Selling wholesale on Faire: application, 15% commission and Faire Direct, Net 60 payouts, sales tax and resale certificates, 1099-K, entity planning (2026)

Faire is a marketplace built for wholesale: brands open shops, and independent retailers, cafes, hotels and other business buyers order at wholesale prices while Faire handles buyer verification, payment terms, collection and opening-order returns, and takes a commission. Like Amazon it is a platform, not a retailer that buys and resells the way Wayfair does; but its buyers are businesses, not consumers, so sales tax becomes a resale question rather than a retail one.

• Who buys: Faire verifies its buyers. They include retailers with physical stores, online shops and recurring pop-ups, and, since 2026, business-use buyers such as boutique hotels, restaurants and offices that buy for their own use rather than resale. Faire doesn't allow personal purchases or dropshipping.
• Who contracts with whom: Section 9 of the brand terms effective September 15, 2026 (USA/Canada) says Faire is authorized to accept retailer orders on the brand's behalf, which concludes a sales contract between the brand and the retailer, and a retailer's payment to Faire discharges its obligation to the brand. The terms effective July 5, 2023 had a "flash title" clause under which title to U.S. brands' goods passed to Faire before passing to U.S. retailers; the new version no longer has it.
• Who grants the terms: under the new terms Faire decides, on the brand's behalf, whether a retailer pays on shipment or gets 60 days of interest-free trade credit. On the brand side, Faire's payment processors (generally Stripe in the U.S. and Canada, Adyen in Europe and Australia) pay you on your chosen payout schedule, and the platform carries the risk of late payment and default, priced into the payment processing fee.
• Scale: Faire says it has more than 100,000 brands, and its Faire Direct page cites more than 700,000 retailers. Check Faire's site for current figures.
• Pricing rules: your prices on Faire must be consistent with your other wholesale and retail channels, and retailers can't resell below the brand's MSRP. Products retailing above $20,000 aren't listed, and items with a retail price of $500 or more are non-returnable.

Description: each row is a stage of an order, with what Faire, the brand and the retailer do and what to watch for tax and bookkeeping. Your account terms and Faire's Help Center control.

Stage	Faire	Brand (you)	Retailer	Tax and books
1. Order	Verifies the retailer; accepts the order on your behalf	Accept or cancel within 2 business days; set the expected ship date	Orders at wholesale and meets your minimum	U.S. orders: Faire checks resale credentials and charges tax to business-use buyers
2. Payment timing	Decides whether the retailer pays on shipment or in 60 days	Not affected	Eligible retailers can pay in 60 days	The retailer's terms don't change your payout date
3. Shipping	Ship with Faire labels, or reimburses your own shipping	Ship and upload tracking	Receives goods	Self-shipped costs come back in the payout; Ship with Faire costs never touch your payout
4. Payout	Pays after deducting commission and processing fee	Next day, 30 or 60 days (North America)	—	Book revenue at the order subtotal; commission and fees are expenses
5. Returns	Free returns on opening orders, at Faire's risk	Payout unaffected; damage and missing items are yours and can be deducted	Opening orders generally returnable for 60 days	Opening-order returns don't reduce your revenue; damage deductions do
6. Year-end	1099-K to U.S. brands over the threshold	Reconcile: the 1099-K counts orders shipped and paid out that year	—	December shipments paid in January land on next year's 1099-K

You submit a brand application and open a shop only once approved. Faire's terms say it can accept a limited number of brands at a time, isn't obligated to accept anyone, and it publishes no fixed review timeline. As of November 2026 its supported countries are the U.S., Canada, the U.K., most of the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. China isn't on the list, but Faire says brands elsewhere can still apply, as long as they take USD payouts to a U.S. bank account and ship on their own.

Description: four rows by brand location, with commission, payout method, shipping, tax form and what to watch. Faire's "Where is Faire available?" and regional pricing pages control.

