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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Mercari

BigCommerce logo

BigCommerce

E-Commerce

Hosted e-commerce platform that charges no transaction fee and no surcharge for third party gateways

From
$29.95/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mercari logo

Mercari

E-Commerce

Japan-founded peer-to-peer resale marketplace with a flat seller commission

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mercari has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BigCommerce plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.; Mercari the flat 10 percent commission plus payment processing fees applies even to very low-value items, so selling something for a few dollars can leave the seller with proportionally little after fees and packaging.
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Mercari covers Flat seller commission.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Mercari actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Mercari differ
AttributeBigCommerceMercari
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree to list; 10 percent seller commission on sale price plus payment processing fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebiOS, Android, Web
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigCommerce

  • No platform transaction fee
  • Stencil theme framework
  • Multi-storefront
  • Faceted search
  • B2B capabilities
  • Headless support
  • Built-in tax integrations
  • Multi-currency

Only in Mercari

  • Flat seller commission
  • Prepaid shipping labels
  • Local pickup and offers
  • Smart pricing and price drops
  • Mercari authenticity guarantee
  • Instant or standard payout

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigCommerce

  • A merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decisionnot Mercari
  • A retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back officenot Mercari
  • A B2B seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom developmentnot Mercari
  • A team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted onenot Mercari

Mercari

  • Someone clearing out a wide mix of household items, not just clothing, in one listing appnot BigCommerce
  • A casual seller who wants a flat, predictable commission rather than a tiered fee structurenot BigCommerce
  • A buyer looking for secondhand electronics or general goods alongside apparelnot BigCommerce
  • A seller using local pickup to avoid shipping costs on bulky itemsnot BigCommerce

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigCommerce

  • Plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.
  • There is a documented ceiling on the number of variants a single product can have, which breaks configurable, made-to-measure and heavily optioned catalogues and forces awkward workarounds such as splitting one product into several listings.
  • The application marketplace is much smaller than the largest competitor's, so a specific integration or niche feature is more often a custom build, and custom builds are the line item that quietly exceeds the platform cost.
  • Theme customisation past the visual settings means Stencil, Handlebars templates and a local command line workflow, so changes that look small to a marketing team still require a developer and a deployment.
  • Migrating out moves products and inventory reasonably well and moves the things that matter badly, since customer passwords cannot be exported in usable form, order history rarely transfers intact, and reviews and URL structure have to be rebuilt with a redirect map you must produce yourself or lose the search traffic.

Mercari

  • The flat 10 percent commission plus payment processing fees applies even to very low-value items, so selling something for a few dollars can leave the seller with proportionally little after fees and packaging.
  • Shipping is the seller's responsibility to arrange and package correctly, and disputes over item condition or damage in transit are common friction points in buyer-seller resolution.
  • Instant payout carries its own fee on top of the selling and processing fees already deducted, so getting money out quickly costs more than waiting for standard transfer.
  • Buyer protection and authenticity verification are limited outside the specific luxury authentication programme, so counterfeit risk on unverified categories rests largely on buyer judgement of listing photos and seller ratings.
  • Market depth and typical sale prices vary significantly between the Japan and US versions of the app, and the two operate as largely separate marketplaces despite the shared brand.

Pricing, plan by plan

BigCommerce

$29.95/month
  • Standard$29.95/month
    • Unlimited products
    • 2 staff accounts
    • Basic reports
  • Plus$79.95/month
    • All Standard features
    • Up to 5 staff accounts
    • Advanced reports

Mercari

Free
  • SellingFree
    • 10 percent selling fee on final sale price
    • Separate payment processing fee, roughly 2.9 percent plus a fixed amount
    • Instant payout carries an additional fee versus standard bank transfer

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

  • You need no platform transaction fee.
  • You also want stencil theme framework.
BigCommerce review

Choose Mercari if

  • You need flat seller commission.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want prepaid shipping labels.
Mercari review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Mercari better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Mercari at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Mercari?
Mercari has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.95/month for BigCommerce and Free for Mercari.
Does BigCommerce or Mercari run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Mercari runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Mercari for free?
Yes. Mercari has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month.
What is BigCommerce best used for?
BigCommerce is most often used for a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision, a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office, a b2b seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom development, a team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted one. Of those, a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision and a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office are not what Mercari is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Mercari cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Mercari covers Flat seller commission, Prepaid shipping labels, Local pickup and offers, Smart pricing and price drops.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigCommerce: Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?

No, and it does not surcharge third party payment gateways either. Revenue affects the price through plan sales thresholds instead.

Mercari: How much does Mercari charge sellers?

A flat 10 percent selling fee on the final sale price in the US, plus a separate payment processing fee, both deducted from the seller payout.

BigCommerce: What happens when I exceed my plan's sales threshold?

You move to the next plan tier. Model this at your projected growth rate, because the increase is driven by revenue rather than by usage.

Mercari: Does the buyer pay any extra platform fee?

No separate platform fee is added at buyer checkout the way Vinted adds a buyer protection fee; the buyer pays the listed price plus shipping if not included.

BigCommerce: Is the app ecosystem large enough?

It covers the common integrations. For anything niche, assume a development project rather than an install, and price that in before comparing subscriptions.

Mercari: Is Mercari the same marketplace in Japan and the US?

No, they operate as separate marketplaces under the same brand, with different inventory, pricing and fee history.

BigCommerce: How hard is it to leave?

Products export cleanly. Customer passwords, order history, reviews and SEO URLs do not. Build the redirect map before you cut over, not after traffic drops.

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