What happens to Mercari balance when the owner dies

Mercari does not say a balance is forfeited at death. The balance is the seller's own money from completed sales, held with Mercari and its bank — Mercari, Inc. is a licensed money services business (NMLS ID 1486447). The Terms say Mercari can hold an account balance for up to 90 days, extendable to 180 days, and that abandoned accounts and unclaimed balances are subject to state abandoned property regulations. So an unclaimed balance is not written off by Mercari; it can escheat to the state, where an estate can later claim it through the state unclaimed-property office. The direct route is to ask Mercari, in writing, to release the balance to the estate.

No. Mercari's Terms of Service grant a "personal, limited, revocable, non-transferable license" to use the app and website, and state that a user "may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent." Inheritance is a transfer by operation of law, so the account, the store, and the seller ratings do not pass to a survivor. What the estate can pursue is the earnings balance and the transaction records, not the account.

In writing, in the executor's own name — not by logging in as the decedent. Contact Mercari support with the account email or username, state that the account holder has died, and ask Mercari to hold the account and the balance while the estate is opened, then to release the balance to the estate and provide the transaction history. Enclose a certified death certificate, the Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, and the executor's photo ID. Mercari publishes no estate payout mechanism, so the letter should also ask Mercari to state what it requires to pay an estate, since the normal payout is a Direct Deposit or Instant Pay to the account holder's own bank.

Physical items the decedent listed but had not shipped are still their property and pass through the estate like any other personal property; the listing itself carries no value. Sales already in progress have real buyers waiting: proceeds are released to the balance only when the buyer rates the order, or when Mercari applies the automatic rating if the buyer does not. Orders that cannot be fulfilled should be flagged to Mercari for cancellation and refund. A seller stays responsible for refunds, chargebacks, and shipping overages even after the account is closed, and Mercari can deduct those from the balance, so open orders can reduce what is left.

No. Mercari credits and coupons are promotional store credit. Under the Terms, a user cannot exchange Credits for cash, property, or any other economic benefit other than to buy eligible products on Mercari, cannot transfer Credits or Coupons to any other user or person, and Mercari-issued credits and unused coupons "become invalid and expire upon termination of your account." They are separate from the cash earnings balance, which is the only value an estate can pursue.

No, and that ordering matters. Mercari states it will not close an account that still has listed items, incomplete direct deposits, in-progress orders, or a remaining balance, so closure is the last step after the balance question is settled. A permanent closure request goes through Mercari's intake form and Mercari states it processes the request within 45 days. Some transaction records are retained after closure because federal law requires a business that facilitates the transfer of money between consumers to keep them.