Depop and Mercari both hand sellers a free, prepaid shipping label by default, which is where the similarities mostly end. Depop charges US and UK sellers no selling commission at all, just a small payment processing fee, and leans almost entirely on a young, style-driven crowd browsing a visual feed. Mercari charges a flat 10% no matter what's being sold, and works more like a general marketplace where clothing competes for attention alongside electronics and home goods. One notable gap: Depop sellers can reach buyers outside the US by arranging their own international shipping, something Mercari doesn't offer at all. Which platform earns its keep depends less on the math and more on whether the inventory is niche fashion or genuinely anything, a question our wider guide to choosing the right resale marketplace can help frame further.
| Depop | Mercari | |
|---|---|---|
| Selling fee | 0% for US/UK sellers, 10% elsewhere | Flat 10% on item price + buyer-paid shipping |
| Payment processing | 3.3% + $0.45 (US) on item plus shipping | None, removed as of January 2025 |
| Shipping | Prepaid, weight-tiered, domestic only; self-arranged required for international | Prepaid, weight-tiered nationwide flat rate; no international option at all |
| Reach | ~7M active buyers, nearly 90% under 34, sold in 150+ countries | ~23M monthly active users, US only |
| Selling style | Visual feed, hashtags, following, optional Boosted Listings | Smart Pricing, Promote, minimal social requirement |
| Authentication | No built-in program | Mercari Authenticate, $5 flat, photo-based |
Depop dropped its 10% selling fee entirely for sellers based in the US (new listings from July 15, 2024) and the UK (from March 20, 2024), leaving only payment processing: 3.3% plus $0.45 in the US, charged on the item price plus whatever shipping the buyer pays. Sellers outside those two countries still pay the older 10% fee. An optional Boosted Listings feature adds 12% in the UK and US, or 8% elsewhere, but only when the boost is what actually drove the sale.
Mercari skips the country-specific carve-outs and charges everyone the same flat 10%, calculated on the item price plus shipping, with no separate processing fee since Mercari dropped that charge for listings created or updated on or after January 6, 2025. On a $50 sale with $8 of buyer-paid shipping, Depop's US fee comes to $2.36, leaving $55.64, against Mercari's $5.80, leaving $52.20, a gap of roughly $3.44 that would be much larger before Depop's 2024 fee cut. The full numbers for each are in our Depop fees guide and Mercari fees guide, alongside the full marketplace fee comparison for the rest of the series.
For professional resellers
Depop and Mercari calculate fees differently and reach very different buyers. Oly keeps stock and pricing synced across both, so a sale on one doesn't leave a ghost listing live on the other.
See how Oly worksDepop's default shipping and Mercari's work almost the same way: both generate a prepaid label automatically, price it by weight, and don't charge the seller a cent, since the buyer covers it at checkout. Where they split is international reach. Depop lets a seller opt into shipping abroad by arranging it themselves, at their own cost and with their own carrier, which is how sellers based in the US or UK reach the roughly four out of five Depop buyers who aren't in either country.
Mercari has no equivalent option, self-arranged or otherwise. Its shipping system, and the marketplace itself, is limited to the 50 US states and Washington, DC, so a seller with international demand for an item simply doesn't have a path to it here. Both platforms do share one operational headache: shipping a package heavier or larger than the default label covers requires an upgrade or a workaround, so weighing the actual packed item before listing saves a surprise fee on either one.
Depop's buyer base skews young and style-focused. As of Etsy's most recent disclosure, the platform counts roughly 7 million active buyers, with nearly 90% under the age of 34, more than 3 million active sellers, and close to $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2025, including nearly 60% year-over-year growth in the US alone. Depop is currently owned by Etsy, which acquired it in 2021, though eBay has a pending $1.2 billion deal to acquire it that was still awaiting UK regulatory clearance as of mid-2026, a detail worth knowing for sellers weighing Depop's overall legitimacy and backing against Mercari's.
Mercari's audience is bigger by raw numbers and much broader by category: more than 23 million monthly active users, publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, buying electronics, toys, home goods, and collectibles as readily as clothing. It's also entirely domestic, with none of Depop's international sprawl. A seller with a niche vintage or streetwear catalog generally finds a more receptive audience on Depop; one with mixed, general merchandise usually finds more buyers on Mercari.
Depop's discovery model runs on a visual feed and hashtags, closer to Instagram than a search engine, with following and consistent posting driving most organic reach. Boosted Listings can add visibility for a fee, but it's usage-based rather than automatic, and there's still no built-in authentication program on Depop, unlike most of the other marketplaces in this series, so buyers and sellers largely rely on reviews, their own judgment, and a solid authentication checklist for anything higher-value.
Mercari's visibility tools are pricing mechanics rather than social ones: Smart Pricing gradually lowers a listing toward a floor price the seller sets, and Promote gives a manual bump in search placement whenever the price drops by 5% or more. Mercari does run its own authentication service, a $5 flat fee per item based on photos rather than a physical inspection, optional for handbags, shoes, jewelry, watches, and eyewear over $100, which our rundown of authentication options across resale platforms covers alongside Poshmark's and eBay's programs. Keeping listings, pricing, and stock accurate across a visual feed on one side and an algorithm on the other is usually easier once that side of the business is automated rather than tracked by hand.
Depop makes the most sense for vintage, Y2K, and streetwear inventory aimed at a younger buyer, especially once the US or UK fee cut is factored in, and especially for sellers willing to handle international orders themselves for the larger non-US share of the audience. Mercari fits better for general or mixed inventory, sellers who'd rather skip a visual feed and hashtag strategy entirely, and anyone who doesn't need buyers outside the US. For a closer look at day-to-day selling on Depop specifically, from bundling to dropshipping compliance, our full Depop review covers what it actually takes to run a five-star shop there.
Neither audience fully overlaps with the other, which is exactly why plenty of resellers run both, often alongside Poshmark for pure fashion or eBay for reach. Our guide to reselling across multiple platforms covers how that split typically works, and once you're crosslisting beyond just two storefronts, avoiding stockouts when you list everywhere is worth reading before the catalog grows further.
Mercari does, through Mercari Authenticate, an optional $5 photo-based check for higher-value handbags, shoes, jewelry, watches, and eyewear. Depop has no equivalent program at all, so buyers and sellers rely on listing details, photos, and reviews rather than a platform-run check.
On Depop, yes, by opting into self-arranged international shipping at the seller's own cost and choice of carrier. Mercari has no international shipping option whatsoever, whether platform-run or self-arranged, so its marketplace is effectively closed to buyers outside the US.
A sale is pending but not final. Etsy, which has owned Depop since 2021, agreed in February 2026 to sell it to eBay for approximately $1.2 billion. As of mid-2026 the deal was still awaiting regulatory clearance in the UK, so Depop remained under Etsy's ownership in the meantime.
Because Depop's 0% only covers the selling commission, not payment processing, which still applies to the item price plus shipping. On a modest sale the two aren't as far apart in dollars as the headline numbers suggest, though Depop still comes out ahead in most US and UK cases.
On Depop, a following and consistent posting meaningfully affect how often a shop gets discovered through the feed. On Mercari, visibility depends much more on price competitiveness and Smart Pricing settings than on any audience a seller has built, which suits sellers who'd rather not manage a social presence.
Oly keeps your Depop, Mercari, and every other marketplace listing synced automatically, so a stock update happens once instead of platform by platform.
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