Cancelling a Mercari order as a seller: requests, fees and your cancellation rate
Mercari wants cancellations to be rare, and it treats buyer requests and seller cancellations differently. Here’s how both work, and what cancelling can cost you.
When the buyer asks to cancel
A buyer can request a cancellation before you confirm shipment. You then have 24 hours to either:
- confirm shipment — if you already shipped, tap “I shipped it” on the Order Status page; or
- accept the cancellation.
If you accept, or don’t respond within 24 hours, the order is cancelled and the buyer is refunded.
Two more rules:
- If you confirmed shipment but there are no tracking updates for 15 days or more, the buyer can get the order cancelled straight away.
- If it’s been 30 days or more since the last tracking event, either of you can cancel immediately from the Order Status page.
You’ll find open requests under profile → Selling → In progress.
When you need to cancel
Open the order’s Order Status page and tap Refund buyer. Before you do:
- Message the buyer first. If you found a flaw that isn’t in the description, they may still want the item.
- You won’t be paid for a cancelled order — even if it was already delivered.
What cancelling can cost
- A fee: if you cancel after the purchase started but before it completed, Mercari may charge 5% of the item price, up to $25, to cover transaction fees and shipping labels.
- Your account: frequent cancellations may lead to a warning or account limitation, and can affect your selling privileges. See Mercari account limited.
Cancelling a shipped order whose tracking hasn’t updated for 30 days or more doesn’t count toward your cancellation rate.
How to avoid cancellations
- Keep listings up to date — delist sold or damaged items straight away, especially if you sell on other sites too.
- Ship fast, and confirm shipment in the app.
- Describe flaws in the listing so there’s nothing to cancel over.
If the buyer wants to send the item back after delivery, see Mercari returns for sellers.