How to sell on Mercado Libre, from the US or from Latin America
Por Oleksandr Shaniuk · fundador de Sellura · Actualizado el 1 de noviembre de 2026
To sell on Mercado Libre from the US, you open a Global Selling account for your business: one account lists on Mercado Libre's Mexican, Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian and Argentine marketplaces, listing is free, and you are paid in US dollars every two weeks once at least 500 USD is due. Mercado Libre charges a selling fee per order that depends on the marketplace and the product category; its Global Selling pricing page gives a flat rate only for Brazil, 12.5% for a Classic listing and 16.5% for Premium (Mercado Libre Global Selling, pricing and how-it-works pages, read 1 November 2026). If you live in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or Chile, you sell from a regular account on your own country's site instead.
- Listing fee
- Free
- on all five Global Selling sites
- Payout, Global Selling
- 2 weeks
- in USD, once 500 USD is due
- Selling fee, Brazil
- 12.5%
- Classic; 16.5% Premium; elsewhere by category
- Minimum listing price
- USD 3
- direct to consumer; USD 13 in Argentina
Shipping is the real decision. Global Selling offers Full warehouses in Mexico and Chile, a fulfillment center in Texas that delivers to Mexico in 2 to 3 days, or direct-to-consumer shipping where your parcel has to reach the carrier within 3 business days. Below: which route is yours, the steps on Global Selling, the fees and minimum prices, shipping, and how to write a Spanish listing that gets found. Sellura writes Mercado Libre listings in Spanish and is not affiliated with Mercado Libre.
Two ways in: a local account or Global Selling
Where your business is decides the route. A seller in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or Chile opens an account on that country's own Mercado Libre site and pays that country's fees, which Mercado Libre publishes as ranges by listing type and category. A seller in the US, or anywhere else outside those countries, uses Global Selling, Mercado Libre's cross-border program: one account, five Mercado Libre sites, prices and payouts in US dollars while buyers still pay in their own currency.
Either way the listing is read by buyers searching in Spanish, or in Portuguese on Mercado Livre in Brazil. Global Selling translates questions, answers and claims between English, Spanish and Portuguese; its pages do not say it writes your listing for you.
Sources: Mercado Libre Global Selling: About (five Mercado Libre sites from a single account), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Global Selling: How it works (free listing, USD payouts, translation tool), checked 1 November 2026
Selling from the US on Global Selling, step by step
Global Selling's sign-up is short, and the work is in what comes after it: what you are allowed to send where, and how it gets there. The steps below follow Mercado Libre's own Global Selling pages.
Create the account
The form asks for an e-mail, your business name and where you sell from, a phone number you verify, and a password. Global Selling's help centre routes account recovery through your Key Account Manager.
Check restricted products per country
Each destination has its own list of restricted products, and Mercado Libre's partner carriers have their own size and weight limits.
List your catalog
Upload it with Global Selling's spreadsheet or connect your platform through its API. Listing is free and listings don't expire, but each item must meet the marketplace's minimum price.
Pick how you ship
Send stock to a Full warehouse in Mexico or Chile, to the fulfillment center in Texas, or ship each order yourself to a partner carrier.
Get paid
Your earnings arrive as an international wire in USD, minus fees, every 2 weeks, to a bank or Payoneer account. A balance under 500 USD waits for the next cycle.
Sources: Mercado Libre Global Selling: registration form (business name and origin, phone, password), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Global Selling: How it works (spreadsheet or API, restricted products, payments), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Global Selling: Help (account recovery through your Key Account Manager), checked 1 November 2026
What it costs, marketplace by marketplace
Listing is free everywhere; the selling fee is charged only when an order is placed, and it depends on the marketplace, the listing type and the category. A Premium listing costs more than a Classic one and includes interest-free instalments (cuotas) for the buyer, which Mercado Libre says brings more exposure. Cheap items pay an extra fixed fee per unit, and every item has a minimum price:
On top of the selling fee you pay part of the shipping cost, set by your reputation, the origin and destination and the shipping method. With Full, warehousing fees apply in Mexico (Chile's are waived until further notice), and stock left in a warehouse past four months starts paying a monthly long-term storage fee. Mercado Libre's revenue calculator inside Global Selling puts it all together for one item.
| Marketplace | Selling fee | Extra fee per unit | Minimum price (direct / Full) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Selling feeBy category | Extra fee per unitMXN $33 on items up to MXN $299 | Minimum price (direct / Full)USD 3 / USD 4 |
| Brazil | Selling fee12.5% Classic, 16.5% Premium | Extra fee per unitBRL $9.6 on items up to BRL $79 | Minimum price (direct / Full)USD 3 / no Full |
| Chile | Selling feeBy category | Extra fee per unitCLP $1.650 on items up to CLP $15.650 | Minimum price (direct / Full)USD 3 / USD 4 |
| Colombia | Selling feeBy category | Extra fee per unitCOP $7.200 on items up to COP $60.000 | Minimum price (direct / Full)USD 3 / no Full |
| Argentina | Selling feeTo be announced | Extra fee per unitTo be announced | Minimum price (direct / Full)USD 13 / no Full |
From Mercado Libre Global Selling's pricing page, read 1 November 2026; amounts as Mercado Libre writes them. A local seller pays its own country's rates instead: our calculator lists those ranges.
