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Balance Sheet Components - Summary of Changes Accumulated Balances of Other Comprehensive Income (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ (11,159)meli_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossTax
Amount of gain (loss) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to net income, tax	11,159meli_ReclassificationFromAccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeCurrentPeriodTax
Net current period other comprehensive income, tax	210,274us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossTax
Ending balance	199,115meli_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossTax	(11,159)meli_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossTax
Beginning balance	(87,455,970)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax	(48,783,128)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax	(48,783,128)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax
Amount of gain (loss) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to net income, net of tax	(25,467)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossReclassificationAdjustmentFromAOCIForSaleOfSecuritiesNetOfTax	(759,564)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossReclassificationAdjustmentFromAOCIForSaleOfSecuritiesNetOfTax	(924,657)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossReclassificationAdjustmentFromAOCIForSaleOfSecuritiesNetOfTax
Net current period other comprehensive income, net of tax	(47,617,861)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTaxPortionAttributableToParent	(38,672,842)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTaxPortionAttributableToParent	(11,739,782)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTaxPortionAttributableToParent
Ending balance	(135,073,831)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax	(87,455,970)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax	(48,783,128)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetOfTax
Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Investments [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Beginning balance	36,626us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax1 / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedNetUnrealizedInvestmentGainLossMember
Amount of gain (loss) reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to net income, before tax	(36,626)us-gaap_ReclassificationFromAccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeCurrentPeriodBeforeTax / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedNetUnrealizedInvestmentGainLossMember
Net current period other comprehensive income, before tax	(614,133)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedNetUnrealizedInvestmentGainLossMember
Ending balance	(577,507)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax1 / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedNetUnrealizedInvestmentGainLossMember
Foreign Currency Translation [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Beginning balance	(87,481,437)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax1 / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedTranslationAdjustmentMember
Net current period other comprehensive income, before tax	(47,214,002)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedTranslationAdjustmentMember
Ending balance	(134,695,439)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeTax1 / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedTranslationAdjustmentMember
Available-for-sale Securities [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Other comprehensive income before reclassification adjustments for (losses) gains on available for sale investments, tax	199,115meli_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeReclassificationAdjustmentTax / us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember
Other comprehensive income before reclassification adjustments for (losses) gains on available for sale investments, net of tax	(47,592,394)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeReclassificationsNetOfTax / us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember	(37,913,278)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeReclassificationsNetOfTax / us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember
Available-for-sale Securities [Member] | Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Investments [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Other comprehensive income before reclassification adjustments for (losses) gains on available for sale investments, before tax	(577,507)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeReclassificationsBeforeTax / us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedNetUnrealizedInvestmentGainLossMember
Available-for-sale Securities [Member] | Foreign Currency Translation [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Other comprehensive income before reclassification adjustments for (losses) gains on available for sale investments, before tax	$ (47,214,002)us-gaap_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLossBeforeReclassificationsBeforeTax / us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember / us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis = us-gaap_AccumulatedTranslationAdjustmentMember

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