Brand location	First order / reorder commission	Payout	Shipping	Tax form to Faire	Watch out for
U.S.	15% + $10 / 15%	U.S. bank account; next day 3.5%, 30 days 2.4%, 60 days 1.9%, each plus $0.30	Ship with Faire or your own	W-9, name and TIN matching IRS records	1099-K once over the threshold
Canada	15% + $10 / 15%	Stripe, CAD or USD account	Ship with Faire or your own	Canadian tax details	Faire calculates GST/HST, QST and PST and remits or passes it to you depending on registration
U.K., EU, Australia, New Zealand and others	25% / 15%	Mostly Adyen with a local bank account; next-day payout costs 3%, 30 days is free	Ship with Faire in some countries	W-8	Possible EU VAT registration; DAC7 reporting for EU sellers over the threshold
Not on the list (e.g., mainland China)	25% / 15%	U.S. bank account, USD by ACH; services such as OFX can provide U.S. account details	Ship on your own only	W-8	You are the exporter; on cross-border orders the retailer is usually the importer and pays duty

• What the review covers: the terms call for your full wholesale catalog (product name, individual or prepack, variations, case size, wholesale price by region, retail price, descriptions, active status), high-resolution product and lifestyle photos and your order minimums; documentation of product compliance and safety; and, for distributors, written authorization from each brand. Faire suggests listing at least 10 products.
• Your own brand only: you can't list other brands' wholesale goods on your shop. "Products sourced from other online marketplaces for resale," counterfeits and unauthorized rebranding are all prohibited. If you put your label on generic factory goods, make sure you hold the rights to the brand and design; trademark and IP questions go to a lawyer.
• Prohibited and restricted categories: weapons, tobacco and vapes, ingestible CBD, perishables needing refrigeration with a shelf life of 30 days or less, used and refurbished goods, investment-grade art, children's car seats and some infant sleep products, digital goods and gift cards, among others, per Faire's product guidelines. Dangerous goods can't go on Faire labels.
• What a Chinese brand can do: apply with the Chinese company, give a W-8BEN-E and take USD payouts to a U.S. account. But you ship from China yourself, the terms make the brand the exporter, and on cross-border orders the retailer is usually the importer. With the U.S. $800 de minimis exemption ended for all countries on August 29, 2025, retailers pay duty and clearance fees on receipt, which dampens orders. Scaling usually means U.S. warehouse inventory and often a U.S. company; see the entity sections below.
• Faire+: a program for supplying large retailers that requires at least $2,000,000 of insurance coverage with Faire as additional insured, plus complete GTIN/UPC, weight, dimensions and country-of-origin data.

Joining is free; each order carries a commission and a payment processing fee. Marketplace orders pay 15%, North American brands add a one-time $10 new customer fee on a retailer's first order, and brands outside North America pay 25% on first orders (15% plus a 10% referral fee). Once a retailer's first order with you comes through Faire Direct, all of that retailer's orders are 0% commission. Processing fees depend on payout speed.

Description: one row per fee item, comparing North American (U.S. and Canada) brands with brands outside North America.

Item	North American brands	Brands outside North America	Notes
Joining	Free	Free	No monthly fee
Marketplace first order	15% + one-time $10 new customer fee	25% (15% commission + 10% referral fee)	Outside North America, a second order within 24 hours of the first also counts as a first order
Marketplace reorder	15%	15%	Based on the order subtotal, net of brand-funded discounts
Faire Direct	0%	0%	The retailer's first order comes through your Faire Direct link, site, invoice or app; prior relationships can also qualify on documentation
Payout and processing	Next day 3.5% + $0.30; 30 days 2.4% + $0.30; 60 days 1.9% + $0.30	Next day 3% (on subtotal plus shipping); 30 days free	Covers processing, payment terms financing and default risk
Shipping	Faire pays Ship with Faire labels up front; self-shipping reimbursed up to an approved amount	Brands outside the supported countries must ship on their own	Some promotions and Insider orders shift shipping to Faire or the brand
Opening-order returns	Faire's risk	Faire's risk	Not deducted from payouts

