In today's world where purchasing goods and services are within reach using the internet, many people are encouraged to venture into reselling without leaving the comfort of their own home. This is made possible by many platforms which act as a channel where sellers and buyers meet. Aside from hosting millions of listings, these marketplaces are also involved in the payment process. This is why it is crucial to look for a site that provides protection not only to its buyers but also to its sellers.

Looking for a place to sell and receive your earnings securely to avoid experiencing any fraud is crucial. Not only because it can potentially result in losses, but it can also impact your business as a whole. With so many reselling sites in the market, it can be overwhelming to check which marketplace provides security to its users and which is trustworthy.

Finding a trustworthy marketplace should be your top priority, especially if you're new to reselling. Although many of these platforms claim that they are legit, it still pays to check what each of them can offer and how you can dodge fraudsters. Some of the advantages you can have when you're selling in a legitimate marketplace are the following:

1. Your items and earnings are protected with the seller protection policy in place if a dispute is filed against you.
2. The marketplace can get involved during a resolution process.
3. There are more potential buyers as shoppers trust that they are less likely to come across scammers.
4. Buyers are verified, making sellers safer from getting victimized by fraud.
5. There is plenty of room to grow your business, as platform trustworthiness equals platform stability.

With all these pros, you might be thinking about what marketplaces are legit. Although there are other options out there, let's discuss Mercari and learn how legitimate the platform is.

Is Mercari a safe marketplace?

First launched in Japan, Mercari has been in the e-commerce business since 2013. The company's headquarters is in Japan and now, Mercari has offices in the United States and a development center in India. With so many users across all 50 states, the app has more than 20 million monthly active users as of 2022.

Safety is one of the critical aspects that Mercari has paid attention to. The company is committed to providing its users with a safe place to buy and sell, hence the safety measures in place. They use security systems and AI technology to ensure safe trading practices that protect both buyers' and sellers' accounts and assets and monitor any violations of the Terms of Use. They also have teams of dedicated customer support that are always ready to assist should any issue arise about transactions or account issues.

Is Mercari a safe and trustworthy marketplace? The answer is yes. This online marketplace is a safe platform to sell your items, earn a profit, and grow your business. However, note that in today's world, taking extra precautions when transacting online is still a must. Remember that Mercari is just a bridge or a middle-man that connects you to your buyers. It is still included in your duty as the seller to know the safety practices before trading on the platform and identifying if your buyers are verified users.

About Your Earnings

The financial aspect of any business is one of the most vital parts of growth. That is why looking for a marketplace where you can have confidence that your assets are protected is crucial.

On Mercari, sellers are assured of getting their earnings as the platform utilizes an Escrow payment system. This ensures that all transactions involving payments are guaranteed safe for the payor and the payee.

Mercari sellers have two options when getting paid: Instant Pay, which you can get within a few minutes, or ACH Direct Deposit to your checking account. Both options are secured and handled by Mercari, with some differences.

• Instant Pay
• Fund transfer is fast
• You can transfer your balance to your debit card
• You have to pay a fee of $2 for cashing out
• There is a cash-out limit per month of up to $500 only

• Direct Deposit
• Fund transfer may take 2 to 5 business days
• It directly gets deposited to your checking account
• If the balance transfer is below $10, a $2 cash-out fee applies
• If your deposit gets rejected, you will pay a $2 fee, and the balance will return to your Mercari account

Note that all balance transfers require sellers to verify their identity. Security measures such as verifying your government ID and together with a photo of yourself are required to be eligible to use Instant Pay. As for Direct Deposit, you will have to indicate your ACH Routing Number, which is unique to each bank that is used in conjunction with your account number.

Make yourself verified

Profile verification on Mercari is a top priority of the platform. Not only does this signify the validity and presence of any account, but it also serves as a security feature to lessen the occurrence of marketplace fraud.

Although Mercari states that sellers should still use their best judgment when it comes to interacting with their buyers, a profile verification badge is provided to all verified users. This helps signify that they have complied with the information required from them, such as their personal information (address/full name/date of birth), a verified email, verified SMS or contact number, and a verified government ID. To increase trust in any account, Mercari also added optional verification information, which links a Facebook profile to the Mercari account.

Having a profile verification badge in your account increases your chance of earning the trust of your buyers. To check your badge, you can go to your account's Trust & Verification section.

