The Story of How My Sales Halved When I Stopped Replying to Comments | Are You Ignoring Your Listings After Posting? 'Divine Comment' Response Techniques to Drastically Reduce Unsold Inventory

Hello,
I'm Mercaku!

When I first started on Mercari, I thought, 'Replying to comments is a hassle, and if the product is good, it will sell on its own,' so I switched to a style of completely ignoring my listings after posting. However, the results were disastrous. My monthly sales plummeted from 180,000 yen to 80,000 yen, and I ended up with a massive amount of unsold inventory. I panicked and resumed polite comment replies, and by the next month, my sales were back to normal. Now, I am convinced that 'comment replying is an essential skill directly linked to sales.'

You probably have questions like these, don't you?

• 'Why would replying to comments change sales? Isn't product quality everything?'

• 'Isn't replying to comments a hassle and a waste of time?'

• 'If it's a good product, it should sell without me saying anything; there's no need to sell it.'

• 'I don't want to deal with annoying questions like price reduction requests.'

• 'What does this title even mean??'

Actually, I thought the exact same thing at first. I completely disregarded it, thinking, 'If you have a good product, you don't need customer service,' and 'Replying to comments is a waste of time.' But that was a huge loss of 100,000 yen in monthly sales.

The miserable reality of the comment-ignoring era

Speaking from my own experience, when I stopped replying to comments:

• It became the norm to ignore comments for over 24 hours.

• Other users avoided me, thinking, 'This seller seems to have poor service.'

• Over 30 unsold items accumulated by the end of the month.

• As a result, monthly sales plummeted from 180,000 yen to 80,000 yen.

The dramatic change after resuming comment replies

However, after I resumed polite comment replies:

• The probability of a comment leading to a purchase improved to 40%.

• Evaluation comments saying 'You are very polite' increased rapidly.

• Unsold items dropped to 5 or fewer per month

• As a result, monthly sales recovered and increased from 80,000 yen to 190,000 yen

Why was it so effective? It's because:

Mercari is a platform that prioritizes communication. is the reason.

Unlike typical e-commerce sites, Mercari has active interaction between users. Neglecting to reply to comments meant I was perceived as an 'untrustworthy seller,' causing me to lose out on a massive number of purchase opportunities.

3 Reasons Why Comment Replies Directly Impact Sales

(1) Public visibility where other users are watching

• Comment exchanges are visible to all users

• Polite responses directly lead to increased trust

• Neglect gives the impression of a 'poorly responsive seller'

(2) Resolving final anxieties before a purchase decision

• Comments are the final place for confirmation before buying

• Appropriate answers can provide the final push

• Neglect completely kills the desire to purchase

(3) Purchase inhibition due to the atmosphere during an exchange

• Unreplied comments give the impression of being 'under negotiation'

• Other users refrain from buying out of courtesy

• A chain reaction of lost opportunities occurs

Concrete Success Story

The era of neglecting comments (1 month):

• Number of comments received: 45

• Number of comments replied to: 8 (Reply rate: 18%)

• Comment-to-purchase conversion rate: 6%

• Monthly sales: 78,000 yen

• Unsold items: 32

After resuming comment replies (1 month):

• Number of comments received: 52

• Number of comments replied to: 52 (Reply rate: 100%)

• Comment-to-purchase conversion rate: 40%

• Monthly sales: 195,000 yen

• Unsold items: 4

Sales increased by 2.5 times, and the conversion rate improved by 7 times.

The Power of God-Tier Comment Reply Templates

Example reply to a price reduction request:

Results from this reply:

• Purchase rate within 24 hours of reply: 65%

• Positive impressions from other users: Increased dramatically

• Complaint rate: 0%

God-tier handling when refusing requests

Example reply for declining a request to sell items separately:

The power of 'I apologize that I cannot be of help':

• 95% of users who were declined maintained a positive impression

• Purchase rate as a set: 30% increase

• Negative ratings: 0

The decisive moment I resumed replying to comments that day

When I was struggling with a sharp drop in sales:

• 'Why is the same product selling better for others?'

• 'Even though there's no big difference when comparing product pages...'

• 'Could it be the difference in comment handling?'

• Immediately decided to resume polite comment replies

I still cannot forget the thrill of when my product sold after that first 'god-tier' response comment.

Compound effects of replying to comments

Direct effect (sales improvement):

• Comment-to-purchase conversion rate increased 7x

• Monthly sales increased 2.5x

• Unsold inventory drastically reduced to 1/8th

Indirect effect (trust improvement):

• Increased rate of receiving positive ratings

• 20% increase in repeat customer rate

• Acquiring new customers through word-of-mouth

Time efficiency (optimization):

• Responding in 3 minutes per inquiry using templates

• Reducing inquiries by proactively answering questions

• Resulting in improved time-to-value ratio

Preventing opportunity loss with the 24-hour rule

The importance of deleting comments:

• Delete comments immediately if there is no response within 24 hours

• Completely eliminating the 'in-progress' atmosphere

• Removing purchase barriers for new users

Proof of deletion effectiveness:

• Purchase rate within 48 hours of deletion: 85% increase

• Increase in multiple inquiries for the same product

• Significant reduction in time items remain unsold

The fatal mistake of sellers who underestimate comment replies

The pitfall of believing solely in product strength

Wrong mindset:

• 'If it's a good product, it will sell on its own'

• 'If the price is right, customer service is unnecessary'

• "Replying to comments is a waste of time"

Reality:

• Mercari is a platform that prioritizes trust-based relationships

• Communication is what provides the final push

• A one-minute comment reply can determine thousands of yen in sales

The Chain Reaction of Opportunity Loss

1. Ignoring comments
↓
2. Establishing an impression of a "poor-service seller"
↓
3. Reducing purchase intent from other users
↓
4. Massive accumulation of unsold items
↓
5. Hindering new listings due to inventory pressure

Summary

By abandoning the arrogance that "product quality alone is enough and comment replies are unnecessary" and switching to strategic communication, you can achieve:

✅ Sales increased by over 2.5 times
✅ Comment-to-purchase conversion rate up by 7 times
✅ Unsold inventory drastically reduced to one-eighth
✅ Dramatic improvement in your credibility as a seller

Replying to comments is an essential skill directly linked to sales.

A polite one-minute reply can make or break thousands of yen in sales. Master these god-tier comment templates to dramatically improve your closing rate on Mercari.

Neglecting your listings after posting is a breeding ground for opportunity loss. Utilize the ultimate sales tool known as comment replies to build a system that sells everything out.

Thank you for reading until the end.