Neokyo Mercari Purchase Guide
Last updated: Feb 2022
Written by the Neokyo community (Lee et al)
To use: CTRL+F keywords or look at the common questions and other information below. |
Answers to common questions (click link to see answer):
Other information:
Common questions:
Mercari buy requests are down. When will they be back up?
Mercari requests go down when too many people make too many buy requests in a short amount of time. As Neokyo has a limited number of accounts that can comment on items, this creates a purchase backlog.
Buy requests will be reopened when the team has made significant progress on the backlog. This can take anywhere from 12-48 hours (slower on weekends).
You will know when the requests are back open when the blue banner disappears.
Items submitted before the hold will be processed as normal. However, they may be at the bottom of the backlog.
Sometimes, buy requests will be open for only a short period before closing again. This happens when the system is rushed by many people making buy requests as soon as they open again.
How does Neokyo make Mercari purchases?
Mercari purchases are semi-automated but it may take several days.
The process is as follows:
1. You make a Buy Request.
2. The Buy Request is approved.
3. You pay for it.
4. The team dispatches one of the automations (bots) to comment on the listing and ask if the item is still available.
Then:
- The seller replies and says the item is OK to be bought, or:
- The seller deletes the comment/refuses to sell to a proxy, or:
- The seller is idle/inactive and does not reply at all.
In the first case, the team will confirm the comment and then the bot will proceed to purchase the item. There is a wait between when the bot comments, the team checks, and the bot purchases. The wait can be anywhere from 1-5 days. Please note that some sellers may not comment for several days. Neokyo will not proceed to purchase without the seller confirming that it is OK to buy the item.
In the other two cases, the orders may be cancelled. Neokyo will give a seller 5 days to respond; if they don't, the order is cancelled and refunded within a few days (there is no need to contact support about this).
If the seller deletes the comment/won't sell to a proxy, the team will verify this and the order will be manually reviewed and eventually cancelled and refunded. You will receive this invalidation message:
You can check to see if the Neokyo purchasing account has commented on the item and if the seller gave the OK by checking the original Mercari page. The message is usually few lines long and asks for purchase confirmation:
There is a different purchase flow if the listing says "instant purchase OK" in the description or title. The Neokyo algorithm will likely recognise this and buy without commenting.
Can I cancel a Mercari order after paying for my buy request?
No. Buy requests cannot be cancelled for any reason after they have been paid for. This includes items that have been modified by the seller after purchase. Once they have been paid for, they are in the purchase queue.
I want to ask a question to the seller about an item/ask about the price of an item on Mercari. Can Neokyo do that for me?
No. Neokyo cannot communicate with sellers in any way.
This means that they cannot:
- ask for more pictures
- negotiate a price
- ask for bundle pricing
- ask for specific information about an item
- ask to split a set
- ask to combine orders or shipping for items
Why?
Neokyo processes hundreds upon hundreds of Mercari buy requests a day. To ask a question, they would need to get back to you with the answer, and then see if you like the answer. Then they would need to communicate your answer back to the seller. All of this takes time, and many Mercari items sell out quickly.
Can my friend contact them for me/can I make a Mercari.jp account to ask the question instead?
No. Contacting the seller in any way is not permitted and will lead to a permanent ban from Neokyo’s service. This wouldn’t help you as you never know which of the different Mercari accounts will be deployed to comment and ask for an item. It also leads to seller confusion and makes it more obvious that the Neokyo accounts are semi-automated, which Mercari does not like or support.
Why do all my buy requests keep getting invalidated?! >:(
Mercari is a fast-moving, very popular marketplace. Items sell out quickly. As purchases from Neokyo need to follow a very specific purchasing process, items are often bought by other users before Neokyo can get to them.
If you would like to secure an item immediately, Yahoo Auctions Japan instant purchases are the better choice.
I see a Neokyo bot commented on an item but it hasn’t been purchased yet. Why not?
Purchases on Mercari follow a very specific purchasing process that can take anywhere from several hours to five days. Your item is still being processed; it's just in the purchasing queue. It will be processed as quickly as possible.
Is it normal for an item to stay as “processing merchant payment” for several days?
Purchases on Mercari follow a very specific purchasing process that can take anywhere from several hours to five days. Your item is still being processed; it's just in the purchasing queue. It will be processed as quickly as possible.
My item status is “processing merchant payment”, but on the original page it says it has sold. Did Neokyo buy it?
You will typically get an email as soon as Neokyo purchases your items. The email will look like this:
If you do not get this email and the item has sold:
- There is a small chance that there is an email delay. Please keep checking your email for the above message, or the invalidation message (below).
- There is a good chance that another Mercari user has bought the item before Neokyo could complete its purchasing process. You will receive an invalidation email (below) during Neokyo working hours. You will also receive a refund email shortly after. The refund will go back to your Neokyo wallet.
