Much like a lot of millennials, I am all for minimalism and therefore against hoarding. Most of us wince in horror at the sight of the older generation's homes that are cluttered with, well, stuff. So for us, having access to a safe and easy means of getting rid of anything we neither want nor need, and for money too is important.
In NZ, we have a platform called Trademe which is relatively easy to use. I’ve done well over 1,000 trades (buying and selling) over the last 20 years including vehicles and even houses. Before moving to Japan I ruthlessly sorted through my belongings and basically sold anything and everything that it wasn't 100% sure on whether I would need them in the future because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to move stuff on if I later decided they were no longer required once we were living in Japan. This was all unfounded and unnecessary in the end!
Enter Mercari
Pronounced in Japan as 'Mericari', it is the main platform for buying and selling second-hand goods. Once setup it’s super easy to use with a smart flow to transactions and you can even pay for stuff elsewhere with your earnings!
Setup
Setup is, shall I say, simpler than a phone plan. Unless you can read Japanese I recommend using the browser version to do the sign-up as it does have an English option and the app does not.
Once your account is setup and your email address verified. I highly recommend pushing on and completing the ID verification swell, as this unlocks some key features. Without my ID verified I was unable to list a ¥140,000 camera lens due to the high value, but it let me list one at ¥40,000. But then shortly after selling the cheaper lens they cancelled the sale anyway due to not being ID verified which seemed a bit silly after all that! So yeah just go ahead and get your ID sorted from the start. It will invite you to install the app to do the ID check then it will guide you through the process. It will want to take photos and video of your Zairyu card and of your face. A day or two later you’ll get a notification that you are good to go.
Listing
Selling is super easy. Select 'List' and enter the details of your item along with photos. After you upload photos it seems to have a little glitch where a box pops up, and what it's doing is using AI to automatically complete the item information based on the pictures. My tip here, is that if you don't understand Japanese well enough to be able to properly check and edit the text, then for all your listings write your title and description in a word doc or similar, and run them through google translate to then paste into Mercari.
When describing items, I always assume every potential buyer is someone with high expectations and standards that are likely to be annoyed unless they are receiving exactly what they are expecting to. It's a good mindset to have when selling anything online in any part of the world. Most people aren't that picky but it's also common decency. Make sure you take good photographs in good light, and include different angles. Pictures speak a thousand words. Then in your description be clear and accurate with any and all information that you can provide.
The next step is to select your Shipping method in advance. This part I thought was quite amazing after shipping my first sale. During listing you get given a number of preconfigured options depending on where you would drop off the package. You can do normal post office type methods, but the Mercari subsidised and integrated methods such as 'Easy Mercari Flight' and 'Yuyu Mercari Flight' make life a lot easier and you'll see why once we get to the selling part. You can also change the shipping option once the item is sold in case you need to drop it off at a different brand of Conbini for example.
My first sale was a camera lens in a small box, maybe 20x20x30cm. I selected Easy Mercari Flight and then selected the option that included packages of this size and above; 'TA-Q-BIN'. Back on the listing edit page you also need to specify what area you are shipping from and how quickly you would ship it, this is to ensure the buyers have expectations of when they might receive it. For more info on shipping methods they have the 'Delivery method quick understanding table'
Lastly you need to decide on the actual selling method. Auction or fixed price listing. Auctions have two options - either just a short 3 hour auction, or a 'normal' auction that closes the day following the first bid. You can also choose a reserve price though auctions always get more interest and bids with lower reserves so some risk is involved otherwise just do a fixed price listing. Auctions are best when you just want something sold and don't really care how much it sells for.
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| Listing configuration |
Selling
Once your listings are active you may receive questions from buyers asking for more information or photos. Mercari states that all comments and communication must be made in Japanese, so be prepared to translate if needbe. You will also receive likes too, which are people adding them to their favourites / shortlist. The other one you may get is people making 'discount requests' which is slightly pointless as if you accept, it just lowers the price and the buyer still gets to decide to purchase or not. Trademe had this function but the moment you accepted the offer, it confirmed the sale - it made the buyer put their money where their mouth is when making the offer. I would like to see Mercari implement this.
