Mercari launched new options to make buying and selling secondhand goods easier and more affordable on its platform. A spokesperson for the company said it is releasing new prepaid shipping options across popular categories.
Sellers on Mercari have the option of paying for shipping themselves or having the buyer pay. In either case, Mercari create a prepaid label for the seller, and all Mercari labels come with tracking. (In some locations, buyers can purchase items locally.)
This week, Mercari introduced USPS Media Mail for shipping items in categories where allowed by the Postal Service – books, printed music, and movies. “Media Mail through Mercari prepaid shipping offers up to 81% savings vs. standard retail shipping rates and sellers can rest easy with up to $200 shipping protection,” the company announced.
A new help page on Mercari explains, “USPS Media Mail is a cost-effective shipping method for educational materials, including books, sound and video recordings, printed music.”
Those unfamiliar with postal restrictions should review the page carefully. For example, shippers may not use Media Mail to send Comic books, magazines and newspapers; Video games; Address books, blank notebooks, notepads or 3-ring binders; Digital media saved to USB and flash drives; or any media material containing advertising.
Mercari also announced this week it would soon launch First Class Envelopes for sales of trading cards, which sounds similar to eBay Standard Envelope. “Coming soon, trading card aficionados can enjoy a more convenient, reliable and affordable way to ship using prepaid shipping labels on Mercari,” the company announced. “From sports and Pokemon to Kpop photo cards and more, sellers can ship from 1 to 3 oz with rates starting at just 60 cents.”
The company didn’t get into details about the forthcoming offering, but to get an idea of what Mercari First Class Envelopes for trading cards could look like, you can view the help page for eBay Standard Envelope, which started as a more affordable shipping service for trading cards up to $20 with a limited form of tracking available.
eBay Standard Envelope is limited to items selling for $20 and less, and it has expanded into additional categories. In fact, eBay stated today on Facebook that its long term goal was to have eBay Standard Envelope, which it developed in partnership with the USPS, available in “many more categories.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mercari told EcommerceBytes, “Already offering shoppers up to 70% retail prices, Mercari’s new shipping options come in response to customer requests for additional ways to save on shipping, which has become increasingly important in light of inflation. Mercari is always looking for ways to iterate on the customer experience and looks forward to sharing more exciting updates in the future.”
“a spokesperson for Mercari told EcommerceBytes, “Already offering shoppers up to 70% retail prices”
Hey, I love Mercari, but they are claiming they are selling a car, and just for you, it comes with wheels! Mercari offers nearly the same commercial rates everyone else does. The only problem they have is they only offer 2 tiers of 1st classes postage, the 8oz and 15.9oz rates. Other offer all 4 tiers, 4, 8, 12, and 15.9.
Their logo really hurts my eyes. Like sing along bouncy balls
Ina I thought the post office stopped offering media mail
@Fruity, I wonder if you’re thinking about the article from September – eBay Becomes USPS Compliant, No More Media Mail for Magazines (“eBay recently became compliant with USPS rules around Media Mail, according to employees during a recent podcast…”).
That right, I got mixed up. thank you!
I have BIG complaints about Mercari. But postage is not one of them. Because Mercari allows you to ship on your own; buy your own postage.
Was doing well on the M site until their AIrobot took over the Offers section. I cannot list an item’s offer lower than what Mercari’s robot wants me to. Let’s say I list an item for $20 and will accept offers (automatically) at $10 or above. The little robot says, NO NO NO, you MUST have a low price of $15. And then — (and this happened 2 times) if the buyer offers $15, the robot “automatically coounters” with $13. And when I go to accept the $15 offer, I can’t accept because the robot has sent the buyer a message that I countered for $13.
I wrote Mercari and told them their system is faulty, of course, I get the standard “I’m sorry, we’ll look into it.”