Outcry over New Mercari Shipping Fees

by: The End

It's all B.S.
That's why I have my own website.
And my own protocols.

by: Chicago48

@theend:  I don't think it's B.S.  I think Merc didn't get the contract with Fedex & UPS like they had in the past.  With UPSpost & Fedexsmartpost you can send up to 3 lbs for 7.99 and that's a big savings compared to USPS Priority $12.  I don't think Merc can get the contract with those two shippers.  I hope they're working on it, because it's going to kill their site.  The only "cheap" way to deliver will be face2face & local.
I expect Posh to make some changes....it's coming.

by: toolguy

I've been buying a lot on Mercari lately.

As a buyer I'm NOT liking it

by: pace306

Pirateship

by: iheartjacksparrow

I looked at the comparisons for shipping amounts in effect now, and what they will be changing to. USPS is going up a few cents, FedEx is increasing quite a bit, and UPS is staying the same. It seems that if Sellers use a service other than FedEx the increase shouldn't be an issue.  

by: The End

Hey Chicago48  :o)
All the stuff that causes a shipping kerfuffle is B.S.
You don't get that with your own website.
It's Uncivilized eCommerce competing with Civilized eCommerce.
We all know who will win.
It's taking a month of Sundays to get there.

by: kvl1

The End:
I would really like to have my own website, but I can't get past the sales tax problem. How do you comply with collecting and paying sales tax for all the different areas of the country? I looked into companies that will handle it for you, but the cost is very high.

by: terry55

The high shipping rates will be the end of small sellers on all sites

by: Whatever

Mercari isn't there to simply accommodate the seller/buyer - their a company - rate increases get passed onto everyone. You should be yelling at the PO. Personally I can't wait for covid to finally free us all and bring back pop-up face to face flea markets and church sales. More garage sales. Your going to see a big resurgence of "barter". We don't have to sell online - we choose to sell online. You can probably sign up for a platform in your state that tells you where things are happening - like festivals.com.

The thing about selling online is that EVERYTHING has gone up - paper - ink - bubble mailers and boxes - packing tape yada yada

It isn't one entity like Mercari driving the downfall of internet sales - ebay and amazon started that a long time ago.

by: railady

@kvl1 - You probably won't have a sales tax problem.  The selling thresholds are high enough in just about every state (I could say every, but it's one of those sometimes/always/never situations) that ALMOST CERTAINLY you will NOT be required to collect sales tax on shipments to any state except the one in which you reside.  

To have to collect/remit sales tax in states other than your home state, you have to have a ''nexus'' (physical presence like a brick&mortar store or selling at trade shows) there.  If you do not, then you are governed by a ''threshold'' established by each state - how much volume (usually hundreds of packages) or how much value (usually $ thousands) -- ONLY if your sales exceed those thresholds will you be required to collect/remit sales tax.

IMPORTANT: I'm not a tax attorney - !! These are just suggested estimates.  A quick conversation with a tax attorney versed in small businss should help.

OR - Avalara is a REALLY good place to investigate on your own. Try this    https://www.avalara.com/us/en/learn/nexus.html      
The chat pop up !!! offers help determining if you owe tax in other states, no less !!!  

by: pace306

Mercari is a mess atm.

Shipping isn’t the only issue on that platform- pray you don’t get involved in their 1099k scam where they claim they need “your Articles of Incorporation. These articles contain the company name, purpose, stock amounts and types, the address of the Registered Agent and the person incorporating the company” just to get that form.

These people are a few cans short of a six pack!

by: pace306

Mercari shipping (as of now) doesnt work at all

PLUS you cant ship on your own (just charging the buyer a fee)

If you want a buyer to pay for shipping - you must use Mercari shipping ONLY

If you dont you get a warning "Shipping not available for your size and weight of item ... My iem was 1 pound and 6" all way round

The Mercari people are on some kinda crack ...

by: kvl1

@railady
Thank you so much for the information. I knew that there are thousands of different sales tax jurisdictions (many states have various rates, not just one statewide rate), and I thought the thresholds varied within the states, too. Also, since the states can determine their own thresholds, I thought some of the thresholds were much lower than they are. The website you shared shows each state's threshold, and my business is nowhere near any of them. At a quick glance, the lowest threshold seems to be 200 transactions in one state. Most thresholds are $100,000 in sales for the state. This makes a huge difference. Thanks again!

by: Philo

one thing I noticed on Mercari- you can't ship your own label and have the buyer pay for postage.  You can only do free shipping, which is something I'm not a fan of because people don't realize how much shipping is these days.

by: theclutteredloft

I sell on Mercari and have every listing set up to print my own labels. Of course everything is free shipping but I sell light weight items under 1#.
I use Pirateship!  They are wonderful. No monthly fees. Just postage costs. Commercial Base Pricing.  They also have UPS and FEDEX. I had to contact their customer service when I first signed up because I could not find Media Mail. They were so helpful! Spoke English!
They also generate a shipping email if you choose that option. You can also copy and paste the addresses into their system.  Which is a time saver.  I really can't say enough good things about them. I would never go back to endicia. I am still waiting over 2 years for a promised refund. Pirateship appreciates your business Matey!

by: ByeByeEbay

Mercari is just using shipping as a way to increase their profits.  All of the sites that offer sellers shipping through them, use it as a revenue stream.  it is just a question of how much they want to gouge their customers.  Few items I want are even sold on that site.  What many don't realize is Mercari and others are the shipper of record, so when you file a claim it is really Mercari that is filing. So you have to depend on Mercari to pay you when they get paid.