Same closet SKU. Two resale apps. The keep story is the fee base, a Poshmark $15 cliff, and two prepaid-label models — not a two-column mill that shouts “Mercari 10%, Poshmark 20%.” Mercari’s 10% sits on item plus buyer-paid shipping (Mercari fees explained). Poshmark’s live get-started guide takes 20% of listing price only at $15+, or a $2.95 flat under $15 (Poshmark fees explained). Handmade / Amazon referral math lives on Etsy vs Amazon; this page is the resale-app compare.
Default: $40 item. Mercari shipping empty = $0 in the 10% base (paste a cell from article 169 if the buyer pays shipping). Poshmark overweight defaults to $0 (standard label up to 5 lb). Keeps are before COGS. Buyer 3.6% is not subtracted on Mercari. Poshmark buyer $6.49 is shown on the side, not in the 20%.
Mercari keep from item+ship = (item + pasted ship) − 10% × that base. Item leftover = that keep minus the pasted label, if you treat the 169 cell as the label cost. Poshmark keep = listing − ($2.95 if under $15, else 20% × listing) − overweight. Delta uses Mercari item leftover (after Instant Pay) vs Poshmark keep. Planning only.
A 10-versus-20 headline is the wrong unit. Mercari’s published selling fee is 10% of a combined amount. Poshmark’s published commission at $15+ is 20% of a listing price. Same $40 SKU with a pasted Mercari label versus Poshmark’s buyer $6.49 is a different keep story than the sticker percents.
| Line | Mercari (new / updated listings) | Poshmark (get-started) |
|---|---|---|
| Seller take | 10% at any price | $2.95 under $15; 20% of listing at $15+ |
| Fee base | Item + buyer-paid shipping | Listing price only (shipping/tax not in the 20% on get-started) |
| Buyer line (not seller keep) | 3.6% Buyer Protection on item + buyer-paid shipping | $6.49 Ground Advantage standard label (buyer, per Terms) |
| Prepaid labels | Dollar table on article 169 — you paste the cell | One $6.49 label up to 5 lb; $5 / $10 overweight from earnings |
| Listing | $0 | $0 |
| Processing on the seller | None on new/updated listings (2.9% + $0.50 is legacy buyer-side) | Get-started: they handle the financial transaction including card fees |
| Cash-out | ACH $0; Instant Pay $3; $2 on failed ACH | Withdraw anytime for free (checking, check, or spend on Poshmark) |
Mercari: Fees on Mercari (article 169) (updated 05/07/2026), article 2517, article 2518. Poshmark: get-started (fetched 27 Aug 2026). Line-by-line stacks: Mercari seller fees explained and Poshmark seller fees explained.
Mercari article 169, for listings created or updated on or after 6 January 2025: the seller pays 10% of the combined item price and buyer-paid shipping. Empty shipping in the card is $0 in that base. If you paste a prepaid-label cell, those dollars sit inside the 10%. Seller-paid shipping is a listing choice and is not added to the 10% base — treat the label as your cost instead.
Poshmark get-started, fetched 27 Aug 2026:
“For sales under $15, we charge a single flat rate of $2.95. You keep the rest. For sales of $15 or more, we charge 20% of the listing price and you keep 80%.”
Those words are “listing price,” not listing plus shipping or tax. This compare does not put the buyer-paid $6.49 Ground Advantage label in the 20% unless the unread Fee Policy says otherwise. A $40 Poshmark listing with a $6.49 buyer label is still 20% × $40 = $8 — not 20% of $46.49.
That is why a pasted Mercari label versus Poshmark’s buyer $6.49 is a different keep story than sticker %. Mercari’s extra fee exists because shipping sat in the base. Poshmark’s buyer label never entered the commission.
Mercari does not change the 10% when the sticker crosses $15. Poshmark does: under $15 you pay a single $2.95; at $15 and up you pay 20% of listing. The switch is the listing price itself. Do not paste a blended “Poshmark 20%” onto a $12 SKU.
| Listing | Mercari fee / keep ($0 ship) | Poshmark band / keep | Item-leftover delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| $12.00 | $1.20 / $10.80 | $2.95 cliff / $9.05 | Mercari +$1.75 |
| $14.99 | $1.50 / $13.49 | $2.95 cliff / $12.04 | Mercari +$1.45 |
| $15.00 | $1.50 / $13.50 | 20% / $12.00 | Mercari +$1.50 |
| $40.00 | $4.00 / $36.00 | 20% / $32.00 | Mercari +$4.00 |
On $12, Poshmark’s effective take is already 24.6% of the sticker — worse than the headline 20%, and worse than Mercari’s flat 10% on the same empty-ship run. Crossing $15 locks 20% forever on that Poshmark order. Between about $14.75 and $14.99 the $2.95 flat is slightly cheaper than 20% would have been; then $15 costs $3.00. Price for demand, not for that four cents. Do not use the October 2024 1-2-3 / 5.99%-of-order-total experiment — that blog 404s as of 27 Aug 2026; live get-started still quotes $2.95 / 20% of listing.
Mercari prepaid labels are a published dollar table on article 169 (Ground Advantage and Priority Mail updated 7 May 2026). This page will not reconstruct the whole USPS / UPS / FedEx grid. Quote only labeled cells already parsed on the Mercari explained page — paste the cell that matches the listing:
| Labeled 169 cell (opened 27 Aug 2026) | Printed rate |
|---|---|
| USPS Media Mail 1 lb / 2 lb / 3 lb | $4.99 / $5.99 / $6.99 |
| USPS First-Class Envelope (trading cards only) 1 oz / 2 oz / 3 oz | $0.74 / $1.03 / $1.32 |
| USPS Ground Advantage 0.25 lb (Best vs Standard) | $4.91 / $5.49 |
| USPS Ground Advantage 1 lb (Best vs Standard) | $7.48 / $7.59 |
If the buyer pays that Mercari label, the cell sits in the 10% base. The $7.48 Best Ground Advantage 1 lb row is a labeled cell, not a “typical shipping” guess.
