In 2014, Mercari launched “Mercari US,” the company’s C2C marketplace business in the United States market. In fiscal 2025, Mercari US achieved its first ever full-year profit. Then, in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, cumulative gross merchandise value (GMV) increased by 10% year-over-year. In the company’s most recent third-quarter financial results, the figure reached an increase of 18% year-over-year. With a lean organization, Mercari US continues to steadily accelerate its growth.

On the ground, we spoke with Agastya Darma Laksana (@AG), who relocated from Indonesia to Japan, Julie Garton (@Julie), who’s spent the past five years in marketing in the US, and Kazuma Hosoda (@kazumaru), who transferred from Mercari Japan to the US team. Despite coming from different linguistic, cultural, and career backgrounds, they’ve all come together to work on the same product.

This time, we sat down with the three of them to learn what it’s like inside people running Mercari US day to day.

How the three of us ended up at Mercari

—First, could you each share your background and what brought you to Mercari?

@kazumaru: I joined Mercari Japan’s HD organization in 2019. The company had just gone public, and we were in the middle of leveling up our internal processes. I was also involved in the post-merger integration work following the Kashima Antlers acquisition. Since my parents are originally from Kashima City, it was exciting for me personally as well!

After that, I spent about three years on the Finance Team at Merpay, then transferred to the US team in 2023. I’m now based at the US@US Office, working on finance and data analytics, and more recently expanding into marketing as well.

@AG: I’m from Indonesia, and Mercari is my first full-time role in Japan. In my previous role, I was an EM working in mobile engineering and product development, but I really wanted to get back to writing code myself. The fact that I could work as an individual contributor (IC) at Mercari was a big draw, and that’s what led me to join the US@Tokyo Office.

It was a decision that meant changing my entire living environment, so I had to get used to a lot of things—both in life and at work—at the same time.

@Julie: I’ve been on the Organic Marketing Team at the US@US Office for five years. Before that, I was at Amazon for five years doing product marketing for Prime, Prime Student, and Amazon Business. Prime member engagement and retention were my main focus.

My personal experience was a big factor in why I joined Mercari. I’ve been selling things online since I was a teenager to help pay for college tuition and extracurriculars, so Mercari’s mission to “circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people” really resonated with me.

And as a user, I found that listing and shipping on Mercari was much simpler than on other marketplaces. That was a big factor too.

Discovering and adapting to a diverse environment

—All three of you stepped into a very different environment. What was the experience like?

@AG: Honestly, I was nervous. I came not speaking Japanese, and I’d never worked at a Japanese company before.

But from the interview stage, I could feel that US@Tokyo had a pretty international vibe. The working language is English, and the team members’ backgrounds are really diverse, so I fit in much more smoothly than I expected.

Of course, there are still struggles in daily life—paperwork, finding a place to live, getting used to Japanese culture (laughs). But Mercari has a Japanese learning program, so language rarely becomes a barrier to work.

@kazumaru: When I worked in Japan, I had a lot of colleagues with similar backgrounds, so I didn’t have to think much about communication. In the US, I work with people from many different backgrounds, so there are new things I pay attention to.

One example is time zones. I’m on the West Coast, so when I schedule a meeting with members on the East Coast, I’d specify “4 PM EST” rather than simply saying “1 PM.” It’s a small thing, but being considerate about small things like that is what makes collaborating on a diverse team work. There are also things that remain the same across Japan and the US, like our shared belief in Mercari’s values—Go Bold, All for One, Be a Pro, and Move Fast.

Strong ownership and a mission we believe in

—Tell us about the culture of the Mercari US team.

@Julie: Working for the US business of a Japanese company, the thing I feel most strongly is that sincerity runs through everything. At its core, Mercari is a buying and selling platform, but everyone on the US team is genuinely committed to contributing to the circular economy.

That gives All for One real weight. I want my team to succeed, and they want me to succeed. There’s also strong trust from leadership, and real room for me to think for myself and act. That’s why everyone here owns their work and takes pride in what they do.

@AG: From an engineer’s perspective, because the team is small, we’re very close to the product and business. You don’t just get handed a ticket and build it as instructed—you understand why it’s being built, how it affects users, and sometimes propose a different approach. That’s how we do things here. It’s challenging, but really rewarding.

In my first week, there was a team-building event (a dinner where members get to know each other), and our CEO Shintaro Yamada was there. We happened to be sitting across from each other and ended up talking through the whole meal (laughs). That’s how close-knit the organization is.

The cross-functional experience you only get in a small organization

—What’s the most interesting part of working with people from so many different backgrounds?

@kazumaru: With AI evolving so quickly and changing how we work, I think the appeal of working in a small organization stands out even more.

My background is in finance and data analysis, but I’m also doing marketing. Stepping outside of your job description is something that’s hard to achieve in a big organization.

I work side by side with specialists in each area, so I can stick to my core role while broadening my perspectives. I look at things not just through the lens of finance but consider the user experience and the product as a whole. At Mercari US, that mindset is our default.

@AG: Different backgrounds directly shape the product in a lot of cases.

When I was working on image search, I was thinking mainly from a US market perspective. A teammate from China shared how some fashion-focused image search experiences work in China, and that input helped make the product better.

When people from many different backgrounds are able to communicate openly, you notice things you wouldn’t have noticed on your own. That’s something a diverse environment can create.

@Julie: What the US team shares is a “builder mindset.”* It’s not a textbook career path—many of us have learned hands-on, in the field.

*A mindset that’s not bound by existing assumptions, and that creates value or opportunity from zero.

There’s a kind of energy that lets you move forward even in ambiguous situations. Mercari’s users are diverse too, and you need diverse perspectives on the builder side as well. The US team has that.

The next teammate Mercari US is looking for

—What kind of person fits Mercari US right now?

@AG: Building on what Julie said—someone who takes ownership and can move forward on their own, even when not everything is decided. Someone who asks when they don’t know, proposes when they have ideas, and shapes things together with the team.

Engineering skill matters, of course, but curiosity and collaboration matter just as much. The team is small but moves fast, and you get a level of ownership you simply can’t get at a larger tech company.

@Julie: Being able to think user-first is also important—so someone with the curiosity to pick up and use the app themselves and notice things that could be improved.

In practice, the people who’ve contributed the most to our organization are the ones who use other services on a regular basis and have a real, hands-on sense of listing and buying. That’s an important point.

@kazumaru: If I were to add one more point, it would be a mindset of taking on new challenges.

We’re a small organization of around 120 members, and taking on the US market is honestly a big challenge. But last quarter, our GMV was up 18% YoY, and we achieved profitability. We don’t want to stop there—we want to keep pushing, improve the user experience, and grow the business further. We’re looking for people who want to take that on with us.

We want to work with people who find tough challenges fun!

Your ideas shape the product

—Finally, please share a message with anyone considering joining Mercari US!

@Julie: What I’m most excited about is the perspectives that a new member brings.

There are plenty of talented people ready to take on challenges, but each one of them brings a perspective only they can. That’s what accelerates progress toward our mission. The fact that one more person joins us is itself meaningful.

@kazumaru: No matter what role you’re in, whether it’s engineering, marketing, or data analytics, your ideas can lead directly to product improvements.

In just the past few months alone, there have been multiple examples of ideas from team members that have shipped all the way to release. Here, you can make tangible contributions and feel the results.

@AG: I’ve also pitched product improvement ideas in the past few months, and some of them have shipped! That’s not something I take for granted. At my previous company, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.

We all come from different backgrounds, but we’re after the same goal. I’m looking forward to welcoming members who want to work on our team.