Etsy, Mercado Libre and Rakuten: IP expectations for new sellers

Three marketplaces where network consistency matters in different ways. What to check before you register.

Etsy

• A handmade/vintage marketplace with manual review; new shops are watched closely.
• Country consistency matters: the shop's shipping origin, payment country and IP should agree.
• Etsy is sensitive to linking: device and payment reuse across shops is a common suspension reason.
• IP: residential or a clean ISP address; hosting addresses stand out because most sellers are on home lines.

Mercado Libre

• The main markets are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile.
• Each market requires a local phone and local identification; the network country should match the market.
• Local payment rails (PIX in Brazil, OXXO in Mexico) are part of verification.
• IP: country must match the market; avoid datacenter and VPN exits.

Rakuten

• Japanese marketplace with stricter identity checks; a Japanese phone and address are expected.
• The network should be Japanese and stable; a Japanese residential line is the normal seller profile.
• Registration from outside Japan usually triggers manual review.

The shared checklist

1. Country of IP = country of phone = country of payment = country of shipping origin.
2. No hosting, CDN, VPN or Tor exit.
3. The address must stay stable through the first month.
4. One device, one profile, one store.

What an IP check can and cannot do

It catches the cheap mistakes and gives you evidence if a review asks. It cannot replace a local phone number, a local payment method, or the documents each marketplace requires. See platform notes for the ones we cover in depth.