Question to the metcari sellers out there. I have recently started getting rid of the excess items in the house and I sold an item for which the delivery cost turned out to be higher than the actual listing price! the item was not that big. but since I am new to selling I was shocked that instead of gaining profits I lost money out of my pocket on this deal. what am I doing wrong? I am absolutely sad. any suggestions are welcome
7 comments
One suggestion is to set the item for c.o.d delivery (chakubarai). This way the buyer pays for delivery, not you.
Put the item in a box first, measure the total box dimension, then calculate the shipping fee before listing the item. This way you can know the exact amount you will pay before selling.
Chakubarai also works, but most people will avoid listing like that.
There’s a “culture” in Mercari that the shipping fee is included in the sale. So if the buyer is really far, the seller ends up making a lower profit.
In Yahoo Auctions it’s usually the buyer that pays the shipping fee, and the fee can be calculated by the website according to the distance and shipping method.
https://pj.mercari.com/mercari-spot/mercari_school_list.pdf
This tells you what it will cost and where you have to take it to send it.
First focus on items that will fit in the smaller mercari boxes that are sold at 7-11 or many conbini.
Shipping is set at ~200/400 yen (forget the exact amount but it’s close) for the box sizes regardless of distance.
Jewelry, summer clothing, etc easily fit in those boxes.
Unfortunately for large/cheap items the best option might just be the trash or giving away locally for free.
What do you mean what am I doing wrong? Check the shipping cost before you list it and include it.
Charge more. If you cant, consider it recycling which is better than disposing it. Or it may be cheaper than buying the sticker to dispose it locally depending on item.