
Mercari boosts your listing in the search results and notifies people who liked your item. You can do this only once every 24 hours.
I like to combine the two strategies. I will send offers to likers usually several times until as low as I want to go. A few people may like the item after that. Then I'll drop the public price so they can get a deal too.
Negotiating bundles
Mercari launched the option to purchase bundles of items from the same seller. In the past, they didn't allow bundles, but you could message a seller to list several items all under one listing. Now you can use the handy bundle feature.
Add items by the same seller to your cart. Then go to the cart and hit "make offer" to make an offer on your bundle. It's so easy now!
You can also make offers for more than 25% off of bundles. There is no minimum amount on an offer on a bundle.
Things to consider
While you can ask for anything at any price, you'll want to make an offer that is likely to be accepted. Here are some things to consider when making an offer.
1) The item itself
If you're interested in an item, you probably have a good idea of what the item is worth. If not, take a look at the sold listings for the same item to see what past items have sold for.
2) The condition of the item
Items that are new with tags or new in boxes will generally be worth more than used items, and items in like new condition will be worth more than those that are in fair or used condition. You can filter the sold listings to get an idea of how each condition of the item sold in the past.
3) The popularity of the item
If you're a buyer making an offer on a hot item, the seller is going to want a reasonable offer or will wait to get a better offer. They may even be fielding multiple offers.
Offer what you're comfortable with but know that it's worth making an offer close to the asking price. A low offer will likely get you a counteroffer or declined.
You can see if someone else has made an offer because the item will show the highest offer in the last 24 hours. Unfortunately, you're not notified if someone else makes an offer on an item.
You only see that someone else made an offer if you click on the item to view the listing. So you either have to check the item frequently, make your offer, or buy the item outright.
Sometimes if I see something I really want at a good price, I'll buy it outright to ensure that I get it and to be fair to the seller.
4) How long the item has been listed
Look at the date the item was listed. If it has been listed for a long time, it's likely not popular and the seller will be more interested in accepting your offer. Go ahead and ask for a larger discount.
5) Shipping options offered
As a buyer, you may get lucky finding an item you want with free shipping offered. If the seller is covering shipping costs, he or she may not come down as much on price.
Mercari recently started the option to ship via USPS Media Mail. You may find media products such as books being shipped at First Class or Priority Mail rates because that was what used to be offered.
Ask the seller if he or she can switch the shipping option to Media Mail if it's not already set.
6) Use the cart option
Sometimes people put items in their carts just like people do while shopping in real life. They've taken a step closer to buying it, but they haven't checked out.
Whether you're a buyer or a seller, if you see that the item is in someone's cart, that means someone is more interested in it than someone only browsing or just adding the item to their favorites list. This would be a good time to make a competitive offer to get the item sold.
5) Coupons or credit
Mercari offers coupons from time to time. They may be something such as $5 off a $20 purchase or $20 off a $50 purchase. You can also earn credits on the site.
Both coupons and credits expire. Coupons related to promotions may have a very short window during which you can use them.
If your coupon or credit is going to expire, make an offer on an item while the coupon or credit is still good. I make sure the coupon or credit is still good for the next 24 hours. This gives the seller time to respond to my offer.
Sometimes I will favorite items until a coupon or credit comes along so that I can get it cheaper. The only problem with this is that you don't know when they will come.
If you take this approach, it's best to do it for items that aren't as popular. They're likely to still be available for weeks or months to come.
Note also that coupons cannot be used on bundles, only individual items.
6) Holding items
I've had potential buyers negotiate a price with me and then ask me to hold the item until they can purchase it. They're often waiting for one of their sales transactions to complete so they have money in their account.
In my case, I don't hold items because I've held them before and people don't return to purchase them. I respond to requests by saying that the item is still available to purchase if it's listed for sale and I'd be happy to sell it for the agreed upon amount.
But you may find a seller who is willing to hold the item for you. This will give you usually a day or two to come up with the funds for the item.
Q&A
What percentage off should I ask for on Mercari?
Mercari allows you to submit offers for up to 25% off the listed price. Most sellers would probably consider this reasonable. While you can message a seller to ask for more than 25% off, you'll likely receive a counteroffer or outright declination.
Can I cancel an offer I made on Mercari?
Offers on Mercari cannot be canceled. You can message a seller and ask him/her to decline your offer. If the seller has already accepted your offer, you can message the seller and request for the sale to be canceled.
Does Mercari allow returns?
It's best to be sure you want an item before negotiating the price or purchasing it outright because Mercari only allows returns for items that are not as described.
If the item did not come as described, open a return request and provide the necessary information and pictures. Then wait for Mercari to approve the return and provide a return label.
Wrap up
Mercari continues to be one of my favorite places to shop online because I often find things I like there at great prices. And if the price isn't right, I negotiate for it using Mercari's features. I hope you will follow the tips above to negotiate the best deals for yourself too.
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