Poshmark vs. Mercari – Which is the Best for Sellers?

Reselling clothes online is a great way to keep clothing out of landfills and make a little money while you’re at it. There are so many resale apps available that you might not know the difference between Poshmark vs. Mercari.

I sell clothing and buy stuff on both apps, so I have a great understanding of how they work. Though they might seem like they offer the same benefits, there are things you’ll want to consider before signing up.

One thing I like about Mercari is that you can sell more than just clothing and accessories. Most people have accounts on eBay, Amazon, Poshmark, Mercari, and more, so it’s not necessary to list everything on one platform. Still, it’s convenient to use Mercari for more than just fashion.

Whether you’re buying or selling online, you’ll want to know the differences between Poshmark vs. Mercari. There are things to consider regarding commission, shipping, payment processing, and more. These charges end up affecting both buyers and sellers, so I’ll explain it all.

Before cleaning out your closet and listing your items online, read on to decide which platform you should use to sell.

Mercari vs. Poshmark Overview

Poshmark is a popular online consignment store that started in 2011. It’s based in California and boasts over 60 million users, both buying and selling through its platform. They offer great services to promote fashion listings so sellers get new eyes on their products. Buyers, in turn, get to see items they might not have searched for on their own.

Mercari is a newer platform that launched in 2013. With a home base in Tokyo, Japan, Mercari expanded and has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States as well. The app is growing in popularity, with over 32 million app downloads.

Mercari isn’t limited to clothing and accessories like Poshmark. Instead, it’s more like eBay or a flea market app. You can buy and sell home goods, collector’s items, and electronics, as well as fashion goods.

For Sellers

When I first started selling clothes online, I wanted to keep it simple. I researched Poshmark so I understood what fees they’d take and how much I could make selling my clothes. I knew their audience was specifically people looking for fashion, so it seemed like the obvious choice.

Over time, I found that it was better to list different items on different sites. Poshmark is all about fashion, true, but it’s mostly name-brand clothing and upscale items. You can list clothes for men, women, and children. You can even sell bags, purses, accessories, and make-up.

But Mercari took off in terms of popularity. I kept hearing about it, so I decided to download it and check out the competition. It turns out that Mercari isn’t a direct competitor of Poshmark. It’s more like eBay because you can list various items instead of just clothing.

If you’re looking to sell more than just clothes and fashion accessories, it’s worth checking out Mercari. That doesn’t mean you have to sell on one specific app. Due to differences in available inventory, listing options, fees, and, of course, your potential audience, you might want to list different items on each app.

It’s even worth listing some items on both apps. As long as you keep up with your inventory, you shouldn’t have any conflict with this approach. I keep spreadsheets so I know when I listed each item and for how much. 

When an item sells on Mercari, I update my spreadsheet and take down the sold listing from Poshmark. This keeps me from getting negative customer comments if someone tries to buy something I’ve already sold.

You might choose a different approach to selling your clothing and other household goods. First, make sure you understand what each platform offers. Then you can get your listings together and start selling online.

Available Inventory

Poshmark and Mercari are both major apps with huge user bases, but they offer different goods. Poshmark is fashion central, so you know your audience is specifically looking for clothing and accessories. Mercari sells a bit of everything, so you don’t know exactly what people might look for.

Poshmark

Poshmark is full of listings for high-end, brand-name fashion items. You can find designer clothes, shoes, bags, purses, and other accessories. This app is for selling clothing, so if you try to list items like home goods or electronics, your listing gets taken down. When you try to list irrelevant items too much, Poshmark suspends your account.

Mercari

Mercari is like eBay, based in Japan. The company has a large user base of both buyers and sellers. If you’re trying to sell upscale items, this isn’t the platform to do it. Most users are more focused on getting rid of items they don’t need anymore. While it’s nice to make a profit, it’s a different community than Poshmark.

Since Mercari has a little bit of everything, you can list home goods, electronics, collectibles, and things that aren’t clothing without getting in trouble.

There’s no clear winner in terms of available inventory. It depends on what you’re wanting to sell. If you know your audience will want to shop the upscale clothing in your closet, choose Poshmark. If you’re selling a bit of everything, you’ll prefer the ease of listing it all on Mercari.

Ease of Listing

Most online resale apps have the same basic format. You take pictures of your item, create a title, set your price, and let the algorithm do the work for you.

