"Mercari takes a flat 10%" is the correct answer — for any listing created or updated on or after January 6, 2025. Older listings that have sat untouched since before that date can still be running the previous fee stack, which charged a separate payment processing fee on top of the same 10%. The two numbers aren't close.
The stack that got removed, not just a rate cut
Before January 6, 2025, Mercari charged a 10% selling fee plus a separate 2.9% + $0.50 payment processing fee on every sale. The January 2025 change didn't lower either number — it removed the processing fee entirely, leaving a flat 10% selling fee on item price plus buyer-paid shipping as the only charge.
A worked example on a $35 order
A $30 item with $5 buyer-paid shipping — $35 order total either way:
| Fee structure | Selling fee | Processing fee | Total fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current (2025+) | 10% × $35 = $3.50 | none | $3.50 | $31.50 (90.0%) |
| Old (pre-2025) | 10% × $35 = $3.50 | 2.9% × $35 + $0.50 = $1.52 | $5.02 | $29.98 (85.7%) |
The selling fee itself didn't change — 10% either way. The entire $1.52 gap between the two rows is the processing fee that got eliminated, and it's exactly what a still-untouched pre-2025 listing would still be charged.
How to tell which one applies to your listing
Mercari's own fee-change FAQ ties the new flat-10% rate to the listing, not the seller account: any listing created after January 6, 2025 gets it automatically, and any older listing gets it the moment it's edited or relisted. A listing that's been sitting untouched since before that date, with no edits since, is the one case where the old 10% + 2.9% + $0.50 stack can still apply — worth checking before assuming every active listing already moved to the new rate.
What this doesn't cover
Scoped to standard US listings under the current fee structure. The old pre-2025 stack is described here for comparison only — this site's own Mercari Fee Calculator computes the current flat-10% rate, not the retired one, since that's the rate that applies to any listing a seller creates or touches going forward.