The fact that the web is constantly monitoring my online activity and behavior, it really wouldn’t surprise me if Instagram’s AI knew me better than most people do. What’s that? A free week at a new HIIT gym that’s opening in the neighborhood? I’m in! You know me so well, Instagram. So, when I saw an ad for a new selling platform, Mercari, I succumbed to their targeted marketing campaign and downloaded the app, despite having no idea how to pronounce Mercari.
Let me tell you about the first 24 hours after I downloaded the app:
Saturday June 22nd 18:01: Downloaded app and uploaded my existing Poshmark/Depop inventory, about 20 items total.
Saturday June 23rd 18:25: PING! Notification from Mercari. The pessimistic side of me assumes that they’re trying to educate this new user on how to use the platform but I was mistaken. Someone was asking a question about the condition of an item I’ve had listed less than an hour ago. I respond but it doesn’t result in a sale.
Saturday June 23rd 19:07: Another message. Someone wants to know if I can unbundle a shorts/top combo I’d posted. Happy to oblige, I recreated the listings separately but unfortunately this doesn’t result in a sale.
Saturday June 23rd 21:42: I find out that I’m not the only one sat on the sofa scrolling through my phone on Saturday night. Another message about an item. After fishing out my tape measure and sending over some measurements, I get a sale!
Saturday June 23rd 22:05: Someone else wants some measurements. Seriously guys, it’s Saturday night, get a life. Just kidding. I’m actually very excited by the amount of interest my items are receiving. Tape measure already out, I send over some measurements but it doesn’t result in a sale.
Sunday June 24th 10:15: I receive a question about a men’s dress shirt that I posted. This never happens. I always attempt to sell my boyfriend’s old clothes on these apps but they never usually receive any attention. I assume that these selling platforms are targeted towards women but I guess that men are jumping on the thrifting train now. Welcome aboard! Unfortunately, I did not sell this shirt to young Scottie.
Sunday June 24th 13:18: I receive an offer on a pair of shorts that is just too low to accept. Mercari gives you the option to pay for the shipping (similar to Depop), you can select the carrier and weight and then it deducts the cost from your earnings. Because of this expense, and the 10% fee, if I’d have accepted the offer I would have made around $4 on a pair of $28 shorts. Thanks, but no thanks.
Sunday June 24th 15:33: The 2 minutes I spent on Saturday unbundling the shorts and top combo has finally paid off. I receive an offer for the shorts and promise to mail them as soon as the post office opens on Monday morning. Not having a printer at home meant that I had to stroll down to my local FedEx and print the labels for my two sales but I’m always ok with an excuse to add some more steps to my Garmin pedometer.
So there we have it, in my first 24 hours using Mercari, I’d sold 2 of the 20 items I listed. Honestly, there doesn’t seem to be anything obviously unique about this selling platform. I think that they’re just investing heavily in getting it out there and letting the increase in shoppers, increase the sellers that increases the shoppers etc etc. Have you ever seen those billboards that say, “If you can see this, so can your customers”. I’m imagining that Mercari is a little bit like this at this point. Oh, and I did google “Mercari meaning” and according to The Legal Dictionary, “the term mercantile is derived from the Latin verb mercari meaning to trade, to market, to do business”. I still don’t know how to pronounce it.
Another extra note: when I signed up, Mercari gave me a $5 coupon off any purchase but I had to use it within 48 hours. A sucker for a FOMO coupon, I shopped around for some second hand Birkenstocks and did find a pair that I liked, made an offer and it was accepted. I will most likely, post again about this experience once they arrive. 🙂