Mercari guide
Mercari's flat 10% selling fee and flexible shipping model make profit math deceptively simple — until a free-shipping offer on a heavy item kills the margin. A well-built Mercari spreadsheet keeps SKU, bin, purchase cost, shipping model, fee, and net profit in one row so every order is reconcilable before the next sourcing run.
Separate shipping cost from marketplace deductions so seller-paid labels do not hide profit loss.
| Field | Category | Tracks | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| SKU | Inventory | Internal stock number used to connect the listing, bin, and sale record. | EX-SKU-001 |
| Item Title | Inventory | Short listing title or product description. | Example denim jacket |
| Platform | Listing | Marketplace where the item is listed or sold. | eBay |
| Date Listed | Listing | Date the item first went live so aging inventory is easy to review. | 2026-05-01 |
| List Price | Listing | Current asking price before offers, discounts, or promoted listing fees. | $38.00 |
| Purchase Cost | Cost | Item-level cost of goods before platform fees and shipping. | $12.00 |
| Bin Location | Storage | Shelf, tote, rack, or box location used to pull sold items quickly. | BIN-A03 |
| Sold Date | Sales | Date the order was paid or accepted. | 2026-05-21 |
| Sale Price | Sales | Buyer-paid item price before marketplace deductions. | $36.00 |
| Shipping Cost | Shipping | Actual label or postage cost paid by the seller. | $6.85 |
Most Mercari profit mistakes come from treating shipping as a fixed cost. Whether you offer free shipping, use Mercari Prepaid, or pass the charge to the buyer changes your actual take-home by $3 to $9 per order. Separate columns make that visible without a manual calculation every time.
| Field | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SKU | Create an internal SKU before listing so bin pulls match the spreadsheet. | EX-MERC-BIN-C02-011 |
| Shipping model | Record whether shipping is seller-paid (label cost) or buyer-paid. | Seller-paid / Mercari Prepaid |
| Shipping cost | Log actual label cost for seller-paid orders; $0 for buyer-paid. | $4.75 label cost |
| Marketplace fee | Calculate 10% of sale price before reviewing profit. | $3.50 (10% of $35) |
| Offer delta | Track list price versus accepted offer for discount pattern review. | $42 list → $35 offer |
| Rating status | Flag orders rated so you know when a relist or cross-post is safe. | Rated / Unrated |
Mercari makes listing fast — sometimes too fast to assign a proper SKU. These four steps create a consistent loop from sourcing to sold so the spreadsheet row is accurate when you need it, not when you find time to fix it.
1
Assign an internal SKU the moment you decide to list an item. Write it on a hang tag, bin label, or piece of painter tape. This SKU becomes the bridge between the physical item, the spreadsheet row, and the Mercari custom label field.
2
A bin code like MERC-BIN-C02 tells you the storage section at a glance. When Mercari marks an order as sold, you pull the bin, not the title. Add a bin location column and keep it consistent across every row.
3
Fill in sale price, offer delta, shipping model, and a shipping cost estimate before printing the label. If actual postage differs, update the cell. Catching a $6 gap on a $20 sale is easier before the package ships than when you reconcile the month.
4
Mercari ratings affect seller standing. A rating status column with values like Listed, Sold, Shipped, Rated lets you see which closed orders still need attention before you relist the same item on another platform.
Every Mercari sale involves a shipping decision: free shipping, Mercari Prepaid label at a tiered price, or buyer-paid. Each model affects net profit differently, and none of them are captured in the basic Mercari Seller Dashboard. Your spreadsheet is the only place this comparison lives.
Keep two rows for shipping: "shipping cost" (your label expense) and "shipping charged" ($0 if you absorb it). The gap is a real cost.
Mercari Prepaid labels are convenient but fixed-size pricing. Weigh items before committing to free shipping offers on heavier goods.
For clothing, poly mailers in two or three sizes keep actual shipping cost close to estimated cost, which protects margins.
Mercari charges a flat 10% selling fee on the sale price. No listing fee, no final value fee tiers, no promoted listing add-on. This makes the fee easy to calculate but easy to forget when pricing against similar eBay or Poshmark margins.
Spreadsheet formula example
Net profit = Sale price − Purchase cost − Shipping cost − (Sale price × 0.10)
Replace 0.10 with the current Mercari fee rate if it changes. Keeping the fee as a formula rather than a hardcoded dollar amount means it updates automatically if you revise the sale price.
Mercari buyers can send offers, and sellers can accept, decline, or counter. Add an offer price column next to list price. Over time, you can see which categories get negotiated down 15% routinely — and whether those categories are worth sourcing at current costs.
| List price | Offer accepted | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| $45.00 | $38.00 | −15.6% |
| $22.00 | $20.00 | −9.1% |
| $18.00 | $18.00 | No discount |
Formula guidance
Use sale price, purchase cost, actual shipping label cost, and the 10% Mercari selling fee as separate inputs before reviewing profit.
Shows item-level cash profit after cost, prep, shipping, fees, and promotion costs.
=Sale Price + Shipping Charged - Purchase Cost - Prep Cost - Shipping Cost - Marketplace Fee - Promotion Fee
Use buyer-paid shipping as revenue only when it is listed separately from the item price.
Compares profit quality across categories, sources, and marketplaces.
=Net Profit / Sale Price
Format the cell as a percentage and review low-margin rows before sourcing more similar items.
Measures how much listed inventory sold during the period you are reviewing.
=Sold Items / Listed Items
Run this on a weekly or monthly summary tab, not on each item row.
Flags stale inventory and shows how quickly each SKU turns into cash.
=Sold Date - Date Listed
Leave the cell blank until the item sells so active listings do not distort averages.
Start with better bins and the right mailer sizes to control shipping cost. When crosslisted inventory causes overselling or daily shipping labels take over sourcing time, look at listing tools.
Switch sheets if you also sell on another platform. Each guide keeps the same SKU and profit structure.
Use SKU, item title, bin location, purchase cost, list price, sale price, shipping cost (label or Mercari Prepaid), marketplace fee (10% of sale price), prep cost, sold date, and net profit. Add an offer-received column if you use the offer feature frequently.
Mercari charges a flat 10% selling fee on the sale price. Keep a marketplace fee column that stores the calculated deduction and a separate shipping cost column so you can see whether free shipping offers ate into margin.
Listings with free shipping can rank higher in Mercari search, but the label cost comes out of your profit. Track shipping charged versus shipping cost in two separate columns so you can measure the actual impact per item type and decide by category rather than guessing.
Add an offer price column next to list price. When a buyer sends an offer or you send a counter, record the accepted amount in sale price and note the delta in the offer column. This shows how much discounting is happening by category over time.
Consider a crosslisting tool when you list the same item on Mercari, eBay, and Poshmark and manual status updates create overselling. Upgrade tracking software when rating follow-ups, offer management, and daily shipping labels take more time than sourcing.