Second-hand Site Mercari: English Shopping Guide
Today I have another second-hand site guide for you, and this one has tons of selection.
Mercari (メルカリ) is a second-hand site similar to Craigslist for buying and selling used items. It’s different from other sites though for one reason: everything is shipped. This means no in-person meet ups. And usually the shipping is handled anonymously so buyer and seller never learn each other’s personal details. Pretty cool. Read below to find out how to shop this site. Even if you don’t really understand Japanese, you can still enjoy bargain hunting if you follow this simple guide.
Registration
Go to the Mercari site to register and fill in the information below, and you’ll be all set with an account!
I chose to register by email for this example.
If you don’t know your name in Katakana, try a simple converter to change your English name to the Katakana characters.
And that’s it! You should be all set now.
Shopping
Next is the fun part. Let’s get to shopping on Mercari! There are probably way more options on this site compared to Tokyo Craigslist or JIMOTY, so you won’t hurt for choice.
First type the item you’re looking for in the box at the top of the app. You can write in English if it’s an English brand, otherwise if it’s just an item like “purse”, I suggest Google translating your search term.
As you type, the app will make suggestions to you. I used Kate Spade for this example. I clicked the first suggestion at the very top to make sure I get the biggest number of results.
Scroll through to see your choices!
Once you’ve found something you like, if you click the item you can see more information and photos. Here this bag costs ¥20,000 ($200). Also you can see how many people have “liked” (given hearts to) the item or commented. Click the heart to give a like on the left side, or click the right side button to see or leave a comment (usually a question for the seller). You can Google translate these comments easily!
Make sure you see these characters in the description of the item. They mean that the seller will pay for shipping so it’s included in the price. I always choose items with this option. Of course it’s up to you, but I recommend leaving the payment to them as that seems to be customary on Mercari.
Paying
If you click the red button you will be purchasing the item. Usually the option is chosen by the seller to have you pay at a convenience store unless you have connected a credit card to the app. I always pay at convenience stores because it’s so – convenient. Note there will be a ¥100 ($1) service fee for paying at one of these stores. Click the big red button once more to confirm purchasing the item!
The next page simply confirms your purchase and tells you the deadline for payment. You’ll also have to choose which convenience store you’d like to use – I highly recommend Seven Eleven and I’ll tell you why below.
I’ve translated all seven of the store options here for you:
- Seven Eleven
- Family Mart
- Daily Yamazaki
- Bank ATM (I honestly don’t know how to do this)
- Lawson
- Mini Stop
- Seicomart
Now, if you have Seven Elevens around you (and I think they’re basically everywhere in Japan), I really recommend choosing to use them (choice #1) because it’s so easy to pay. You don’t need to use a terminal which means no Japanese needed! See what I mean below.
Once you’ve chosen Seven Eleven, click the red link text I’ve highlighted above. This will open a separate page with a barcode.
All you have to do is walk into a Seven Eleven and show a cashier this screen and they’ll know what to do. You pay in the store, get a special receipt and voila. Your payment is done and the item should be shipping to you soon. Trust me this is way, way better than trying to use the Lawson terminal!
So that’s pretty much the entire guide from registration to checking out. Let me know if you need any other tips or extra details to help make the process easier. I love shopping with Mercari and I know you will too. It’s easy once you get the hang of the app.