• The payout formula: Faire's Help Center gives payout = order subtotal + shipping reimbursement − commission − payment processing fee. The subtotal is total wholesale cost less brand-funded promotions; shipping reimbursement applies only when you ship on your own.
• Using Faire Direct: grab your link from the brand portal and put it on your wholesale site, email signature and trade show QR codes; when an existing customer's first Faire order comes through it, the relationship is 0% commission. Faire audits these and can revoke the status for fraud. Retailers new to Faire who sign up through your link also get a sign-up incentive and a year of free shipping with you, paid by Faire.
• Insider Partnership: North American brands can opt in to offer more free shipping to Faire's Insider retailers; partners pay shipping on eligible Faire Direct Insider orders.
• Price parity: Faire audits your prices against your other channels and can require fixes or suspend accounts, so don't inflate wholesale prices on Faire to absorb the commission.
• Since 2023: the current North American structure took effect July 5, 2023; the September 15, 2026 terms keep 15% plus $10 and the three processing-fee tiers.

Net 60 is a benefit for retailers, not for brands. Eligible retailers can pay 60 days after ordering; you are paid on the schedule you choose. For North American brands, once a shipment is scanned and in transit, Faire initiates payment on the next business day after the next-day, 30-day or 60-day payout date, and funds usually land in 1 to 2 business days. Late payment and default by retailers is the platform's risk.

• The clock starts at shipment, not at the order, so slow shipping means slow payouts. The terms also let Faire hold payouts for disputes, excessive refunds or processor requirements.
• Picking a payout speed: next day is the most expensive (3.5% + $0.30) and 60 days the cheapest (1.9% + $0.30). The 1.6-point gap is the price of getting paid about 59 days sooner, roughly 10% a year annualized. Choose fast payouts when cash is tight and you're building inventory, slow ones when it isn't. You can change it any time for future orders.
• How retailer returns affect you: Faire carries opening-order returns, and "returned items will not be deducted from your payout." Faire takes the goods, inspects them and resells them at a discount to other retailers; the Buy-Back Program lets you buy them back if you'd rather they didn't circulate. Reorders generally aren't returnable.
• Damage and missing items are different: when a retailer reports damage or missing items, resolving it is your job, and Faire can deduct from payouts or charge your payment method. If you shipped on your own, the carrier claim is yours too; Faire recommends shipping insurance.

You set your own order minimums, by region, separately for first orders and reorders, and your own shipping lead time, which Faire may adjust to your actual record. You must accept or cancel an order within 2 business days of the notice, and frequent cancellations, late shipments and damage can cut your visibility or get the account suspended.

• Minimums: a common setup is a modest first-order minimum and a lower reorder minimum so small shops can try you. Minimums don't change your taxes, but they change your average order size and how much the $0.30-per-order fee weighs.
• Ship with Faire: print USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL and other labels at Faire's negotiated rates with nothing paid up front; when the retailer pays shipping it appears on the retailer's invoice and stays out of your payout. No pallet, expedited or overnight service, and no dangerous goods. As of November 2026 it's available to brands in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and most of Western and Northern Europe, but not to brands outside the supported countries, such as China.
• Shipping on your own: you pay the carrier, enter the cost and tracking, and Faire reimburses an approved amount in the payout; costs can't be inflated. When Faire is funding shipping, it can require Ship with Faire or cap reimbursement at its negotiated rate.
• Performance: Faire reviews listing accuracy, catalog completeness, late shipments, valid tracking, response time to new orders, damage and missing-item rates, backorders, returns and cancellations, and how you handle retailer issues, generally monthly. Pause Mode stops new orders for up to 12 weeks at a time.
• No circumvention: you can't steer retailers you met through Faire into off-platform deals, or the account can be terminated. Existing customers ordering through your Faire Direct link already pay 0% commission, so there's little reason to try.