Once someone has purchased an item from you, you will get a notification saying it's paid for and to go ahead and organise the shipping. On my first one I was wondering why my account balance was still ¥0 despite it being paid for - Mercari hold the funds right through shipping, the buyer receiving, and the buyer leaving a review. Only then you get paid. Apparently if the buyer does not review, then after 7 days it automatically closes it off and pays you. I thought this whole process was a bit off at first but thinking about it some more, it is quite a good system. I couldn't see it working in many parts of the world as there are far too many dishonest people.
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| Sales transaction screen |
Shipping
Circling back to the shipping. You had already selected the shipping method and how fast you are going to ship it, so you'd better get onto it fast to make sure you keep to the promised schedule when your item sells. It's a nice idea to leave a comment to the buyer as soon as you can to thank them and let them know when you are planning to ship. This gives them peace of mind, and I certainly like it as a buyer myself.
Unless you have plenty of packing materials lying around, I recommend pre-packing stuff before you list, this both helps you select the correct shipping method as well as not causing any panic at trying to ship on time if you don't have the materials to pack well (and make sure you pack well).
In the case of my first sale, I chose the TAQ-Q-BIN service with Easy Mercari Flight. My box was packaged and taped only. No need to write an address or anything - simply screenshot the barcode from the Mercari item sale page and take the package to one of the listed locations. You have flexibility with the location within the shipping type - ie. if you selected Easy Mercari flight then you can ship from any 7-Eleven or Family Mart.
In my case we took my package to 7-Eleven. At the counter I said 'Mercari no haso onegaishimasu', they scanned my barcode, I hit OK on his screen and he gave me an adhesive slip to attach to the package along with a piece of paper to insert into it. You will then be given a receipt and it's all done. You don't even need to pay - the shipping cost will be deducted from your final payout from the sale.
Recently I've been selecting the same shipping option but instead of 7-Eleven, I'm choosing Yamato collection. This is far more convenient as I just need the package ready to go at home and the extra ¥100 cost is more than worth it to avoid some of the anxiety ridden trips to the Conbini when I'm trying to sort out my package with a growing queue behind me.
Once you have shipped, open the app or website and simply hit the big red button to say it's shipped. The tracking integrates and updates automatically if done with one of the Mercari shipping methods, but you still have to hit the red button for some reason.
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| Shipping options |
Fees
Aside from the shipping fee being deducted from your payout, Mercari takes their cut too which is a hefty 10%. This is actually surprisingly high compared to my previous experiences - Trademe was 7.9% and if you sell a lot it adds up - buying and selling camera gear over the last 2 years my fees to them were over $6,000 NZD! They recently dropped their sales commission entirely because they were losing customers to Facebook Marketplace, as it was quite clear most people would prefer risking their lives to sell a toaster to a bloke in a deserted carpark at night than pay any fees. So yeah, I do think Mercari is on the high side BUT it seems like a very good system that works, and it's a more complete system with subsidised shipping and even a payment service.
Merpay
Merpay is quite brilliant. Especially as a newcomer to Japan whereby a means of paying for stuff is hard to come by aside from cash. That or you are at the mercy of an exchange rate with a foreign card, and plenty of places online will flat-out not accept a foreign card.
You can generate funds to spend with Merpay by selling stuff on Mercari. When a sale is completed, your balance is updated and the funds will sit there until you do something with them. Such as:
- Transfer out to a bank account (if you have one in Japan)
- Use for making purchases of items on Mercari
- Use with MerPay to pay for stuff in lots of places.