My item status has changed to “claim opened with seller”. What does this mean?
This means that the item is past its delivery ETA and has not yet arrived to the warehouse. Neokyo is contacting Mercari and the seller to see what has happened to the item. You will be contacted with further information should the item have been lost in the mail or never shipped, and will be refunded if this is the case.
It may take several weeks for the investigation to close.
I am missing an item/an item is fake/an item is not as described from my Mercari order. What are my options?
Unfortunately, Neokyo cannot be held liable for or refund misrepresented Mercari listings. Chargebacks will lead to you being permanently banned from Neokyo.
Please report bad sellers in the #sellers-to-avoid channel on Discord.
If you notice that something small is missing from a package:
- Double-check the packaging - sometimes small items like PCs can be lost in the bubble wrap or paper. Or, sometimes they are stuck to other items accidentally.
- If the item is missing, report the seller in the #sellers-to-avoid channel on Discord.
If you notice something large (like an entire order) is missing:
- Leave your order number as well as your packing request ID in the #support channel on Discord, or email support directly.
If your parcel arrived damaged and there are items missing due to a destroyed box:
- Contact your shipping provider and send photos of the damage to support. Keep in mind that, should the shipping provider be found at fault, you will only be reimbursed for the parcel value that you claimed while preparing it for shipment.
The seller has changed the listing after I paid for my buy request. Can I cancel it?
No. Buy requests cannot be cancelled for any reason after they have been paid for. This includes items that have been modified by the seller after purchase. Once they have been paid for, they are in the purchase queue.
The item price increased or decreased after I paid for my buy request. What happens now?
If the seller increased the price, Neokyo will cover the cost up to 250Y. If the price change is over 250Y, the buy request will be invalidated. You cannot re-request the item under any circumstances.
If the seller decreased the price, post the order number in the #price-reduction channel on Discord. You will be refunded the difference directly to your original payment method. You will know that the refund is being processed when Yann or Pierre react with a 👍 or 🆗:
It says an item is on its way to the warehouse but its Mercari page has been deleted. Should I be worried?
Sellers often delete purchased listings to “clean out” their Mercari pages. If the item is on its way to the warehouse, it has been secured. If there is any issue with the item later, its status will change to “Claim opened with seller”.
The bots missed the “immediate purchase” phrase on the item. Can Neokyo just buy it for me now?
Maybe. Typically, if one of the bots has commented on the item, it has gone into the regular purchasing queue and must continue through that route. Support can sometimes fix it if they can intervene in time. However, there maybe be other circumstances that require an immediate purchase item to be manually reviewed.
During weekdays, you can enter your order number in the #missed-instant-purchase channel on Discord. If possible, staff will intervene and purchase it asap.
What causes the bot to not recognize the immediate purchase keywords?
- 即購入 by itself is not recognized as it is sometimes included in phrases such as “no immediate purchasing allowed”
- The seller’s profile, username or item description asks to read the profile before making a purchase
- There is a space or an unrecognized emoji breaking up the keyword.
The seller isn’t responding/I accidentally made a buy request for a really old item! Can I cancel it?
No. Neokyo will give the seller 5 days to respond. After 5 days, plus staff review time, the buy request will be invalidated and you will receive a refund back to your wallet.
The seller asked all buyers to comment a special phrase or emoticon on a listing. Can the Neokyo bots do that?
No. The initial purchasing message is automated and cannot be customized.
The seller made a separate page for Neokyo to buy the item from. Can Neokyo buy it?
Maybe. Put the order information and the new Mercari page in #support on Discord.
The seller asked the bot a question. Can it answer?
Yes. The purchasing team will see the question and respond to it manually during their next rounds.
Is this Neokyo?
Probably! Feel free to ask in #casual-chat on Discord.
Help! The seller deleted Neokyo’s comment!
This is treated as a refusal to sell to a proxy. Your buy request will likely be invalidated. If so, you will be sent a refund back to your wallet.
I can’t afford the shipping for my “Collect on Delivery” item. Can I cancel it?
No. Once a buy request has been paid for, it cannot be cancelled for any reason. It is your responsibility to check listings before you purchase them for shipping information. Refusal to pay for additional shipping costs will put a purchasing freeze on your Neokyo account.
Can Neokyo detect an instant purchase message on a seller’s profile or in their username?
Usually, yes. The bots will scan for these phrases. However, if one of the bots has commented on the item, it has gone into the regular purchasing queue and must continue through that route.
🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝
Can I purchase from a listing where the postage is marked as "郵便局/コンビニ受取" (Post Office, Convenience store pick-up available)?
Yes. The item will be delivered to the warehouse as usual.
Other information:
What is Mercari?