Mercado Libre fee calculator: your category's rate →
Sources: Mercado Libre Global Selling: Pricing and fee structure (selling fees, per-unit fees, minimum prices, storage fees), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Global Selling Help: What fees do I have to pay in Full logistics, checked 1 November 2026
Shipping: three options, and why it matters for search
Full is Mercado Libre's own fulfillment: you send stock in bulk to its warehouses in Mexico or Chile, and it packs, delivers and answers after-sales messages, aiming for same-day or next-day delivery. Mercado Libre says Full listings are highlighted in its search results. The Texas fulfillment center does the same from inside the US, with delivery to Mexico in 2 to 3 days, and you contact Mercado Libre to sign up for it.
Direct to consumer keeps the stock with you: you print the label Mercado Libre generates, and the parcel has to be with the carrier within 3 business days. It works in all five Mercado Libre sites. Whatever you pick, reputation counts: Mercado Libre says a good seller reputation ranks your products higher and can save up to 60% on shipping costs, and it asks you to answer every buyer within 24 hours.
- Full, Mexico or Chile: stock in Mercado Libre's warehouse, fastest delivery, highlighted in search.
- Fulfillment in Texas: stock stays in the US, delivery to Mexico in 2 to 3 days.
- Direct to consumer: you ship each order, to the carrier within 3 business days, in all five Mercado Libre sites.
Sources: Mercado Libre Global Selling: Shipping solutions (Full, Texas fulfillment, direct to consumer), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Global Selling: How it works (seller reputation, response times), checked 1 November 2026
Writing the listing so Mercado Libre's search finds it
Mercado Libre's developer documentation calls the title the key to buyers finding a product. The limit is set by the category, and we counted 60 characters in most categories, never fewer. The order is the product, the brand, the model and a few specifications; the colour goes in a variation, the condition in the attributes, and a mention of stock gets a listing moderated. Mercado Libre also moderates a listing published in a different category from the one its category predictor recommends.
Then fill the ficha técnica, the category's attributes, completely, starting with the ones marked required and the product's universal code (GTIN). Mercado Libre scores every listing's quality from 0 to 100 and labels it Basic, Standard or Professional on Global Selling, and a complete ficha técnica, at least 3 photos and a title of at least 3 words are among the goals that score checks.
Mercado Libre titles: the length, the order and what to leave out → · Mercado Libre keywords: where they go and how to find them →
Sources: Mercado Libre Developers: Publicar productos (title limit set by category, no colour, condition or stock in the title; updated 09/01/2026), checked 1 November 2026 · Mercado Libre Developers: Calidad de publicaciones (score 0–100; Basic, Standard, Professional on Global Selling; updated 31/01/2025), checked 1 November 2026
What Sellura does here, and what it doesn't
Sellura writes the Spanish listing for Mercado Libre in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile: describe the item once, in English if you like, and it returns a Spanish title of 60 characters or fewer, which fits every category, in Mercado Libre's order with no colour, condition, shipping or instalment words, plus the ficha técnica attributes a buyer checks and a plain-text description. It does not write Portuguese, so it does not cover Mercado Livre in Brazil. The title preview and a 0–100 score are free on every generation, no card, and the score is deterministic: the same listing always gets the same number.
A credit unlocks the finished listing, and the first unlock is free on a new account. Starter is $15 a month for 25 credits ($150 a year) and Pro $24 a month for 65 credits plus bulk ($240 a year). Sellura doesn't open Mercado Libre links, post to Mercado Libre, set up your Global Selling account, handle shipping or track rankings, and it has no keyword database.
Write the Mercado Libre listing in Spanish, score free → · Plans and credits →
FAQ
Can I sell on Mercado Libre from the US?
How much does it cost to sell on Mercado Libre?
How do I get paid on Mercado Libre Global Selling?
Do I need to speak Spanish to sell on Mercado Libre?
How do I ship to Mercado Libre buyers from the US?
From the US, open a Global Selling account, check each country's restricted products, and decide shipping before you list: Full in Mexico or Chile for the fastest delivery and a search highlight, Texas fulfillment to keep stock at home, or direct shipping within 3 business days. Price above the minimum, expect a selling fee by category, and plan for payouts in USD every two weeks from 500 USD. Then write the listing in Spanish to Mercado Libre's rules; Sellura drafts it, with the score and title preview free and a credit for the finished listing.
Abre el generador de Mercado Libre.