Marketplaces

Depop vs Mercari: which should a US seller use?

Published October 13, 2026 8 min read

Depop vs Mercari for a US seller: start on Mercari, and add Depop once your first sale has paid out. Mercari's banned list names no electronics category, and Depop bans most things that run on electrical power. For clothing the difference is time: a Mercari buyer has 72 hours after delivery to ask for a return, and a Depop buyer has 30 days from purchase.

Say you sell a jacket on Monday and it arrives Thursday. On Mercari, the buyer's window to ask for a return closes that Sunday. On Depop it stays open for more than three weeks after that. That gap, more than the fee rate, is what these two marketplaces trade off.

Every rule below comes from the linked help page, and both marketplaces change their rules, so open the page before you plan around a deadline. The "start with" calls are our reading of the rulebooks, a rule of thumb and not a measured sales result.

Which is better for sellers, Depop or Mercari?

We have no sourced sell-through data for either marketplace, and none on who shops where. To fill that gap, list 20 items that sat unsold on your main marketplace, give them one full selling cycle, and compare what you kept per hour.

What do Depop and Mercari charge sellers?

This section compares what each fee is charged on, not the rate. Rates change, so they sit on the linked pages, and you plug today's number into the sum below.

Depop charges US sellers no selling fee. It charges a payment-processing fee (the cost of handling the buyer's payment) on the item price plus shipping plus any applicable taxes. Mercari is the reverse: since January 6, 2025 it charges a selling fee on the item price plus buyer-paid shipping on new and updated listings, with no separate processing fee.

Here is one made-up 20% fee applied to both, on a $100 item with $10 of shipping paid by the buyer and $8 of sales tax. It is not either marketplace's real rate.

The $1.60 gap is 20% of the $8 in tax. Depop's fee takes a share of money that never reaches you, and Mercari's takes a share of shipping money.

Two extras. Depop charges a Boosting fee only if you pay to promote a listing, a buyer interacts with that Boosted listing and then buys within 28 days. Buyers pay their own checkout fee on both, Depop's Marketplace fee and Mercari's Buyer Protection fee, which sits on top of your price but not out of your pocket.

For today's rates, use the fee comparison page and the Depop fee guide. The net proceeds calculator runs your own prices through them, and its Custom option takes a rate that has changed since.

How long until you get paid on Depop and Mercari?

Depop credits your Depop Balance (the money sitting in your Depop account) 2 business days after delivery, or 10 business days after the sale if that comes first. Mercari releases your money when the buyer rates the order, and it rates the order for them within 72 hours of carrier-confirmed delivery.

How long can a buyer ask for a refund?

Mercari lets a buyer ask for a return for 72 hours after delivery, and only before the order completes. After that, "returns or refunds are not permitted". Depop lets a buyer raise an issue for 30 days from purchase.

Back to the jacket. Depop pays you on day 7 with 23 days of buyer window still open (30 minus 7), while Mercari's window ends on Sunday, about when your money is released.

On Depop, the payout date is only half the story. If you withdraw everything on day 7 and the buyer is refunded later, your balance can go negative: the payout page lists a refund sent from your account when your balance is low or zero as one reason a balance looks wrong. The upside is that when a Depop buyer is refunded, the fees on that sale are reversed too.

A rule of thumb: the price of the item sets how much this matters. On a $15 jacket, a refund after payout is a small loss, so list it wherever the item is allowed. On a $150 jacket the same refund costs ten times as much, so either leave the money in your Depop Balance until the 30 days are up, or sell it on Mercari, where the window closes around payout.

How long do you have to ship on Depop and Mercari?

Mercari gives you 3 days to drop a sold item off with the carrier. Depop waits 10 days, then cancels an unshipped order and refunds the buyer.

Each protection has a tighter deadline. Mercari Shipping Protection needs a Mercari prepaid label, a carrier scan within 3 calendar days of purchase, and original photos in the listing. Depop Protection needs the Depop Shipping label, which goes through USPS, sent within 5 days of the transaction date. Ship another way and you lose Depop's protection; the order may be canceled and refunded.

A rule of thumb for slow shippers: if you can reach a drop-off point within 3 days of every sale, Mercari's clock should not cost you anything. If you ship once a week, you will miss it, and Mercari Shipping Protection with it. Depop's 10 days is kinder for avoiding a cancel, but only for items Depop allows, and its protection still wants a label within 5 days.

What can you sell on Depop but not Mercari, and the reverse?

Electronics are the clearest split, and the first table covers them. Mercari's open door has one limit, and it comes from shipping: its packing page says it does not allow hazardous materials and that carriers recommend removing a lithium battery from a device when possible (How to pack up your item).

Counterfeits, weapons, alcohol and drop-shipping are banned on both. Both also say their lists can change and that they can remove items the list does not name, so a missing name is not permission.

Can you sell the same item on Depop and Mercari?

Yes, as long as the first sale ends the other listing fast, because a double sale costs you differently on each. On Mercari, a seller who cancels after a purchase starts but before it completes shows the cancelation on their profile. Mercari reserves the right to charge a cancelation fee, and frequent cancelations may affect selling privileges (Cancelations on Mercari). On Depop, an unshipped order cancels itself at 10 days with a full buyer refund, and a seller can refund a buyer at any time in the app (Depop Protection for sellers).

The fix is the same on both: one inventory record, and delist everywhere the moment anything sells. The double-selling routine has the steps, and the order to keep when an item does sell twice.

What should you do today?

Back to the jacket one last time. Sold Monday, your money is released by Sunday on Mercari, or on day 7 on Depop, with 23 more days when a buyer can still ask for a refund. Which of those you can live with depends on the price tag and how fast you ship.

Do this today: run the price of the first item you want to list through the net proceeds calculator with Mercari's current fee from the linked page. If the number works, list it on Mercari, and price your shipping from Mercari's shipping announcements because prepaid label prices change on October 19, 2026. After that first sale pays out, put your next clothing listings on Depop too.

Depop vs Mercari questions

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