Note: Mercari verification requires all buyers and sellers to provide their information; failure to do so can result in transaction cancellations or account closure.

Seller Badges

Mercari is not only dedicated to intensifying the security of each transaction through profile verification, but it also helps sellers show that they are legitimate merchants with the help of seller badges.

Seller badges are one way to show your buyers that your transactions are legit and that you can be trusted. With every milestone achieved, Mercari awards its sellers the following, which shows up on your profile:

• The 'Member since' badge shows your buyers how long you have been selling with Mercari. You can get this upon signing up.
• The 'Quick Shipper' badge, which you can earn if you ship off the orders within 24 hours. This badge is based on the tracking scan of couriers and not when you confirm the shipment.
• The 'Reliable'' badge signifies that most of your transactions are successful and you have no or fewer cancellations.
• The 'Fast Responder' badge signifies that you are responsive to your buyers' queries with an average time of 12 hours.
• The 'Go Getter' badge signifies that you are hitting your goals.

Mercari Authenticate

Because Mercari wants all its users to receive the best service, they are also dedicated to ensuring that all items, specifically high-end and luxury brands sold on the marketplace are not fake.

The platform has partnered with Real Authentication, an independent third party, to evaluate luxury items. Authentication is done by inspecting photos of items such as shoes, handbags, jewelry, eyewear, wallets, and watches. They inspect the materials used, logo, tag, and serial number to identify whether they are authentic and not counterfeit. Once verified authentic, a diamond badge appears beside the listing.

Seller Protection

Mercari, being a legit marketplace, provides protection not only to the buyers but for the sellers. Aside from saving buyers from fraudulent transactions, you, as a seller, are also protected from disputes that can be filed against you. You are protected from the following:

• Getting Your Earnings

  This assures you that for as long as you ship your items as described, indicating accurate descriptions and photos, and ship them on time, your earnings will be deposited to your balance once it is delivered, provided that the buyer did not file any dispute against you.

• Shipping of Items

  Your items are covered by up to $200 Shipping Protection. This applies to all Mercari prepaid labels, items delivered using the Mercari Local, and items that get lost or damaged during transit.

• Returned Items

  Not all returns have a valid reason. Hence, Mercari placed guidelines for which sellers are covered and are eligible for reimbursement depending on the situation. If you received the item in a different condition compared to when you shipped it, you could reach out to Mercari Help Center within 24 hours of confirmed delivery. Provide photo evidence stating that you received the item in a different condition or if it was damaged in transit to you.

Note: If you need help with your orders, payments, and account, Mercari has a dedicated customer support team that you can always contact through their Contact Us page.

Sell with Confidence with OneShop

There are so many things going on when you are selling online. Even though it is not similar to businesses with physical shops and staff, its daily operations still require your full attention for it to grow. Ensuring you sell on a trustworthy marketplace is just the tip of the iceberg. That is why managing everything else, from ensuring you are transacting with verified buyers up to shipping and dealing with your cash flow, can be time-consuming and demand a lot of effort.

It can be overwhelming when you think about how you can handle other aspects of your business if you are doing it alone. Thankfully, there is an automation service that you can rely on to perform other tasks for you so you can have the best reselling experience.

Preferred by thousands of sellers, OneShop is an automation service that makes online selling as seamless as possible for sellers like you. It supports marketplaces such as Mercari, Poshmark, Depop, and eBay. Aside from helping you reach more buyers through relisting and crosslisting from your Mercari account, OneShop also helps you avoid selling a single item to multiple buyers with its automatic delisting feature.

It can also help you create your listing in the most convenient and fastest way with its easy-to-use draft listing process. From title to description, which has character counts to help ensure you include enough information, you can also take square photos of your items right in the app. With the newly added feature Photo Tab, you can now go over all of your photos when you need them.

You can edit them in bulk right in the app to adjust the lighting, contrast, saturation, and rotation at once. You can also remove the photo background in bulk which is a convenient feature that lets you speed up your workflow. Moreover, you can also proceed with filling out all the other information you need while uploading your photos in the background.

Thinking about your financial records, too? OneShop has you covered. With the bookkeeping feature, you don't have to worry about your transaction record, which you can use during tax season.

OneShop is dedicated to making sellers' life easy, and it has been proven to help businesses succeed. If you want to see why thousands of resellers trust OneShop, you can experience it with its 7-day free trial. Sign up now and set up your account!