Mercari changes really show eBays total algorithim manipulation

[ebaiysellslots19]

So well all know that eBay is dead for the most part for small sellers and has been for a while, but the recent Mercari zero fees update REALLY shows just how bad new management of eBay over the last 5 years has absolutely boned sellers into oblivion with their nonsense algorithms. For context I sell vintage clothes and sneakers.

Mercari changed their selling format to zero fees for sellers on sales, and at the same time must really be promoting an algorithm that targets sellers with more than 10 items. For a long time I've been triple posting my listings from eBay to Poshmark, and Mercari:

eBay:
sold most here, but is always slow, sometimes has a burst of orders randomly that seems very manipulated since it never happens around holidays / tax refund season.

Poshmark: 
just about as slow as eBay and minority sale of shares, but often the things I sell there are listings that never sell on eBay, no discernible pattern to when sales happen or not 

Mercari: 
for a long time sold the least of any sites, but when I did it was almost always for item at higher price with no haggling or offers even made

Fast forward 6 ish years with Mercari's latest update - I've sold about 10 items within a span of two weeks, nearly immediately after they rolled out the zero fee policy, offers and straight buys left and right. What a breath of fresh air, eBay is STALE STALE STALE. Just goes to show how much eBay does NOT push your listings to your target demographic and instead inundates them with Amazon-esque nonsense (because obviously eBay really really wants the Amazon money for the last decade).  eBay obviously manipulates their algorithm and does it very poorly at that.  

Additionally, where as Mercari completely revamped to zero fees, Poshmark and eBay have done the opposite raising their fees higher and higher. 

So, I doubt eBay management will take notice, and instead repeat the insanity they have always done as if that will finally lead to success. Either learn something from Mercari's model or just die already. 

[chapeau-noir]

@sapphire_studio  Thanks for verifying that - I thought I was going nuts.

[714ricki]

Yes, Mercari charges the seller a fee to withdraw the funds from the platform.😎😱

[az37]

I have been with Ebay for 25 years and I too have tried Poshmark and Mercari with both being a total mess.  The main issue with Mercari is the shipping.  For small items a flat rate works but for larger items there is no way to enter size, weight and shipping service that will calculate the cost for a buyer in another state and display the cost to the buyer.  The seller has to do the calculating upon request.  I am a small seller of odds and ends, mostly NOS.  Sales range from a few $ to hundreds of $’s with weight from a couple of ounces to 70 pounds all calculated and displayed to a potential buyer when viewing my listing.  My sales amount to about three per week which is fine for a part time seller.    I am also a buyer making about the same number purchases that I do in sales.  At least when I look at an item on Ebay the total cost including shipping for a heavy item is shown in the listing automatically.  On Mercari that does not happen.  I found a vintage radio made in the 40’s on Mercari for $47.50 with the shipping listed at $7.99.  The wood cabinet for the radio was about 3’ x 2’ x 1.5’ and likely weighed around 17 pounds.  I questioned the seller and he said that he had to put a number in the listing because Mercari does not calculate shipping and he would do it at the time of purchase.  I don’t buy anything without knowing the total cost.

[mordecai8614]

@az37 

My sales amount to about three per week which is fine for a part time seller.

You got me beat, I'm at about 3 a month on Mercari. eBay might be slow right now, but Mercari is dead

[chapeau-noir]

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@mordecai8614 wrote:

@az37 

My sales amount to about three per week which is fine for a part time seller.

You got me beat, I'm at about 3 a month on Mercari. eBay might be slow right now, but Mercari is dead

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I stopped selling on Mercari when they changed the returns thing - they changed it back but I've just not gotten going on there. eBay and Poshmark generate enough sales, but I'm going to set up my clearance store on Mercari again - that's mostly what I had was clearance items, though I've sold some oddball things there - a didgeridoo and a vintage kilt pin, for instance. Oh, and a thick volume of 18th century Colonial naval documents.

[boyblue65]

We all know eBay has been around for a long time and made tons of money.  At least Mercari took the chance and did something different to help their sellers (not so much for the buyers).  Meanwhile, eBay sits like a bump on a log and keeps collecting selling fees.  I’ve read comments about eBay would be foolish to change because it’s not enough time to see the results of Mercari’s new change.  Well, eBay had plenty of time to make a change but instead they choose to keep raking in the dough.