Poshmark

Poshmark is a social app and helps sellers make money. There are Posh Parties that highlight certain themes so a new audience will see your items. They continually roll out new features to help make sales. You can include videos of products, similar to Instagram Stories, so buyers can see all angles of your clothes.

Every time you get a like, comment, or follow, your shop gets a wider audience. Poshmark rewards people who are active on the app, whether they’re buying or selling. Therefore you might have to put in a bit more effort, but it will pay off with sales.

I’ve found that Poshmark works like Instagram in terms of the algorithm as well. When I list a bunch of items at once, they don’t get much traction. I get better results when I list a few new items each day. That helps me look more active on the app, so people see my new listings on their feeds each day instead of possibly missing them all in one day.

Mercari

Mercari doesn’t promote items or sellers as much as Poshmark does. They make things super easy, though, by not limiting what you can sell on the platform. They also allow private messaging so customers can ask questions before buying an item.

If someone likes your listing, you can contact them to make an offer. This feature is nice because you can try to sell an item if it seems like no one is going to buy it on their own. When you’re tired of the listing sitting stagnant, contact some of the people who liked it and see if you can close the deal.

Selling Expenses

Physical stores and businesses make money because they sell goods directly to consumers. Online platforms like Mercari and Poshmark don’t sell inventory themselves, so they can’t make a profit that way. Instead, they’re providing the technology for individuals to sell goods.

As third-party hosts for these entrepreneurs, Poshmark and Mercari take seller fees. This can include taking a portion of the final price or charging a listing fee. They might take a commission from the sale or charge a shipping fee, especially if you print the shipping label through the site.

Poshmark

Poshmark is very transparent about the commission and flat fees for selling. They have two set levels for fees, depending on if your item sells for under $15 or more than that price.

For items that sell for less than $15, Poshmark takes a set fee of $2.95. This seems like a lot if you intended to sell t-shirts for $5. However, since you know about this fee before listing your items, you can factor it in. Sell your shirts for $8 each so you’ll still make your ideal profit.

If your listing is more expensive than $15, Poshmark takes 20% of the final price. For people who have sold online through other platforms, this fee might seem high. You’d have to pay a $4 commission on a blouse that you listed for $20, so you’re barely making more than that $15 cutoff.

Like the $2.95 fee, you can calculate the 20% commission into your listing price. Since Poshmark only takes these fees from the sales, you can still make decent money selling on this app.

Mercari

Mercari selling fees differ from Poshmark. The company takes less of a commission fee—10% of each item that sells. With that figure, it seems obvious that selling on Mercari will make you more money.

Not so fast. Mercari has additional fees that Poshmark doesn’t. There’s a payment processing fee, which is 2.9% plus $0.30 per sale. The 2.9% comes off of the final price of the item, so it might be higher than your listing price. It includes shipping, a printed shipping label, and other features like that.

The additional 2.9% plus $0.30 Mercari charges isn’t a dealbreaker. If you look at other resale apps, they have similar fees. Depending on your final price, this might still be less of a fee than what Poshmark would take.

Before declaring a winner for selling fees, it’s better to do some math. You might find that listing certain clothing items on Poshmark will yield a bigger profit. I often list items on both apps at slightly different price points, just to see what goes. Since neither app charges a listing fee, I’m not out any money just by exploring my options.

Payment

Now you have an idea of how much of your profit each platform will take. You still need to think about how you’re going to get paid. If you’re selling items because you need money, you might not want to wait around for the company to release your funds. Learn which app pays out and which makes you wait for it.

Poshmark

After selling an item on Poshmark, you have to ship it and the buyer must accept it. Poshmark then pays you within three days. You can keep your funds in the app, which is nice if you buy as well as sell on Poshmark.

They also give you the option to release the money to a Paypal account or linked bank account. This option is nice because you can cash out and not worry about money lingering in your Poshmark account. 

However, there’s typically another waiting period of two to five days for funds to clear via Paypal or your bank. This means it could take a week or more to get your money from Poshmark. If you need cash now, that’s way too long to wait.

Mercari

Mercari pays out through a linked bank account or InstantPay. Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll encounter fees. Mercari charges $2 per transaction, and InstantPay has a $2 fee as well.

