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The story
On September 11, Mercari began trial-testing a “private listing” feature for select users, allowing only people who know a product page’s URL to view and purchase it. It’s available to sellers at level 4 or higher who have completed identity verification, and can only be set when creating a new listing priced at 9,999 yen or under. Because the item won’t appear in search results, recommendations, or the seller’s profile, reactions on social media have been split — some pointed to the benefit of making it easier to sell to a specific buyer via “reserved” listings, while others raised concerns that the anonymity could be exploited for shady deals or money laundering. Opinion was similarly divided on 5ch.
As of September 11, Mercari is trial-testing a “private product listing” feature for some users. In response, voices on social media (X) have raised concerns about potential misuse.
Private listings are a way of selling items where only users who know the product page’s URL can view and purchase it. Unlike regular listings, the item will not appear in search results, the “recommended” section, the seller’s profile, or anywhere else.
It’s available to sellers at level 4 or higher who have completed “Easy Identity Verification via App.” It can be set from the private-listing option under detailed settings when creating a new listing priced at 9,999 yen or under. Listings cannot be switched back to regular listings once set as private.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Sounds like it's gonna turn into some underground auction…
Since they're already doing identity verification, wouldn't a blacklist system make more sense —
· only verified users can view it
· block undesirable buyers from viewing
That's the normal way to do this.
They really get their users
Everyone's laundering money after all
That's not the point — this just makes 'reserved' listings actually work.
Before, even if you wrote 'reserved,' other people could still buy it.
With this feature, that won't be possible anymore.
Read it properly —
it won't show up in search either.
Even with 'reserved' listings, you'd share the URL in the comments anyway,
so nothing really changes in the end.
I think they mean it in the literal, original sense of the word.
Fine, it can't be seen by others, but
how are they going to weed out illegal listings and activity?
You really think Mercari would bother doing that?
Everyone already learned that lesson from the Chiikawa incident.
They basically want us to use it for 'reserved for so-and-so' listings, right?
Annoying.
They could've just built in a passkey system instead,
but no, it's just a dedicated URL… come on.
>Unlike regular listings, the item won't appear in search results, the 'recommended' section, or the seller's profile
This is a straight-up black market for organized crime and shady dealings — basically the dark web.
Seriously, regulate Mercari, Yahoo Auctions, Rakuten, all of them, already.
Police, do your job, seriously.
This is nothing but a breeding ground for money laundering and tax evasion.
Enough already — Nagatacho and Kasumigaseki too (Japan's political and bureaucratic centers).
Do your jobs, regulate this.
Why do you think they bring in retired bureaucrats (amakudari) in the first place?
Nobody's expecting actual competence from officials anyway.
Wouldn't it just be more convenient to do that through other social media instead?
Well, Tor was made in the US, so deals routed through it are basically all being monitored anyway.
Good or bad aside, their attitude is basically 'never leave money on the table.'
Gotta admit, that hustle is impressive lol
'Chinkawa'? Is that even a thing? (mangling the character name Chiikawa as a joke)
Beerus, God of Destruction, has purchased this item.
Please confirm and proceed with the transaction. (continuing the Dragon Ball joke)
are these guys even a legitimate company?
This is the same company that let people list actual cash for sale
until it got called out on social media and the police had to step in.
(Criminals were using it for money laundering.)
Should be fine, I'd think.
Is there even a legal basis for non-financial companies to retain identity verification data?
Isn't deletion basically impossible because of tax office audits?
Just request that they delete your own personal data yourself.
If it's the person themselves asking, it's not mandatory, but it does create an obligation to make an effort (Article 22 of Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information).
If they refuse, press them for a reason.
In the end, if you can already contact the buyer directly via LINE or whatever, you'll just think, 'Why not skip Mercari entirely and do cash-on-delivery?'
No fees taken that way either.
You lose anonymous transactions that way.
The biggest advantage of Mercari's shipping service is that it's anonymous — you can trade without either side knowing the other's name or address.
Which is exactly why the only uses left are things like sellers who can't process credit cards,
or deals where you deliberately want a third party in the middle —
basically nothing but shady use cases, and that's apparently the appeal lol
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Mercari’s new “private listing” is a trial feature limited to sellers at level 4 or higher who have completed identity verification, and it can only be set on new listings priced at 9,999 yen or under. Sellers have long used labels like “reserved for Mr./Ms. So-and-so” to sell to a specific buyer, but since those listings still showed up in search and on the seller’s page, there was a loophole letting anyone buy them anyway. This new feature closes that loophole — but because anyone who has the URL can still buy the item, thread posters have argued that a “blacklist” system limited to verified users would make more sense. There’s also lingering wariness given the past incident where stolen Chiikawa merchandise was resold for cash, raising concern that listings hidden from search could make it easier for such deals to spread. That said, no actual misuse has been confirmed so far — it’s worth noting this feature is still only in trial testing.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Mercari] Trial Launch of ‘Private Listing’ Feature Viewable Only to Those Who Know the URL — Misuse Concerns Raised“.
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