Mercari
Japan's largest consumer-to-consumer flea-market marketplace app.
Mercari at a glance
Mercari is an e-commerce website and one of the most visited sites in Japan, currently ranked #4 in the country. It was founded in 2013 by Shintaro Yamada and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Today Mercari is owned by Mercari, Inc.. Our estimates put its audience at ≈ 90 million visits per month. The business earns money mainly through selling commission (approximately 10% per transaction), mercari shops merchant fees, merpay fintech transaction and lending fees. Its closest rivals include Yahoo! Auctions, Rakuten Rakuma, PayPay Furima, au PAY Furima.
Traffic statistics
Traffic history
| Period | Visits | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ≈ 88 million / month | +1% |
| Q2 | ≈ 90 million / month | +2% |
| Q3 | ≈ 93 million / month | +3% |
| Q4 | ≈ 90 million / month | -3% |
Traffic sources
- Direct app70%
- Organic search15%
- Social8%
- Referral4%
- Paid3%
Audience & demographics
- Men42%
- Women58%
- Age 18-2420%
- Age 25-3430%
- Age 35-5435%
- Age 55+15%
Mercari's user base skews younger and more female than other major Japanese e-commerce sites, driven by fashion, hobby goods and household decluttering.
Geographic reach
- Japan98%
- Other2%
SEO profile
- Organic keywords
- ≈ 1.5 million
- Estimated organic traffic
- ≈ 25 million monthly visits
- Strongest clusters
- Second-hand product categories, brand names, price queries
Top organic keywords
| Keyword | Position | Volume | Traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| メルカリ | 1 | Very high | — |
| メルカリ 出品方法 | 1 | High | — |
| メルカリ 送料 | 1 | High | — |
| メルペイ | 1 | High | — |
Backlink profile
- Referring domains
- ≈ 900,000
- Link profile
- Strong links from lifestyle blogs and how-to guides for selling online
Top referral sources
- Google Japan50%
- Direct app35%
- Social media (X, Instagram)10%
- Other5%
Technology stack
Website technologies
Advertising & analytics technologies
Mercari runs a microservices architecture built with Go and gRPC, deployed across multi-cloud infrastructure to support high-volume peer-to-peer listing and messaging traffic.
Mobile app statistics
- Daily active app users
- ≈ 8 million
- Listings created per day
- Hundreds of thousands
Company information
- Website
- mercari.com
- Sector
- E-commerce
- Owner
- Mercari, Inc.
- Owner type
- Public company
- Founders
- Shintaro Yamada
- Founded
- 2013
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- Employees
- ≈ 2,200
- Ownership
- Publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE: 4385)
- Valuation
- Market cap approximately JPY 400 billion
- Revenue
- ≈ JPY 190 billion annually
- Languages
- Japanese (with a discontinued US version)
- Top traffic sources
- Direct app usage, organic search, word-of-mouth referrals
Ownership, investors & funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Seed | Undisclosed | Shintaro Yamada and early backers |
| 2016 | Series C | ≈ JPY 8.4 billion | DCM Ventures, Globis Capital Partners |
| 2018 | IPO | Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers | Public shareholders |
Financials
- Revenue trend
- Steady growth driven by transaction volume and Merpay fintech adoption
- Profitability
- Achieved profitability in Japan Marketplace segment
- Cost base
- Trust & safety operations, customer support, engineering
Business model & revenue
Mercari operates a peer-to-peer marketplace app where individuals list second-hand items for sale, taking a commission on each completed transaction and cross-selling fintech services through Merpay.
- Selling commission (approximately 10% per transaction)
- Mercari Shops merchant fees
- Merpay fintech transaction and lending fees
- Shipping partner referral fees
- Advertising within the app
Products & services
Core peer-to-peer buying and selling app for second-hand goods.
Mobile payments and BNPL fintech service integrated with the app.
Storefront service for small businesses to sell via Mercari.
Gig-work and spot-job matching service.
Related deals on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, Global Site Index earns from qualifying purchases.
Seller ecosystem
- Active sellers
- Millions of individual users
- Mercari Shops merchants
- Tens of thousands of small businesses
International presence
- Past markets
- United States (discontinued 2024) and United Kingdom (discontinued)
- Current focus
- Domestic Japan market
Employee statistics
Customer statistics
API & developer information
- Merpay API
- Payment integration APIs for partner merchants
Website rankings
- Japan C2C marketplace rank
- #1
- Japan overall rank
- #4
Main competitors
Website comparisons
| Website | Monthly visits | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yahoo! Auctions | Comparable niche | — | Mercari favours fixed-price fast sales; Yahoo Auctions favours bidding |
| Rakuten Rakuma | Smaller | — | Rakuma integrates with Rakuten Points ecosystem |
Overview
Mercari is Japan's leading consumer-to-consumer flea-market app, letting individuals easily list and sell second-hand goods from smartphones. Founded in 2013 by Shintaro Yamada, it became one of Japan's fastest-growing startups before going public in 2018.
Traffic Statistics
Mercari attracts roughly 90 million monthly visits and around 22 million monthly active users, with sessions averaging over 11 minutes as users browse listings.
Traffic Sources
The overwhelming majority of usage happens directly within the app, supplemented by organic search and social-media word of mouth.
Audience & Demographics
Mercari's user base skews younger and more female than other major Japanese shopping platforms, with strong engagement around fashion, hobby items and household decluttering.
