Mercari Import from eBay: How I Doubled My Resale Reach Without Doubling My Work

Introduction: The Night I Realized I Was Leaving Money on the Table

Back in February 2023, I had around 680 active listings on eBay. My workflow was smooth. Sales came in every day. But one night, while scrolling through a seller forum, I saw someone casually mention they were making almost the same number of monthly sales on Mercari with half the inventory.

I checked one of their profiles — same sneakers, same vintage tees, same accessories I sold. But they were selling on two platforms, not one. That night, I made a decision: stop being a single-platform seller.

Within a week, I started importing my listings from eBay to Mercari. And that’s when things really picked up.

Why “Mercari Import from eBay” Works So Well for Resellers

Here’s where it gets interesting.
eBay is fantastic for scale, but Mercari has something eBay doesn’t always offer: a different kind of buyer behavior.

eBay shoppers tend to be price-savvy and search-driven.
Mercari buyers lean more toward impulse buying and simplicity.
Listing fees are different. Buyer messaging is simpler.
And the competition is often less aggressive.

That means if you already have inventory and listings on eBay, importing them to Mercari can turn idle listings into additional income streams. You’re not reinventing the wheel — just rolling it on another road.

How I Started Importing Listings from eBay to Mercari

I didn’t have a big team. I didn’t hire a VA. I used tools to make this as seamless as possible.

Step 1: Exporting My eBay Inventory

I used Closo, which lets you sync and import listings in bulk. You can also use Vendoo, List Perfectly, or do it manually — but Closo gave me the most control without being overwhelming.

Day 1: exported 122 listings from eBay
Day 3: 289 listings synced
Day 7: 480 live listings on both platforms

The best part? I didn’t have to recreate descriptions or photos manually.

Step 2: Adjusting Titles and Prices

Mercari titles have shorter limits than eBay’s, and buyers there respond to cleaner, less keyword-stuffed titles.

I trimmed my titles from “Nike Air Jordan Retro 1 High OG Men’s Size 10 White Red Black 555088-101”
to “Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG Sz 10.”

Sales increased on Mercari faster than I expected.

Step 3: Staggered Listing Strategy

I didn’t dump all listings at once. I uploaded 80–100 per day to avoid platform throttling and to keep my store active daily.

Honest Failure #1: Ignoring Shipping Differences

My first week, I made a rookie mistake. I kept my eBay shipping profiles unchanged when importing. But Mercari’s shipping rules are different:

No calculated shipping for heavier items
Limited international shipping options
Prepaid label vs. own shipping

I underpriced shipping on 14 sneaker orders that week and lost around $130 in margins. Lesson learned. Now, I batch-review shipping settings before anything goes live on Mercari.

The Most Sold Item on eBay… Also Sells on Mercari

One of the reasons cross-listing works so well is because top-performing products on eBay also tend to move well on Mercari — often with less competition.

Here are the categories that performed best for me (Q2 2023–Q2 2024):

Category	Avg Monthly eBay Sales	Avg Monthly Mercari Sales	Price Range	Reason It Works
Sneakers (Nike, Adidas)	148	72	$60–$180	Hype demand, fast flips
Vintage T-shirts	86	64	$25–$75	Culture overlap between platforms
Phone accessories	200+	130	$9–$15	Universal demand, easy to ship
Trading cards (Pokémon etc.)	95	83	$5–$45	Collectible communities overlap
Small gadgets	55	38	$20–$60	Everyday utility, low return rates

And here’s the kicker: Mercari buyers don’t always haggle as aggressively as eBay buyers. My average sale price was actually $3.82 higher on Mercari for the same sneaker models.

Posting with eBay vs. Posting on Mercari

When you’re used to posting on eBay, Mercari’s simplicity feels both refreshing and slightly limiting.

eBay: long titles, multiple shipping options, detailed item specifics, promoted listings.
Mercari: short titles, simplified shipping, no promoted listings (but better organic reach).

When I first started, it felt almost too easy. But simplicity means you need clean listings and competitive prices — because you can’t rely on promoted visibility like on eBay.

Honest Failure #2: Not Staggering My Imports

In April 2023, I decided to import 400+ listings in one day. I thought it would be efficient. Instead:

My Mercari account flagged for unusual activity.
My listing visibility dropped for two weeks.
And I had to manually unlist 37 duplicate products.

Now, I never import more than 100 listings per day. It keeps performance stable and makes customer messages manageable.

Tools That Make Mercari Import from eBay Easy

After testing almost everything under the sun, these are the tools that stuck:

Closo — automated import/export between marketplaces, bulk sync, pricing rules
List Perfectly — decent UI, good for multi-channel sellers
Vendoo — lightweight crosslisting, especially for apparel
Google Sheets — manual inventory backup
Zapier — notification and workflow automations

I’ve also tried doing it 100% manually. I lasted two weeks. Automation wins.

People Always Ask Me: “Should I Adjust Pricing Between Platforms?”

Short answer: yes.

Mercari’s fee structure is different:

eBay fees average 13–15%, depending on category.
Mercari fees are 13% + $0.30 per transaction.

But here’s what’s funny: my average sale price on Mercari was often slightly higher. I usually price 3–7% above my eBay price to cover fees and shipping differences.

And if something doesn’t move after 30 days? I sync back, adjust the price, and let Closo relist it on both platforms.

Comparison Table: Cross-Listing Manual vs. Automated

Method	Time Spent	Listings per Hour	Accuracy	Risk of Errors	Best For
Manual copy-paste	High	8–12	Medium	High	New sellers testing platforms
Spreadsheet upload	Medium	25–40	High	Medium	Tech-comfortable sellers
Automation (Closo, etc.)	Low	80–120+	High	Low	Sellers scaling their operations

Automation wasn’t just about saving time. It reduced my mistakes — no more forgetting to adjust shipping or leaving an old SKU.

Common Question: “What if I Sell the Same Item Twice?”

This was my biggest fear when I started.

I sell both on eBay and Mercari, so yes, overselling can happen if you don’t sync inventory. It happened to me in June 2023 when I sold the same pair of Jordan 1s twice within 24 hours. One buyer got it. One got an apology and a refund.

Since then, I’ve let Closo handle inventory sync between platforms. If something sells on eBay, it delists on Mercari automatically — and vice versa.

Common Question: “Do I Need to Change My Descriptions?”

Yes — but only slightly.

eBay descriptions can be long, SEO-heavy, and full of item specifics. Mercari works better with shorter, cleaner descriptions. I usually:

Keep it under 200 words
Use bullet points for condition and shipping
Add a personal note (“ships fast,” “smoke-free home,” etc.)

It makes the listing more approachable — and sells faster.

Final Thoughts: Why Cross-Listing Made Me a Better Seller

I used to think eBay was enough. It wasn’t.

Cross-listing to Mercari didn’t just add sales. It stabilized my sales curve. If eBay was slow for a few days, Mercari often picked up the slack. My sell-through rate increased, and I spent less time chasing trends because I could lean on platform diversity.

I use Closo to automate my eBay to Mercari imports, inventory sync, and relisting. It saves me about 3 hours every week and eliminates overselling headaches.

If You’re Ready to Expand Beyond eBay…

When I started, I overcomplicated everything. But cross-listing doesn’t have to be messy. Start with a simple process and scale from there.

Explore Closo Seller Hub to understand how automation fits into resale workflows.
Learn from How Much Will eBay Charge for Selling an Item to price your listings correctly.
Check Highest Selling Items on eBay to focus on products that actually move.