[fbusoni]

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@boyblue65 wrote:

We all know eBay has been around for a long time and made tons of money.  At least Mercari took the chance and did something different to help their sellers (not so much for the buyers).  Meanwhile, eBay sits like a bump on a log and keeps collecting selling fees.  I’ve read comments about eBay would be foolish to change because it’s not enough time to see the results of Mercari’s new change.  Well, eBay had plenty of time to make a change but instead they choose to keep raking in the dough.

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eBay opts to make money?  

Unbelievable!  How dare they?   🤣

Meantime, you clearly are content, having signed on the dotted line.  

I know I am, because thanks to eBay, I'm raking in the dough.  

[luckythewinner]

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@boyblue65 wrote:

I’ve read comments about eBay would be foolish to change because it’s not enough time to see the results of Mercari’s new change.  Well, eBay had plenty of time to make a change but instead they choose to keep raking in the dough.

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IMHO a company that is making money and whose sales are increasing should probably not follow the lead of a company whose sales continue to fall and that continues to lose money. 

"Casting a shadow on the robust results was the U.S. segment. Its adjusted operating loss came to $17 million, an improvement from a $48 million loss a year earlier. However, GMV slid 10% to $913 million for a third year of decline"

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Retail/Japan-resale-app-Mercari-delivers-record-profit-amid-U.S.-tr...

[mam98031]

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@boyblue65 wrote:

We all know eBay has been around for a long time and made tons of money.  At least Mercari took the chance and did something different to help their sellers (not so much for the buyers).  Meanwhile, eBay sits like a bump on a log and keeps collecting selling fees.  I’ve read comments about eBay would be foolish to change because it’s not enough time to see the results of Mercari’s new change.  Well, eBay had plenty of time to make a change but instead they choose to keep raking in the dough.

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Think about what you wrote.  While sellers may like this change many buyers do not.  If the buyers don't like it, then who is going to buy the sellers items??  You see that as a viable plan?

Mercari was in a bad place when they made this change.  The site is simply not doing well before this big change and not after either as just a couple months ago they had to lay off half their staff.  The future is not looking bright for Mercari at this time.  But of course that can change, especially if they have a good holiday season.

[chapeau-noir]

Shifting fees onto buyers was a Hail Mary pass that would never work for a site like Mercari, and I'm surprised they even tried it. This isn't a specialist auction site or some sort of wholesaler where one pays a fee to do business, it's just another miscellaneous C2C sales platform, with a bargain-hunter's mindset. I've sold there for a while, and the biggest problem I could see was not enough advertising and engagement.

[bygri92]

Yeah as someone who has purchased quite a few thousands of dollars on Mercari, I can say that it now sucks big time! It used to be where you could find something that usually sells new for 20 bucks, and someone have it listed new for five bucks on Mercari. The way it used to be you would come out to the good with shipping and all at 10 bucks. The way it is now that $20 item at Walmart is just going to cost you 20 dollars on Mercari, due to fees and shipping being unbelievably overpriced almost every time! Like how the heck does it take $17 to mail me a dang phone case? It's absurd and I think they make more money off shipping than they do the dang fees!! Sorry for punctuation or spelling errors I did not have time to proofread.

[bygri92]

I realize this is an older post but these standards are still at play with mercari

[productreseller]

It is a screwed up market. they only look good as there are many seller than sell on ebay and buy on amazon. many from Pakistan and other areas use a site to fake a tba # into a usps # that shows up as tracking. This is just one among many things i have seen not taking into account the buy and get refunded for reviews schemes that float around

[mam98031]

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@productreseller wrote:

It is a screwed up market. they only look good as there are many seller than sell on ebay and buy on amazon. many from Pakistan and other areas use a site to fake a tba # into a usps # that shows up as tracking. This is just one among many things i have seen not taking into account the buy and get refunded for reviews schemes that float around

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@productreseller 

Many sellers that sell on Ebay also sell on Amazon.  And some of those sellers have Amazon store and ship their items as they notify them they have an order to be filled.  The sellers pay Amazon for this service and the seller fully owns their inventory.  Just a tidbit to keep in mind.