Mercari is an online marketplace that can be accessed by computer and as a mobile app. It is commonly used by people to sell used or second-hand goods. Sometimes, it is used by resellers.
How is Mercari different from other purchasing websites?
Users can comment publicly on items to ask questions and negotiate prices. Mercari also has a partnered shipping program, which means that shipping is typically free from the seller to the Neokyo warehouse. However, due to Mercari’s popularity, items tend to be bought quickly. Other proxies also have partnerships with Mercari and can purchase items before Neokyo has the opportunity.
Purchasing tips and tricks
- Always check the original listing for information.
You can find the listing ID by pasting the Neokyo Mercari number
into the following link:
https://jp.mercari.com/item/_________________
Or, you can click on the “original page” button from the Neokyo listing:
Look for the following:
Shipping information:
(Shipping information) Shipping is paid for by the seller (Shipping information) YOU must pay for shipping |
Condition information:
(Item condition) Item is unused, brand new |
Seller rating:
(Green check means the seller has been verified)
Item description:
- Check for information about the item, including if it is a full set or a split set.
Other comments:
- Check to see if the item has been/is in the process of being secured by someone else as well as the date of comments to check for seller inactivity.
- Always check the seller’s profile for information about their willingness to sell to Neokyo.
Examples:
“If you do not purchase within 24 hours, we will not sell to you.”
“We will not sell to [bots] or people who cannot message us and say hello.”
“No comment is required to purchase. We will not reply to comments.”
- You can use the Mercari website directly for ease of searching.
To find the item on Neokyo afterwards:
Paste the Mercari number, found in the item URL
into the following link:
neokyo.com/en/product/mercari/_________________________
- You can submit Mercari requests using the Buy Request form.
If you do this, you can give your buy request a name for easy organization later.
Common issues with Mercari
- Items sell out quickly due to the popularity and ease of purchase on Mercari (like in the US, it is also a mobile app).
- Mercari does not like proxies.
- Mercari has a specific partnership with one proxy and does not support others. As such:
- Neokyo can only have a certain amount of accounts at a time.
- Neokyo accounts are frequently frozen and put under review by Mercari.
- Mercari does not help Neokyo with synching/API issues should there be a website update.
- Mercari recently updated its entire website. This has been causing a lot of weird glitches with searching on Mercari via the Neokyo website, and has caused some Mercari downtime. Please be patient with the team, they are working on it! 🙇♂️
- Mercari holds seller payouts. Like American Mercari, sellers are not paid until a buyer leaves a positive review.
- Some buyers will refuse to sell to Neokyo as the Neokyo accounts warn that ratings may be delayed.
- Some buyers will give Neokyo negative feedback for late ratings, which causes the accounts to be frozen and reviewed by Mercari staff.
- Neokyo must give a seller a positive rating when the item hits the warehouse, and cannot refute that rating if you see that the item was not as described/fake/damaged when you receive it 45+ days later.
- Mercari resellers often communicate with each other on social media, such as Twitter.
- Due to the aforementioned issue with Mercari ratings, sellers are hesitant to sell to Neokyo users. Sellers sometimes tell each other to avoid selling to the Neokyo bots and publicly identify them. This has happened frequently in the PC/Kpop community.
- Japanese buying culture is different than that of North America/Europe.
- It is polite to ask sellers if you can buy the item before you purchase it. Some less scrupulous buyers may cut under Neokyo and just buy the item outright, though.
- Some Japanese sellers may not want to sell to a proxy, as they consider them to be resellers (or they just want to keep the item in Japan). They will delete Neokyo’s comments, increase prices extremely, or delete listings to avoid selling to Neokyo.
- Is it commonplace to list items on multiple different sites to sell them quicker (such as Fril and Mercari and YAJ).
- While NA tends to be a buyer-protected market, Japan tends to be a seller-protected market. This means that businesses will side with the seller, and there are no repercussions for refusing to sell to others or deleting comments.
- People by any other nationality are just people!
- Mercari is not immune to bad seller/buyer behaviour, such as:
- Noticing someone is interested in an item and then increasing the price substantially in hopes they’ll buy it anyway
- Deleting comments from users they do not like
- Being inactive on websites
- Scamming others
- Buying things reserved for other people
- Making comments begging for items or steep discounts
- Refusing to answer questions
Common translation errors
- “Please refrain from nervous people” = “Please understand that the item is used. If you are concerned about any mild imperfections, please do not purchase.”
- “Please refrain from like if you do not intend to purchase” = Users can “like” items, like on Instagram. The seller is asking them not to.
- “This item was stored/inspected by amateurs” = “I did my best to store this safely and correctly indicate its condition. If you are concerned about any mild imperfections, please do not purchase.”
- “Sold due to duplicate purchase” = “I bought two of these and want to sell one.”
- “There is some dirt” = “This item is used and may have some minor flaws.”