On fees alone, Mercari wins almost every time. Sell a $50 jacket with free shipping and Mercari keeps $5.00, so $45.00 reaches you. Poshmark keeps $10.00 and sends you $40.00. That gap is the whole Poshmark vs Mercari fee story in one sale: 10% against 20%.
Type your own price into the calculator above. Add what you paid for the item and your postage cost if you cover shipping, and it shows profit for both, plus what the buyer pays at checkout on each app.
Poshmark vs Mercari fees, side by side
- Poshmark: a flat $2.95 on sales under $15, and 20% of the sale price from $15 up. No listing fee and no separate payment processing fee. Shipping and sales tax aren't part of the fee.
- Mercari: a 10% selling fee on the item price plus any shipping the buyer pays. No processing fee on top since January 6, 2025. Cashing out with Instant Pay costs $3 per transfer; direct deposit is free.
- What buyers pay: Poshmark buyers pay shipping and sales tax. Mercari buyers pay a 3.6% Buyer Protection fee on the item plus shipping, on top of the price.
Here's what each one pays you at common prices, with free shipping and no extras:
| Sale price | Poshmark fee | Poshmark pays you | Mercari fee | Mercari pays you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $2.95 | $7.05 | $1.00 | $9.00 |
| $14.00 | $2.95 | $11.05 | $1.40 | $12.60 |
| $15.00 | $3.00 | $12.00 | $1.50 | $13.50 |
| $25.00 | $5.00 | $20.00 | $2.50 | $22.50 |
| $50.00 | $10.00 | $40.00 | $5.00 | $45.00 |
| $100.00 | $20.00 | $80.00 | $10.00 | $90.00 |
| $250.00 | $50.00 | $200.00 | $25.00 | $225.00 |
Standard settings, free shipping to the buyer, no sales tax.
Cheap items show the biggest difference. Poshmark's flat $2.95 on a $10 top is 29.5% of the price, and you keep $7.05. Mercari takes $1.00 and leaves you $9.00. Above $15 the gap settles at exactly half: Mercari's fee is always 10% where Poshmark's is 20%.
Is Mercari better than Poshmark?
For fees, yes: Mercari takes half of what Poshmark does on any item over $15. But fees aren't the only thing that decides how much you make, so the better app depends on what you sell.
Poshmark suits clothing, shoes and accessories. It's built around fashion, with sharing, offers and bundles, and buyers come looking for brands and sizes. The shipping side is simple too: the buyer pays for a prepaid label, and you only pay extra if the box is over 5 lb or you offer a shipping discount. If a piece sells on Poshmark for $60 when it would only fetch $45 on Mercari, the higher fee still leaves you ahead.
Mercari suits almost everything else. Electronics, toys, home goods, collectibles and media all sell there, and the lower fee helps on items with thin margins. You choose whether the buyer pays shipping or you do, which gives you more control but also more to work out.
Plenty of sellers skip the Mercari vs Poshmark question altogether: they list on both and take whichever sale comes first. If you do, price with each app's fee in mind rather than using the same number on both.
How shipping changes the comparison
Shipping is where Mercari's fee gets a little bigger. When the buyer pays shipping, Mercari takes its 10% from the shipping as well. On a $50 item with $8 buyer-paid shipping, the fee is $5.80 and you still receive $44.20, while the buyer pays $60.09 including the Buyer Protection fee.
Poshmark never charges its fee on shipping, because the buyer pays it straight to Poshmark for the label. So on Poshmark, shipping is simple and doesn't change your payout. On Mercari, offering free shipping means you buy the label yourself. Enter that label cost as "Your postage cost" in the calculator and the profit column takes it off, so you can see whether Mercari still comes out ahead.
Where each app costs you more than you'd expect
- Poshmark's $15 line. Under $15 the fee is $2.95 however cheap the item is. At $14 you keep $11.05, and at $15 you keep $12.00, so pricing just under the line rarely makes sense. Bundling cheap pieces into one order pays one fee instead of several.
- Poshmark offers. The fee comes off the price you accept, not the price you listed. Take an offer of $40 and the fee is $8.00.
- Mercari Instant Pay. The $3 is per cash-out, so on a single $15 sale it turns a $1.50 fee into $4.50 and leaves you $10.50. Waiting for several sales, or using free direct deposit, avoids it.
- Mercari's buyer fee. It doesn't come out of your earnings, but buyers see it. A $50 item costs a Mercari buyer more than a $50 item on Poshmark, before shipping.
Poshmark or Mercari: a quick way to decide
- Work out the price the item would really sell for on each app. Check sold listings, not asking prices.
- Put both prices through the calculator above, one at a time, with your item cost and any postage you'd pay.
- Pick the app with the higher profit, and if it's close, the one where the item sells faster.
For more detail on one app, the Poshmark fee calculator covers Canada and the $15 threshold, and the Mercari fee calculator covers Instant Pay and shipping. If you're also weighing eBay, the all-platform comparison puts every marketplace on one table.
Common questions
Which is better, Poshmark or Mercari?
Mercari is cheaper to sell on: it takes 10% of the sale, where Poshmark takes 20% (or $2.95 under $15). Poshmark often gets better prices for clothing and brand-name fashion, which can make up the difference.
Does Mercari or Poshmark take more fees?
Poshmark takes more. On a $100 sale Poshmark keeps $20.00 and Mercari keeps $10.00, so Mercari pays you $90.00 against Poshmark's $80.00.
Is Poshmark or Mercari better for cheap items?
Mercari, by a wide margin. A $10 sale costs $1.00 on Mercari and $2.95 on Poshmark, because Poshmark's flat fee applies to everything under $15.
Do buyers pay fees on Poshmark and Mercari?
On Mercari, yes: buyers pay a 3.6% Buyer Protection fee on the item plus shipping. On Poshmark, buyers pay shipping and any sales tax, but no separate buyer fee.
Sources
Fees last checked against these official pages: Poshmark (US) on 2026-10-11; Mercari (US) on 2026-10-12. We re-check every source daily and update the calculators when a platform changes its fees.