Merpay is easy to setup online when logged into your Mercari account on the App (it's not possible to do on the full web browser I think). The setup will guide you through, and ultimately you can setup a Merpay card in your Apple or Google wallet on your phone for contactless payments. A note: If you have an Apple Watch, select to add it there first then phone. For some reason if you add to Phone first you cannot add to your watch after.
Paying for stuff in Japan can be a bit of an anxiety-ridden nightmare at times. It seems every store has a lottery on which of the many dozen available payment methods they accept, which means you still have to carry cash just to be safe. Merpay is linked with iD which is another payment type, so you can apparently use your virtual wallet card as contactless payment at places which show the ID logo or Merpay logo.
It breaks down a bit more than that, and to be honest they should have made it simpler. There are 3 ways to pay using Merpay, and the number of places you can use them differ between each method:
Merpay code payment - You tell the store clerk you wish to pay with Merpay, then open the app and show them a barcode for them to scan.
Online shopping - This one is straightforward, if available it will be listed at checkout as an option to select.
Payment with iD - The most conventional option, and you can use the same way you would a contactless Credit card in your smartphone wallet. It also has by far the most places you can use it.
I have so far been using Merpay registered as a payment method on my Amazon account which is where I do most of my shopping, and it's seamless providing you have enough balance in Merpay. The downside is you cannot use multiple payment methods combined with Merpay - ie. if you do not have enough in Merpay you cannot pay the balance with a registered card. The way around this is to do an Amazon account reload for the balance, and when you check out, use the account balance combined with your Merpay balance.
For the list of stores and more info see the official page here. There is also some more in depth info on how to setup iD payment here.
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| a typical search page view |
Buying
The big hurdle in the way of buying is having a payment method that works. Like many places in Japan, Mercari won't accept a foreign credit card. So until you have a Japanese Bank account, you have two options to add funds: Sell stuff on Mercari to build a balance to spend (not ideal if you see something you want to buy right now) or pop on down to the local Conbini to deposit cash at their ATM using the code provided by the App.
Browsing items is pretty standard if you've ever used any kind of online shopping site. You punch what you want into the search bar (I search in English and it works) and then you have some filters to refine the results. You can then save it as a favourite search if you wish and configure automated notifications for new listings that match the criteria.
If you find something you like, click the heart icon to add to your liked items, which can be easily found on your Mercari home page. When looking at an item with a view to purchase, check the images, item information and description carefully, and if you have any questions use the comments section to ask. Don't forget to make sure your questions are in Japanese!
When you are ready to buy, simply hit the big red 'buy now' button. The next page will give you payment options - select which one you want to use. If you have not added an address to your profile, you'll then need to add your delivery address. Once that is done, hit 'purchase'. on 3 occasions you have to hit a big red 'confirm purchase' button, so there really is no possibility of accidental purchases.
You will then receive notifications and emails updating you on the status as things progress. Once you receive the item, check it over carefully. When satisfied, open the item page and select 'rate the buyer'. By default it will be a positive rating and say that 'it was good' (translation). You can add further comments if you wish but most people don't seem too.
Here is Mercari's article on the Purchasing flow.
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| Buying on Mercari |
Problem Resolution
Luckily I cannot speak from any experience of having issues. But, it's only a matter of time before you have a problem. Perhaps you sold something and it arrives broken or the buyer tries telling you it is not as described, or you buy something and the seller goes AWOL and doesn't ship it. Mercari has forms for this kind of stuff as well as very helpful pages, so if you do have an issue make sure you get onto it quickly.
Here is an article regarding this.
In closing
Hopefully this gave you some useful insight to setting up and using Mercari in Japan. It's a great system that is well thought out, you can tell from how streamlined and safe the processes are. Personally I hate having heaps of apps on my phone if I can avoid it, so after doing everything in setup that I needed the App for, I just use it on browser now either on my phone or Mac.
If this wasn't very helpful, then you can either refer to Mercari's beginner guide for something simpler, or check their various articles for something more in-depth.
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