Poshmark’s last official published standard rate is $6.49 USPS Ground Advantage starting 12 Sep 2025 (down from $8.27), one label up to 5 lb. Source: Lower shipping starting September 12th. The 13 Feb 2026 heavier-items blog (Shipping heavier items…) did not reprint $6.49 but said there are no changes to the standard label up to 5 lb. Luxury orders over $500 use the same Ground Advantage flat; signature is still required. Terms: buyer is responsible for shipping fees. Over 5 lb, seller upgrade is deducted from earnings: $5.00 for 5.1–10 lb and $10.00 for 10.1–15 lb (13 Feb 2026). That upgrade is the card’s overweight control. It is not in the 20%.
Mercari overage is a different trap: article 172 bills the seller the extra weight (or zone-6 residential retail if Mercari has no cell; $2,500 over 150 lb). An 8% penalty on the total adjusted shipping price for underpaid labels was announced on article 485 (18 Feb 2025 entry, starting 10 Mar 2025). Articles 169 and 172 did not restate that 8% in the text opened 27 Aug 2026. Confirm a statement line in your Mercari account.
Do not subtract Mercari’s 3.6% Buyer Protection from seller keep. Articles 169, 2517, and 2518 put that line on the buyer at checkout (item + buyer-paid shipping). A $40 Mercari sale is not “10% + 3.6% = 13.6% off the seller.” Mixing them is how blogs overstate Mercari’s take and wreck this compare.
Cash-out is the other non-percent line. Mercari: successful ACH is $0 once per day; Instant Pay is a $3 flat (once per day, up to $600/month, about 30 minutes); failed/rejected ACH is $2 non-refundable. Poshmark get-started: you can withdraw earnings anytime for free (checking account, a check, or spend on Poshmark). Leave Instant Pay at $0 in the card unless you actually tap it — on a $12 sale, $3 is a large bite relative to Mercari’s $1.20 selling fee, and Poshmark still cashes out $0.
$40 item, Mercari ship empty / $0, Poshmark standard weight, ACH / free withdrawal
$40 + $7.48 Mercari buyer-paid shipping (1 lb Best Ground Advantage cell from article 169 — not a typical-shipping average)
$12 listing (Poshmark cliff), Mercari ship empty
Same $40 Poshmark listing at 8 lb: still $8 commission, plus the published $5.00 5.1–10 lb upgrade from earnings → $27 keep before COGS if the buyer still paid $6.49. Mercari’s matching run is whatever 169 cell you paste (and overage / 8% only if the carrier reports a heavier package). Flip Instant Pay to $3 and Mercari remaining keep drops $3; Poshmark withdrawals stay $0.
No hype — the base, the cliff, and the label decide, not the brand of app.
Volume, Promoted Closet CPC (Poshmark publishes none — do not invent ~$0.09), Mercari Promote / Offer to Likers (price drops, not an ad %), returns, and Authenticate $5 / $15 are outside this SKU snapshot. Put those on the explained pages, not as a blended resale tax.
Selling handmade or Amazon referral is a different stack — use Etsy vs Amazon seller fees (that page is listing + 6.5% + processing vs category referral, not resale apps). eBay is a category-table stack: eBay fees explained. Depop US is the 0% selling-fee closet: 3.3% + $0.45 processing on item + shipping + tax, optional 12% Boost, buyer Marketplace fee not subtracted. Same-SKU take-home vs Mercari (0% vs 10% ignores processing and Boost): Depop vs Mercari. Same SKU vs Poshmark from the Depop side (processing vs $2.95 / 20% listing; Boost shrinks, does not flip $40 empty-ship): Depop vs Poshmark. Line-by-line: Depop seller fees explained (US).
Not as a slogan. $40 / $0 Mercari ship: keep $36 vs Poshmark $32 ($4). $40 + $7.48 Mercari 169 cell: fee $4.75, keep from item+ship $42.73, item leftover $35.25 vs Poshmark $32 + buyer $6.49 on the side. Under $15 Poshmark is $2.95, not 20%. Last checked 27 Aug 2026. Confirm in each seller account.
Mercari yes — 10% of item + buyer-paid shipping (article 169). Poshmark get-started: 20% of listing price. Buyer $6.49 Ground Advantage is not in that 20% on get-started. Fee Policy body was unread on 27 Aug 2026; your closet statement wins if it differs.
Under $15 Poshmark charges $2.95; at $15+ it charges 20% of listing. Mercari is 10% at any price on its own base. $12 empty-ship: Mercari $10.80 keep vs Poshmark $9.05.
No. Buyer checkout line on item + buyer-paid shipping. Do not subtract it from seller keep. Instant Pay is $3 seller-side; Poshmark withdrawals are free on get-started.
The Fee Policy tab on poshmark.com/terms exists, but the JS legal center did not yield body text. Support 297755057 returned 500; Wayback had no article body. Re-check the Fee Policy in a browser.
Mercari seller fees explained and Poshmark seller fees explained. Hub: /seller-fees/. Handmade vs Amazon referral: Etsy vs Amazon. Depop vs Mercari same SKU: Depop vs Mercari. Depop vs Poshmark same SKU: Depop vs Poshmark.
Open the profit calculator Mercari fees explained Poshmark fees explained Depop fees explained Depop vs Mercari Depop vs Poshmark
Seller-fee hub · Depop vs Mercari · Etsy vs Amazon (handmade / Amazon referral — not this resale-app compare) · realratecalc.com