How to Make Offers on Mercari and Get Them Accepted
If you have items sitting in your shop for two weeks with plenty of likes but zero sales, you are probably leaving money on the table. Learning how to make offers on Mercari is one of the fastest ways to turn those idle watchers into actual buyers, and it costs you nothing to try.
The Two Ways to Make Offers on Mercari
Mercari gives sellers two distinct offer tools, and knowing when to use each one makes a real difference in your sell-through rate.
- Offer to Likers: You send a private discount to everyone who has liked a specific listing. The offer is good for 24 hours and is only visible to those buyers. You can discount between 5% and 50% off your listed price, and Mercari also drops shipping by $0.50 automatically to sweeten the deal.
- Counteroffer or Accept: When a buyer sends you an offer through the listing, you can accept it, decline it, or counter with a different number. You have 24 hours to respond before it expires.
Most sellers focus on Offer to Likers because it is proactive. You are reaching out to people who already showed interest, which is a warmer audience than a cold buyer stumbling on your listing. For a deeper look at the buyer-initiated side of the equation, see how to make an offer on Mercari and actually get it accepted.
How to Send an Offer to Likers, Step by Step
Sending an Offer to Likers takes about 30 seconds per listing once you know where to look.
- Open the Mercari app and go to your active listings.
- Tap the listing you want to promote.
- Tap Offer to Likers (you will only see this button if the item has at least one like).
- Set your discount. You can enter a specific dollar amount or a percentage. The minimum is 5% off your current listed price.
- Review the offer summary, then tap Send.
That buyer gets a push notification and sees the discounted price. If they buy within 24 hours, the deal goes through at that price. If they ignore it, the listing returns to its original price automatically. No harm done.
One thing worth knowing: you can only send one Offer to Likers per listing every 24 hours. So pick your timing with some intention, not just whenever you remember.
How Much Should You Discount?
There is no magic number, but most experienced sellers land in the 10% to 20% range for Offer to Likers. Here is a rough framework based on how long the item has been sitting.
| Days Listed | Suggested Discount | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 7 days | 5% to 10% | Item is still fresh, no need to drop hard |
| 8 to 21 days | 10% to 20% | Starting to go stale, a meaningful nudge helps |
| 22 to 45 days | 20% to 30% | Stale inventory, recover your space and capital |
| 45 days or more | 30% or relist | Consider relisting with a lower starting price |
Always check your floor before sending. Know the minimum you will accept after Mercari’s 10% seller fee and any shipping costs. If a 20% discount puts you below your floor, either hold firm or relist at a price that gives you more room. For help figuring out where to set that floor, the article on Mercari pricing strategy walks through the math.
When to Send Offers for the Best Results
Timing genuinely matters. Buyers are most active in the evening, typically between 7 PM and 10 PM in your target time zone. Sending an Offer to Likers at 8 PM on a Tuesday will reach people who are actually on their phones and ready to buy. Sending it at 6 AM on a Monday might expire before anyone sees the notification.
A simple routine that works: spend 10 minutes every evening going through listings that have been live for more than a week and have at least a few likes. Send offers to those. Do this consistently and you will see a steady drip of sales rather than a random spike here and there.
If managing that routine across a full inventory feels like a lot, SellerSync can handle the repetitive maintenance work, scheduled price drops, relisting stale items, and promoting listings, so you spend your time sourcing and shipping instead of clicking through the app manually. Learn more at sellersync.tinkrd.com.
Handling Buyer Offers Without Leaving Money Behind
When a buyer sends you an offer, you have three choices: accept, decline, or counter. Most sellers accept too fast or decline too fast. A counter is almost always the right move if the offer is close but not quite right.
Say you list a jacket for $45 and a buyer offers $28. That feels low, but countering at $38 is reasonable and keeps the conversation open. Many buyers will meet you in the middle. If you just decline, they move on. A quick counter costs you nothing and closes sales you would otherwise lose.
A few things to keep in mind when handling incoming offers:
- You cannot counter below $2 or below 75% of your listed price in some categories, Mercari has guardrails built in.
- Respond within a few hours if you can. Buyers lose interest fast.
- If a buyer lowballs you repeatedly, it is fine to decline. Not every negotiation is worth your time.
For more on building a pricing approach that makes negotiation easier, see how to price items on Mercari without guessing. And if an item has been sitting so long that even offers are not moving it, it might be time to think about relisting it with a fresh start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can buyers see that I sent an Offer to Likers?
Buyers who liked the item receive a private notification with the discounted price, but they cannot see who else received the same offer. Other shoppers browsing your listing will not see the offer at all.
Does sending an offer bump my listing in search?
Mercari has confirmed that activity on a listing, including sending promotions, can improve visibility, but they do not publish a detailed algorithm. Many sellers report a noticeable uptick in views after sending Offer to Likers, which lines up with that general idea.
What happens if I lower my price after sending an offer?
If you drop your listed price below the offer you already sent, the offer may be cancelled automatically. Set your discounted price first, then decide on any further reductions.
How often can I send Offer to Likers on the same listing?
Once every 24 hours per listing. If you send one and nobody bites, you can try again the next day, though consider whether a different discount amount or a relist might serve you better.
Can I make an offer to buy something as a seller on my own listings?
No. Offer to Likers only goes to people who liked the item. You cannot send an offer to yourself or negotiate with yourself on your own listings.
Offers are one of the simplest levers you have as a Mercari seller, and most people either ignore them or use them without any strategy. A consistent routine, reasonable discounts, and fast responses to buyer offers will do more for your sales than any sourcing haul. Start with the listings that have sat the longest and work from there.
We build SellerSync, a Chrome extension that takes the busywork out of selling on Mercari, so you can spend less time managing listings and more time sourcing and shipping.