So, a few months back, I wrote about a bunch of terrible changes coming to the Mercari selling platform. It seemed to have resonated with a lot of folks, as it was my most popular post in over a decade. Anyway, one of the worst changes the platform was adopting was that they would be accepting returns for any reason. Anyone who sells online already knows they’re dealing with a fickle buyer pool, but allowing these buyers to return their items for any reason under the sun? Well, that was a bridge too far for many. Just a few minutes ago, I received an email from Mercari, stating that they would be reinstating their old return policy, as of May 22nd. This means that the “returns for any reason” policy is out the window, and buyers will only be able to return items that arrive and were inaccurately described, within 3 days of receipt. Here’s the email body:
I can’t even imagine the shitshow that resulted from the last policy change. I know that I moved most of my listings over to eBay, and haven’t looked back. While I’ve also thrown them up on Mercari, just for “shits and giggles”, nothing sells over there, as the newly adopted Buyer’s Fee drives away any interest. If they’re taking this step, they must have seen a drop in users and/or fired the person who had to take the fall for that last No Frills Returns initiative. Either way, this is a step in the right direction, but that Buyer’s Fee is still problematic. Anyway, let’s hear it for the Squeaky Wheels!