Yes; you choose which regions your shop is live in. Faire's rule is that the brand is the exporter and the retailer is the importer. Faire's commercial invoice puts duties on the retailer and supports only 6-digit tariff codes, so products needing longer codes need your own invoice. EU and U.K. VAT follows the ship-from location; a U.S. brand shipping from the U.S. to an EU retailer leaves the retailer to pay VAT and duty at the border.

• EU VAT registration: per Faire, a brand must register for VAT in an EU country where it has an entity, a warehouse or fulfillment center, or where it first ships goods to itself before fulfilling EU retailers; shipping direct from the U.S. generally doesn't require it. For EU brands, Faire handles VAT differently for domestic, intra-Community and imported supplies.
• U.K.: on domestic U.K. shipments Faire charges VAT and remits it to VAT-registered brands in the payout; for shipments from outside the U.K. under £135 to retailers without VAT registration, Faire charges VAT at checkout under U.K. marketplace rules; above £135 the retailer pays at import.
• Canada: USMCA-originating goods stay duty-free. For Canadian brands, Faire calculates GST/HST, QST and PST and either remits it or pays it to the brand to remit, depending on registration.
• Goods entering the U.S.: since July 8, 2026, importers, including retailers importing your goods, must eFile CPSC certificate data with CBP at entry, and you need to be able to provide it. Textiles, chemicals under TSCA, food and pet food have their own requirements.
• U.S. income tax on overseas sales: a U.S. company's wholesale sales abroad are still its income on Form 1120, 1120-S or Schedule C; the other country's VAT and duty are separate items in the books.

Not on Faire orders, as a rule. Sales tax falls on final consumption, so a retailer buying to resell is exempt with a resale certificate; Faire is registered as a marketplace facilitator in 45 states and DC and handles collecting retailers' resale certificates, reporting platform sales and collecting and remitting tax where required. Business-use buyers have no resale exemption, and Faire charges them sales tax. Your job is to check what other registration duties you have.

• What Faire says: Section 9 of the brand terms says that under state marketplace facilitator laws Faire is responsible for sales tax compliance on sales to U.S. retailers, including keeping data sufficient to support treating transactions as sales for resale. Its Help Center says sales tax obligations on platform transactions shift from brands to Faire, including collecting resale certificates, reporting platform sales and collecting or remitting tax where required.
• You may still report: Faire notes that if you're registered in those states, you may still need to list Faire sales shipped there on your own returns and deduct them as marketplace sales so they aren't taxed twice. Each state's form differs.
• Gross receipts taxes stay with you: Faire says its marketplace role covers only sales and use taxes. Taxes on gross receipts, such as Washington B&O, the Ohio CAT and the Texas franchise tax, are yours to evaluate and file. For Texas, the no-tax-due threshold for 2026 and 2027 reports is $2,650,000, nexus starts at $500,000 of Texas receipts, and an information report may be due even with no tax.
• When you register yourself: most states don't require a seller whose sales all go through a registered marketplace to collect tax separately, but check these cases: inventory or employees in a state (physical presence); off-platform sales (your wholesale site, trade show orders, direct invoices to stores, your own retail site) that cross a state's economic nexus threshold; states that count marketplace sales toward that threshold, and states that don't; and states that require every seller with physical presence to register. North Carolina's rules are in the guide at yclcpa.com/salestax.
• Off-Faire wholesale means your own certificates: when you sell directly to a store outside Faire, you collect and keep the resale certificate. North Carolina uses Form E-595E, and some states won't take the multistate form. Without a certificate, an auditor can treat the sale as retail and bill you the tax.
• Faire Direct versus your own invoice: for the same existing customer, Faire Direct costs only the processing fee and hands sales tax, certificates and credit risk to the platform; your own invoice saves the fee but leaves certificates and bad debt with you. Weigh both the cost and the compliance.
• Own use and samples: goods you use yourself, trade show displays and samples sent to influencers can owe use tax in some states.

Resale credentials. U.S. retailers buying for resale generally need a state seller's permit or resale number, entered in the Resale credentials section of their Faire profile, and one for each state they ship to. Businesses buying for their own use can register as business-use buyers but pay sales tax. Retailers collect sales tax when they sell to their own customers.

