Mercari Review + New Features and Promo Offer Free $10 Credit

Some of you may know I've bought and sold on Mercari for quite some time, years. I've had great experiences and some awful experiences.

You can read about one of my awful experiences here ; http://basicallyybella.blogspot.com/2015/06/mercari-review-hit-miss-but-i-wouldnt.html

Now with that being said, I still use Mercari for both selling and buying but I do not make large purchases. If you've read my old reviews or posts on Mercari you'll be happy to learn Mercari has made plenty of updates that help buyers and sellers, let's talk about them. 

Offers ; You can now use a "offer" button to make offers on items you're interested in. This feature has been on Ebay and Poshmark for quite some times and it's something I've always wanted Mercari to add it. This helps buyers make quick offers and it helps sellers because if an offer is made and accepted the payment is processed immediately. 

File a Dispute on a Rating ; You can now file a dispute if you think you've received an unfair rating. If someone leaves a bad rating because they didn't read the description, because the post office had delays on shipping, or some other unfair reason you can now file a dispute the rating to have it removed.

Opening Multiple Cases at Once ; I've had plenty of problems in the past where you could only contact customer service one time and then contact them again only after the first case is solved. This proved to be a nuisance if you purchase and sell a lot of items on Mercari but you don't have to deal with that anymore, you can now contact Mercari about multiple orders. 

Review ; Mercari is a great site to sell and to buy on. I do not recommend purchasing high priced items or electronics because of my past experiences. Mercari does have customer service so if you receive an item that is not as described you can return it for a refund. In order to file a claim you must contact Mercari and you can not leave a rating because that will close the order. You must also be able to prove you received an item that was not as described by sending Mercari photos.

Pros ;    
cheap selling fees
sell almost any items
offer button
customer service available for returns
rating system so buyers can see how reliable seller is
you can find great items for low prices

Cons ;
You can't purchase electronics without a risk

Now on to the Promo ; For a limited time only you can get a $10 credit for downloading the Mercari app (free) and using invite code YYSGQZ (new members only)

I'm thinking of posting a FAQ/tutorial on Mercari things, like how to request a return, etc. Would anybody be interested in these posts? If so ask some questions below that you think should be answered. 

Mercari Horror Stories / Review | The Laptop Incident

I've decided to start a series of Mercari horror stories from my personal experiences. But let it be known after these experiences I still buy / sell on Mercari because it a source of income for me and I still find amazing deals. So I can not blame Mercari on my misfortune as I've continued to buy/sell on there and I know there are problems on all selling platforms. Along the way I've learned my lesson with each horrible experience.

So this happens to be the WORST purchase I've ever made on Mercari. I bought a laptop, before purchasing it I asked the seller if there was any issues, etc. Most of my questions focused on overheating because my previous laptop crashed due to over heating. The seller assured me that it didn't overheat and it was in great condition. So I placed my order and waited to receive my almost new laptop. Before I even got the laptop the seller started telling me to rate her, when it comes to electronics I like to check them out for a few hours before I leave a rating so I told her I would leave a rating as soon as I got the laptop and checked it out. When I received it everything seemed fine, it was packaged well but I had to charge it before I could check it out. The first red flag I noticed was the serial number was scratched off, making me wonder if it was a stolen laptop, this seller was selling a lot of laptops but I figured they owned a laptop store or something, but I pushed the issue to the side and started charging the laptop. After awhile I went to turn the laptop, it had been restored and everything was going great but within minutes it started overheating, I couldn't even use it for 30 minutes because it was so hot that I had to turn it off. I contacted the seller and was immediately attacked with messages. She called me a liar and scammer. She immediately started making new listings on Mercari saying me and another buyer was trying to scam her, although I told her I just wanted to return the laptop for a refund via Mercari since she lied about the condition. The other buyer was also complaining about the condition and serial number being removed as well for the pc she bought, so I knew it wasn't just me. Since the seller was cussing at me and calling me names I just contacted Mercari and didn't reply to the seller at all. I sent Mercari pictures of everything they asked for included screen shots of the sellers messages and listing but in the end they said no to my return request because they couldn't see the laptop overheating. I was livid obviously you can't see a laptop overheating and I felt that Mercari should have protected me more as the buyer. I decided to delete all my listings and I stopped buying on Mercari for a few months. But I decided to start selling on Mercari again to make money.

Lesson learned ; Don't make huge purchases on Mercari, I lost a lot of money, the laptop ended up crashing a few months later. I no longer spend a lot of money on Mercari and I don't purchase electronics, it's not worth the risk. If something happens that's not "visible" I will be out of the money.

Stay tuned for more Mercari stories.