Photo by Jezael Melgoza on Unsplash
If you’ve started hunting for secondhand Pokémon cards, used camera gear, or pre-loved designer bags in Japan, Mercari has probably already come up — it’s the app every guide mentions first. But Mercari isn’t alone. Rakuten runs its own flea-market app, Rakuma, and it quietly does several things better than its bigger rival: lower seller fees, a Rakuten Points payment option, and a different mix of inventory that skews toward fashion, cosmetics, and baby goods. Here’s what Rakuma actually is, how it stacks up against Mercari, and when it’s worth checking both apps instead of settling for the one everyone recommends.
What Rakuma Actually Is (and How It Differs from Mercari)
Rakuma started life as an app called Fril before Rakuten acquired it and folded it into the Rakuten ecosystem. Functionally it works the same way Mercari does: anyone can list a secondhand item with photos and a description, a buyer purchases it directly through the app, and the platform holds the payment in escrow until the buyer confirms the item arrived as described. Both are mobile-first — browsing on a desktop browser works but feels like an afterthought on both platforms.
The difference is ecosystem. Rakuma is tied into Rakuten Points, the loyalty currency you earn from Rakuten Ichiba shopping, Rakuten Travel bookings, Rakuten Card purchases, and Rakuten Mobile. If you’ve accumulated points through any of those, you can spend them directly on Rakuma purchases — effectively a discount Mercari has no equivalent for. Mercari, by contrast, has no loyalty-point tie-in but has a far larger user base, which means more total listings and faster turnover on popular categories.
Fees, Points, and Why Rakuma Can Be Cheaper
Mercari charges sellers a flat 10% commission on the final sale price, deducted automatically when the item sells. Rakuma’s seller commission is lower — roughly 6% on most items — which matters to you as a buyer because sellers with thinner margins to protect are often more willing to accept offer requests or price items a little lower from the start.
Both apps route payment through similar channels: credit card, convenience-store payment (conbini), bank transfer, and each platform’s own wallet (Merpay on Mercari, Rakuten Pay on Rakuma). Conbini payment typically adds a small handling fee of around ¥100–210 on top of the item price, which is worth factoring in if you’re comparing a similar listing across both apps. If you’re relying on a foreign-issued credit card for either platform, be aware that cards without a Japanese billing address are sometimes auto-rejected by Japanese e-commerce fraud filters — the same issue covered in our guide on losing or freezing your credit card in Japan, which is worth a read before you lean on a foreign card for any Japanese app purchase.
Can Tourists Actually Buy on These Apps?
This is the part most guides skip. Both Mercari and Rakuma require a Japanese phone number for SMS verification at sign-up, which already rules out most short-term visitors using a foreign SIM. Even once you’re in, the shipping integrations both apps rely on — Mercari’s Yu-Yu Mercari Bin and Rakuma Pack, both run through Yamato or Japan Post — are built around domestic Japanese addresses and don’t support shipping straight overseas.
In practice, this means most foreign buyers use a Japan-based proxy or forwarding service (Buyee, ZenMarket, and FROM JAPAN all support purchases from Japanese flea-market apps) that holds a Japanese address, buys the item on your behalf with a Japanese payment method, and then consolidates and ships it to you internationally. Expect to pay the proxy service’s commission plus international shipping on top of the item price — factor that into whether a ¥1,500 secondhand item is actually a bargain once it’s landed at your door. If you’re already in Japan with a hotel stay long enough to receive a package, some travelers have the forwarding service or a trusted friend’s address ship ahead of their visit instead, though this takes coordination and isn’t something either platform officially supports.
What Sells Better on Rakuma vs Mercari
Because Mercari has the larger user base, it has deeper inventory in categories with broad, cross-generational demand: used electronics, cameras, retro game consoles, trading cards (Pokémon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh), anime and idol goods, and used books. If you’re chasing something niche or rare — a discontinued regional-exclusive plush, for instance — Mercari’s sheer volume of listings gives you better odds. It’s a common landing spot for secondhand versions of items covered in our Pokémon Center regional-exclusive merch guide, since sold-out store exclusives often resurface there months later at a markup.
Rakuma’s listings lean more toward women’s fashion, cosmetics, and baby and kids’ items — partly a legacy of its Fril roots as a fashion-resale app, partly because Rakuten’s broader shopper base is more fashion- and lifestyle-skewed. If you’re after a secondhand designer bag, barely-worn boutique clothing, or baby gear for a long-term stay, it’s worth checking Rakuma side by side with Mercari rather than assuming the bigger app automatically has better selection. For travelers who just need clothing options short-term rather than something to own and ship home, it’s also worth comparing against a rental option — see our guide to clothing rental subscriptions like airCloset and Rcawaii, which sidesteps the shipping and sizing guesswork of buying secondhand sight-unseen.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing Rakuma with Rakuten Ichiba. Rakuten Ichiba is Rakuten’s general online mall selling new goods from retailers; Rakuma is the separate C2C secondhand app. Searching for a product on the wrong one wastes time.
- Assuming either app ships internationally. Neither does directly — you need a Japanese address, whether your own, a proxy service’s, or a forwarding agent’s.
- Skipping the seller’s rating and past comments. Both apps show a seller’s transaction history and buyer feedback; “like new” from a seller with no history is a different bet than the same words from someone with 200 completed sales.
- Forgetting the proxy service’s own fee stacks on top. A ¥2,000 item can easily become ¥4,000+ once commission, domestic shipping, and international forwarding are added — do the full math before assuming you’ve found a deal.
- Not budgeting for conbini payment surcharges if you’re paying through a Japanese friend or proxy using convenience-store payment — it’s a small amount, but it adds up across multiple purchases.
Which App Should You Use?
Default to Mercari if you’re chasing anime goods, trading cards, electronics, or anything with broad collector demand — the listing volume alone makes it the better first stop. Check Rakuma specifically if you’re after fashion, cosmetics, or baby items, if you already have a stash of Rakuten Points to spend, or if a Mercari listing for the exact item you want is sitting at a price you’d like to beat — searching the same keyword on Rakuma takes thirty seconds and occasionally turns up a cheaper, less-contested listing precisely because fewer buyers think to look there. Either way, go in understanding that buyer protection on both platforms is peer-to-peer and informal — nothing like the formal consumer return rights you’d get buying new, as covered in our guide on returning a defective product bought at a Japanese electronics store. Secondhand savings come with secondhand risk; read listings and seller histories carefully before you commit.