Geographic Reach
Usage is almost entirely concentrated in Japan following the 2024 discontinuation of its United States marketplace.
SEO Profile
Mercari ranks for roughly 1.5 million organic keywords, with strongest visibility around listing guides, shipping costs and its Merpay payment service.
Technology Stack
The platform runs on a Go and gRPC microservices architecture across AWS and Google Cloud infrastructure, with a React Native mobile app.
Social Media Statistics
Mercari maintains official accounts on X, Instagram and YouTube, with over a million followers on X alone.
Mobile App Statistics
The Mercari app has surpassed 50 million downloads and reaches roughly 8 million daily active users, with hundreds of thousands of new listings created daily.
Company Information
Headquartered in Tokyo, Mercari was founded in 2013 by Shintaro Yamada and employs approximately 2,200 people.
Ownership & Investors
Mercari, Inc. is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with early backing from DCM Ventures, Globis Capital Partners and East Ventures.
Financials
The company generates roughly JPY 190 billion in annual revenue and has achieved profitability in its core Japan Marketplace segment.
Business Model
Mercari earns a commission of roughly 10% on each completed sale, supplemented by Merpay fintech fees and Mercari Shops merchant fees.
Products & Services
Key offerings include the core Mercari Marketplace, Merpay payments and lending, Mercari Shops for small businesses, and the Mercari Hallo gig-work matching service.
Competitors
Mercari competes with Yahoo! Auctions, Rakuten Rakuma, PayPay Furima and au PAY Furima.
Company History & Milestones
Since its 2013 founding, Mercari expanded into the US in 2014, reached unicorn status by 2017, went public in 2018, and refocused entirely on Japan by exiting the US market in 2024.
Latest News
Mercari continues to report growth in Merpay fintech transactions while expanding its Mercari Shops merchant base.
User Reviews & Ratings
Users praise the simplicity of listing and buying second-hand goods, though some cite seller fees and occasional disputes over item condition.
Pros & Cons
Pros include an easy listing process and strong brand trust. Cons include commission fees and increasing competition from rival C2C marketplaces.
Key Statistics
~90 million monthly visits, ~22 million monthly active users and the #1 C2C marketplace ranking in Japan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Mercari? Mercari, Inc., an independent public company. Is it available outside Japan? No, it exited international markets to focus domestically. What is Merpay? Mercari's integrated payments and lending service.
Data Sources
Mercari, Inc. public filings, Similarweb estimates and the Mercari Newsroom.
Last Updated
September 2026
Related Websites
Yahoo! Japan, Rakuten, Amazon Japan, Kakaku.com and PayPay Furima.
Website Rankings
#1 C2C marketplace and #4 overall website in Japan by traffic.
Revenue & Funding History
Mercari raised venture funding including a Series C round from DCM Ventures and Globis Capital Partners before its 2018 IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market.
Employee Statistics
Mercari employs approximately 2,200 people, primarily in engineering, trust & safety and customer support.
Customer Statistics
Roughly 22 million monthly active users buy and sell on the platform.
Backlink Profile
Mercari has approximately 900,000 referring domains, largely from lifestyle blogs and selling guides.
Top Organic Keywords
Top queries include "メルカリ 出品方法", "メルカリ 送料" and "メルペイ".
Top Referral Sources
Google Japan, direct app usage and social media platforms such as X and Instagram.
Website Technologies
Go, Kubernetes, gRPC microservices, multi-cloud infrastructure on AWS and Google Cloud, and a React Native mobile app.
Advertising & Analytics Technologies
Mercari Ads and in-app promotion tools help sellers boost the visibility of their listings.
API & Developer Information
The Merpay API enables partner merchants to integrate Mercari's payment system into their own checkout flows.
International Seller Opportunities
Mercari Shops allows small businesses to open storefronts and reach the platform's large domestic buyer base.
Company history & milestones
- 2013
Shintaro Yamada founds Mercari in Tokyo
- 2014
Launches in the United States
- 2017
Becomes a unicorn with a valuation over $1 billion
- 2018
IPO on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market
- 2024
Discontinues US consumer marketplace operations to focus on Japan
Latest news
- Mercari reports growth in Merpay fintech transactionsMercari Investor Relations · 2026
- Mercari Shops expands merchant baseMercari Newsroom · 2026
Pros & cons
Pros
- Simple, fast listing process for casual sellers
- Strong brand trust for second-hand goods in Japan
- Integrated Merpay payments and credit features
- Large, active buyer base
Cons
- Seller commission fees can reduce margins on low-value items
- Occasional disputes over item condition or authenticity
- Exited international markets, reducing global relevance
- Increasing competition from Rakuten Rakuma and PayPay Furima
Key statistics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Mercari?
Mercari, Inc. is an independent public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Is Mercari available outside Japan?
No, Mercari discontinued its US and UK consumer marketplaces to focus on Japan.
What is Merpay?
Merpay is Mercari's integrated payments and lending service used both in-app and at retail stores.
Popular searches
Data sources & confidence
- Mercari, Inc. public filingsMercari Investor Relations
- Similarweb estimatesSimilarweb
- Mercari NewsroomMercari, Inc.
- Data confidence
- High for ownership, funding history and public milestones; traffic estimates are third-party approximations.
- Last updated
- September 2026
Traffic and revenue figures are rounded estimates compiled from public reports and third-party analytics.
Social media profiles & statistics