Mercari pays out faster than Poshmark, but you’ll lose more in fees. If you bundle these issues with the selling fees, Mercari manages to come out on top. Adding each expense typically ends up lower than Poshmark’s 20% commission, especially when you consider the speed of payment.

Shipping Costs

Buyers and sellers should both think about shipping costs. Buyers end up paying the shipping cost in most cases, but sellers might lose sales due to the cost. Listings that offer free shipping or shipping discounts get more attention, likes, and comments, which translate to more sales over time.

Both Poshmark and Mercari make it easy to handle shipping on their platform. You can print shipping labels and use any mailer or box for your items. But you need to factor in the expense before you choose where to list your goods.

Poshmark

Poshmark has a flat shipping fee. As soon as the buyer completes the purchase, Poshmark emails you a shipping label to print. You can then take your item to the post office or a UPS dropbox. You can even arrange a pickup with USPS or UPS so you don’t have to leave the house.

You also have the option to offer free shipping. Free or discounted shipping might bring more potential buyers because the overall price is cheaper. You either pay the additional shipping cost yourself or offer it if a buyer orders more than one piece of clothing from you.

Mercari

You have to do more work on the front end to ship through Mercari. You need to know your package weight before you get your packing label. It gives you the option to choose shipping methods through various providers, though, so you can find a discount option and save money.

Mercari allows users to stay anonymous, even when shipping their items to buyers. Japan convenience stores offer shipping services so they don’t have to provide their home return address. In the United States, Mercari partners with various shipping providers, including USPS, UPS, and FedEx. These services also create shipping labels for the sold items.

Shipping through Poshmark is easier than using Mercari. Since you’re only shipping clothing and fashion accessories through Poshmark, I’ve found it’s also easier to pack those listings. Some of the things you can sell on Mercari are bulky and have more expensive shipping fees.

See also: How to increase your Poshmark Sales

For Buyers

As a buyer, I love browsing on Poshmark and Mercari. Though I’ll see similar items on both apps, I usually find unique goods on each of them. Sometimes you might find the same listing, but due to the audience and shipping considerations, the price might be lower on one app. Therefore, I recommend using both so you can comparison shop.

Available Inventory

Poshmark and Mercari have a lot of similarities, but in terms of available inventory, they’re pretty different for buyers.

Poshmark

Poshmark has upscale, name-brand clothing and fashion accessories for sale. If you’re shopping for particular items, you’ll have more luck using this outlet.

Mercari

Mercari’s expansive inventory doesn’t mean you won’t find fashion here, too. I always use the same search terms on both apps to see if I can find clothes a little cheaper on Mercari. The app seems like it has a faster turnaround than Poshmark, so sometimes people price items to sell.

There’s no clear winner for buyers in terms of inventory. Both of these apps offer different things that appeal to broad audiences. It just depends on what you’re looking for and how lucky you get to find new listings.

Ease of Browsing

Both platforms are relatively easy to browse. They offer websites and mobile apps, so you can choose between methods for searches. They also have great filters so you don’t have to scroll through page after page of unrelated items or things that aren’t your size.

Poshmark

Poshmark’s homepage looks a little busy, so many new users get overwhelmed. The site is always promoting Posh Parties, new shops, and special theme sales. If you follow certain sellers, they’ll also show up on this page.

When I’m browsing on Poshmark, I usually search for specific items and set filters. That way I know I’m going to find certain brands, categories, colors, and sizes in my results. I can also set the filter for price ranges or show listings from low to high to find what’s in my budget.

Mercari

You can save searches on Mercari and get alerts when new items are available. I love this because I’ve been looking for a specific brand of skirt. When someone listed it in my size, I got a notification and bought it immediately. 

I like that option because I didn’t have to spend time browsing, but the app is easy to use. You can narrow down listings to certain categories or search terms, or just scroll the explore page and see what’s popular or new.

When it comes to browsing Poshmark vs Mercari as a buyer, there’s no clear winner here. Download both apps so you can comparison shop!

Poshmark vs. Mercari Final Notes

Instead of throwing away your unwanted clothes, list them on a clothing resale app. When it comes to Poshmark vs Mercari, it’s hard to choose a clear winner. Both apps have pros and cons for buying and selling. It’s worth checking out both to find the best deal, whether you’re searching for a sale or trying to close a deal!

I hope this Poshmark vs. Mercari guide was helpful! Let me know in the comments below on your experience – Alice.