Mercari fee history 2014–2026
Profitvana Editorial Team · Updated November 9, 2026
Mercari's US fee has changed direction more often than any marketplace we track. It launched in 2014 with no seller fee, added a 10% commission, layered a payment-processing fee on top in 2020 and raised it twice, abolished the seller fee entirely in March 2024 by moving the cost to buyers, then reversed course in January 2025 with a 10% selling fee on item plus shipping and no processing fee for either side. Articles written in any one of those windows describe a schedule that no longer exists.
The timeline below records each step with the figure before and after and the source that states it. Where Mercari's own help centre has been rewritten, the entry rests on a dated report from a named marketplace trade publication and is marked as such.
What a $100 sale cost in fees, then and now
| Year | Fees on $100 | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $0 | Launch terms: no commission (Sept 2014 press release) |
| 2021 | $13.20 | 10% + 2.9% + $0.30 processing |
| 2023 | $13.40 | 10% + 2.9% + $0.50 (processing also on shipping) |
| 2024 (Apr–Dec) | $0 | Seller fees removed; buyers paid service + processing fees |
| 2025–2026 | $10.00 | 10% on item + buyer-paid shipping; no processing fee |
Timeline (newest first)
trade press
Seller-tier fee discounts (invited beta)
Tiered discounts off the 10% fee for invited high-volume sellers
Beta ran 19 March to 14 May 2026 for sellers invited on the basis of January–March 2026 sales. Discount rates were not published.
· announced December 9, 2024official source
Selling fee reinstated
0%→10% of item price + buyer-paid shipping
Applied to new and updated listings from 6 January; existing listings migrated within about a week. The buyer-side 2.9% + $0.50 processing fee was dropped and the buyer service fee replaced by a 3.6% Buyer Protection fee. Direct deposit became free on successful transfers ($2 only on failed ones).
trade press
Buyer service fee holiday promotion
10%→0% for one week (11–18 December 2024)
Processing of 2.9% + $0.50 was still charged to buyers.
trade press
Buyer service fee capped
Variable by category→Capped at 10% (5% tested on some high-price items)
official source
Seller fees removed
10% + 2.9% + $0.50 processing→0% seller fee, no seller processing fee
Costs moved to the buyer: a variable service fee ('as low as 5%', typically about 10%) plus 2.9% + $0.50 processing on the total. A $2 fee per direct-deposit request was introduced the same day and waived from 30 March to 3 April after seller backlash.
· announced March 16, 2023trade press
Instant Pay
$2 per transfer, $500/month cap→$3 per transfer, $600/month cap
· announced March 16, 2023trade press
Payment processing fee base
2.9% + $0.50 on item price→2.9% + $0.50 on item price plus shipping
The 10% selling fee stayed on the item price only.
· announced September 23, 2022trade press
Payment processing fixed fee
$0.30 per sale→$0.50 per sale
· announced August 31, 2020trade press
Payment processing fee introduced (seller-paid)
None→2.9% + $0.30 per sale, on top of the 10% selling fee
New listings from 1 October 2020, existing listings from 1 November. Reported by EcommerceBytes at the time (publication since closed); the $0.30 figure is corroborated by the 2022 increase to $0.50.
trade press
Instant Pay launched
$2 per transfer, $500/month cap; direct deposit free above $10
official source
US launch
No selling fee ('Mercari takes no commission from the sales')
The 10% selling fee was introduced some time between 2015 and 2019; we have not found a dated primary source for it and do not guess.
How this timeline is built
Each entry carries the figure before and after the change and a source that states it: the platform’s own announcement or help page, an archived copy of its fee page on the Wayback Machine, or a named trade publication. Anything we could not confirm that way is left out rather than estimated. The current schedule, verified against the live fee page, is on the Mercari fee calculator; changes across all platforms are logged on fee changes. Corrections: tell us.
Frequently asked questions
Did Mercari ever have zero seller fees?
Twice: from its US launch in 2014 until the 10% fee was introduced, and from 27 March 2024 to 5 January 2025, when the cost was shifted to buyers. Since 6 January 2025 sellers pay 10% on item plus buyer-paid shipping.
Does Mercari still charge the 2.9% + $0.50 processing fee?
No. Sellers paid it from October 2020 to March 2024; buyers paid it from March 2024 to January 2025; since then neither side pays a separate processing fee.