Second-hand, across Switzerland
Sell second-hand without ending up in a car park with a stranger.
The buyer pays first, but the money stays blocked until the parcel is delivered. No one advances anything, no one needs to trust anyone, and everyone gets paid.
Selling is free. Photograph the item: we write the listing for you, in French, German and Italian.
Today, a second-hand sale almost always ends the same way
The buyer has no recourse
They pay in cash, on the spot. If the item does not match the listing, that is the end of it.
The seller wastes time
Cancelled meetings, buyers who never show up, haggling on the pavement.
And no one guarantees anything
The big Swiss classified-ad platforms do not block the money and do not guarantee delivery.
How it works
Four steps to sell, three to buy. None of them requires trusting the other party.
You sell
1.The buyer pays
By TWINT or by card. The money is immediately set aside: the seller cannot touch it.
2.The seller dispatches
They pay the postage, drop off the parcel, then enter its consignment number. That is what triggers their payment. Above 500 francs, the insurance is bought at the counter: we tell them so as soon as the listing is posted.
3.We track the parcel
Swiss Post's tracking tells us when it has arrived. Neither the buyer nor the seller has to declare it.
4.The seller is paid
Delivered, then 48 hours to report a problem. If no claim is made, the money goes to their account: 2 to 3 working days, and 7 days for a very first sale, a delay imposed by our banking provider that we prefer to announce rather than let you discover.
You buy
1.You find the item
Listings are written in French, German and Italian, wherever they come from. Postage and protection are shown before you pay, never after.
2.You pay on Merka
By TWINT or by card. The money is set aside with our payment provider: the seller cannot touch it until the parcel has arrived. You do not have to trust someone you do not know.
3.You receive, you check
Swiss Post delivers to you. You have 48 hours to report an item that does not match the listing: the payment is frozen and we decide. If nothing arrives, you are refunded; the money never left the circuit.
The parcel is insured up to its value
Without asking for anything, Swiss Post only covers a parcel up to 500 francs. That is not much for a bike, a camera or a computer. So we add to the postage the option that matches the item's price: up to 1,500 francs of cover above 500, and up to 5,000 above 1,500. Loss, breakage or delivery to the wrong person: Swiss Post pays.
The amount appears in the postage, before purchase, and never afterwards. It costs between 1.50 and 7 francs, and we take no margin on it. Above 5,000 francs, no insurance exists for a parcel: we close off delivery and offer only in-person handover, where the item never travels without its owner.
And if it goes wrong?
Parcel never arrived, item that does not match the listing: you report it before the period ends, the payment is frozen, and we decide. Since the money never left the circuit, a refund remains possible. That is the whole difference from a wad of notes exchanged at the station.
Selling costs nothing
No commission for the seller, no margin on postage. The buyer pays a protection fee: that is what funds the guarantee and the handling of disputes.
The fees, in full
- Seller commission
- 0 %
- Buyer protectionpaid by the buyer
- 6.9 % + 2.95minimum 4.50
- Postageat cost, Swiss Post's rate
- from 9.00
A concrete example
a jacket sold for 40.00 CHF, parcel up to 2 kg
- The buyer pays
- 54.71
- of which the item
- 40.00
- of which postage
- 9.00
- of which protection
- 5.71
- The seller receives
- 49.00
- minus their online postage
- −9.00
- They are left with
- 40.00
Exactly their sale price. The postage is covered to the centime, and the buyer bears the rest.
| Size | The buyer pays |
|---|---|
| Sup to 2 kg | 9.00 |
| Mup to 10 kg | 12.00 |
| Lup to 30 kg | 21.00 |
| XLfurniture, skis, bikes | on request |
Bulky items, furniture, skis, bikes, go through a specialist carrier, with a quote shown before purchase.
You will never have to check whether the buyer has paid
The scam on the rise on Swiss second-hand sites targets sellers: a buyer claims to have paid and sends "proof", a link, a QR code, a page imitating the site or TWINT. The seller enters their credentials there, or dispatches an item they will never be paid for.
That fraud needs one precise moment to work: the one where the seller has to judge for themselves whether a payment is real. On Merka, that moment does not exist.
- Nothing to check
- The buyer pays on Merka, and we are the ones who tell you the money is there. No buyer's message can claim it in our place.
- No link to open
- You never have to click on a proof of payment, or enter banking credentials to be paid. Not ours, not anyone's.
- You dispatch already paid
- The parcel only leaves once the money is in escrow. If it never arrives, the buyer is refunded without you having advanced anything.
One reflex remains useful: we will never ask for your banking credentials, or a TWINT code, or a payment through a link received elsewhere. Any message that does is not from us, even if it carries our name.
Photograph. We take care of the rest.
One photo is enough: we write the title, the description and the condition, we estimate the parcel size, and we publish the listing in French, German and Italian. A buyer in Zurich thus finds the item of a seller in Geneva, which happens nowhere else in Switzerland.
Put an item up for saleWe will never send you a payment link
The most widespread scam on second-hand sites in Switzerland is the fake payment link: an SMS or a message imitating TWINT or Swiss Post that leads to a card entry page. With us, payment happens only on this site, never through a link received elsewhere. Any message asking you to pay through a link is a scam, even if it carries our name.