Mercari Is Still Focused on Growth, but Maintaining Healthy Margins

Japan's online consumer-to-consumer secondhand goods trading market is about JPY 2.2 trillion (roughly 28.9% of total used goods value). The market is further split into two segments: auction (JPY 1 trillion) and marketplace applications, or apps (JPY 1.2 trillion). Mercari is the top platform of the latter, with over 70% market share, and 22 million monthly active users. Its main competitors in the market are Rakuma and Yahoo Flea Market, with 5 million MAU each. Mercari charges sellers a 10% take rate on the platform, much higher than its competitors' 5%-6%, because of access to a much larger buyer base and superior turnover speed.