Mercari Fee Calculator

Mercari's 10% selling fee

Mercari's seller fee is a flat 10%, and since January 2025 there is no separate payment processing fee on new or updated listings. What catches sellers out is the base it's charged on: the 10% applies to the item price plus the shipping the buyer pays.

• Selling fee: 10% of item price + buyer-paid shipping, charged to you only when the item sells.
• Buyer Protection fee: 3.6% of item price + buyer-paid shipping, charged to the buyer, not you.
• Instant Pay: $3 per cash-out; standard ACH direct deposit is free.

Listing is free and there's no subscription. Mercari publishes the schedule in its Fees on Mercari help article. The calculator shows the selling fee, the Instant Pay charge if you use it, and your profit after your own item and shipping costs.

Worked example: a $40 item with $8.99 shipping

Calculator defaults: a $40 item, $8.99 buyer-paid shipping, item cost $12, shipping cost $7.50.

• Buyer pays (item + shipping): $48.99
• Selling fee (10% × $48.99): $4.90
• Your payout: $44.09

Your costs are $12 + $7.50 = $19.50, so your profit is $44.09 − $19.50 = $24.59, a 50.2% margin. The fee is charged on $48.99, not the $40 item price, the $8.99 of shipping adds $0.90 to your fee even though that money goes to the carrier. Switch on Instant Pay and another $3 comes off, dropping your payout to $41.09.

Why shipping inflates your fee

Because the 10% is charged on the item price plus buyer-paid shipping, the shipping you charge directly inflates your fee. Compare two ways of selling the same $40 item:

Offering free shipping saves you $0.90 in fees but costs you $8.99 in shipping you no longer collect, so profit drops by $8.09. "Free shipping" is almost always worse for the seller on Mercari, the fee barely moves while the revenue disappears. Charge shipping through the platform unless you have a specific reason not to.

Every Mercari fee at a glance

All the fees on a Mercari sale, and who pays each one:

The Buyer Protection fee never touches your payout, it's added to what the buyer pays. The only optional seller cost besides shipping is Instant Pay.

Instant Pay vs free direct deposit

Mercari's standard payout is a free ACH direct deposit that takes a few business days, limited to one per day. Instant Pay is the fast option: $3 per cash-out, up to $600 a month, funds on an eligible debit card in about 30 minutes.

On a $48.99 sale, that $3 is 6.1% of your payout, nearly as much as the selling fee itself. If you cash out after every sale and you sell 30 items a month, that's $90 a month in Instant Pay fees alone, versus nothing for direct deposit. Use Instant Pay when you need the money now and let the rest sit until a weekly or monthly deposit. The calculator's Instant Pay toggle shows exactly what it costs on your numbers.

Direct deposit is the default for a reason: it's free and there's no monthly amount cap, only one request per day. If cash flow isn't tight, leave the balance and pull it out weekly, you'll save the $3 every time, and on a closet that sells a few items a week that's real money over a year.

Mercari vs Poshmark and Depop

Mercari's 10% sits between Poshmark's 20% and Depop's 0%. On a $40 item with no shipping: Mercari takes $4.00, Poshmark takes $8.00, and Depop's US processing is about $1.77.

The catch is the base. Mercari charges on item plus buyer-paid shipping, so a $40 item with $9 shipping pays $4.90, not $4.00. Poshmark charges on the item price only but its 20% is double. Depop is cheapest but has the smallest buyer base. Which platform wins depends on what you sell: Mercari's flat 10% rewards higher-priced items, Poshmark's included shipping label rewards heavy clothing, and Depop's 0% rewards volume. The Mercari fees page and the IRS self-employed center cover the details.

How to price for Mercari's 10% fee

Because Mercari's fee is charged on the item price plus buyer-paid shipping, price the item with the fee already in mind. To net a target amount T on an item, list it at T ÷ 0.9, to net $45 you list at $50, and 10% of $50 is your $5 fee. If the buyer pays shipping, remember the fee applies to that too: a $50 item with $8.99 shipping pays $5.90 in fees, not $5.00.

Mercari's flat 10% has no fixed component, so unlike eBay or Poshmark it doesn't punish cheap items as hard. A $10 item pays $1.00 and a $100 item pays $10.00, the rate is the same at every price point. That makes Mercari friendly to low-priced inventory, as long as you charge shipping through the platform rather than absorbing it.

Do you owe tax on Mercari sales?

Mercari income is taxable in the US when you're selling for profit, and the 10% selling fee is a deductible business expense. Mercari may issue a Form 1099-K once your sales cross the IRS reporting threshold, and you're expected to report the income whether or not a form arrives. Keep your payout statements, the gross sale, the fee and your cost of goods are three separate numbers you'll need.

If you're a casual seller moving personal items at a loss, there's usually nothing to pay, because you're not making a profit. If you buy to resell, self-employment tax of 15.3% applies to your net earnings, and you may need to make quarterly estimated payments. The IRS self-employed tax center is the place to start, alongside Mercari's own fees page for the exact charges on each sale.

When Mercari beats eBay and Poshmark on fees

Mercari's flat 10% is simple, but simple is not always cheapest. On a $45 clothing sale, Mercari keeps $4.50, Poshmark keeps $9.00 (its 20% tier starts at $15), and eBay's 13.6% final value fee comes to $6.12 before payment processing is added on top.

Mercari wins in the middle of the range. Between roughly $20 and $80 the flat 10% stays under eBay's clothing rate and you never touch Poshmark's 20% tier, so you keep more on the same item. It loses at both ends: below $15 Poshmark's flat $2.95 beats a 10% cut, and on high-ticket items eBay's fee caps and buyer traffic usually come out ahead.

One detail most sellers miss: Mercari charges its 10% on the buyer-paid shipping as well as the item price. On a $30 item with $8 shipping you are paying commission on $38, not $30. If you ship on your own label, fold that into the price instead of listing it separately.