• A resale number isn't an EIN: it comes from the state revenue department; where a state issues the same number, have a completed resale certificate ready. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no statewide sales tax and no resale number.
• Be accurate: Faire verifies the business after the first order and may ask for a business license, social media links or the resale number, usually within 1 business day. Checking "I am reselling" for goods actually used in the business invites use tax and penalties if the state audits.
• Resale rules: no reselling below the brand's MSRP, no unauthorized rebranding or repackaging, and no dropshipping.
• Designers and contractors: if you buy furniture and decor to resell to clients, North Carolina has specific rules (Form E-595E, Form E-589CI, separately stated design fees); we cover them in a separate insight article on North Carolina designers' and contractors' resale certificates.

Yes. Faire's Help Center says it issues a 1099-K to U.S. brands with more than $20,000 in Faire sales and more than 200 orders in a calendar year, and files it with the IRS and the relevant states. The amount is gross: sales plus shipping for orders shipped and paid out during the year, before commission and fees. Non-U.S. sellers who aren't paid in USD don't get one.

• One form per account: a brand with several Faire accounts is tested, and receives forms, account by account.
• W-9 name and TIN: Faire checks name and TIN against IRS records in real time. Sole proprietors and disregarded single-member LLCs enter the owner's name and SSN (or the owner's EIN), not the LLC or trade name; corporations, partnerships and LLCs taxed as corporations enter the entity name and EIN. Four failed matches trigger a 96-hour IRS lockout.
• Why it won't match your books: the 1099-K counts orders "shipped and paid out" in the year, so December shipments paid in January fall into next year; it includes shipping reimbursements; it doesn't subtract commission, fees or damage deductions. Keep a reconciliation: 1099-K gross − shipping ± cross-year orders = Faire sales in your books, with commission and fees shown as expenses.
• No form, same income: if you're under the threshold, or a foreign brand without a 1099-K, all Faire income is still reported. Reconciling platform 1099-Ks is covered in the guide at yclcpa.com/1099k.

Record revenue at the gross wholesale amount when the order ships; record commission, new customer fees and processing fees as expenses; carry what Faire owes you in a clearing account and clear it payout by payout. A small business on the cash method generally recognizes income when the payout arrives, so 30- and 60-day payouts push part of December's sales into the next year.

• Accrual method: recognize revenue on shipment and transfer of title, with year-end shipped-but-unpaid orders as receivables. Faire orders are your sales to retailers, so platform fees are expenses rather than price reductions; that keeps gross margin right and matches the 1099-K's gross basis.
• Cash method: businesses with average gross receipts of $32,000,000 or less over the prior 3 years (the 2026 threshold) can generally use the cash method and simplified inventory accounting without UNICAP. Cash-method income counts when received. Because the payout option is chosen before the order and the money isn't available to you before the payout date, this generally isn't constructive receipt; just don't defer money that's already available to you.
• Inventory: cost is deducted when goods sell. Materials and production for unsold goods are inventory, not current expenses. Wholesale margins are thinner than retail, so watch inventory turns.
• Deductions: opening-order returns are Faire's and don't touch your revenue; damage and missing-item deductions reduce revenue or are booked as losses; brand-funded discounts reduce revenue; Ship with Faire costs never enter your books; for self-shipping, record the reimbursement as income and the postage as expense, or net them, consistently.
• Sales tax: tax on Faire orders never passes through your books; tax you collect off-platform is a liability, not income.

When you're starting out with modest profit, a sole proprietorship (Schedule C) or single-member LLC is enough, and Faire's W-9 carries your own name with your SSN or EIN. Once profit is steady, an S corporation can take part of it out of self-employment tax; if you plan to raise money or retain profits to grow, look at a C corporation. Foreign-owned LLCs follow very different rules.

• Schedule C: a single-member LLC is disregarded by default, so profit goes on Schedule C of your Form 1040 and bears income tax plus 15.3% self-employment tax (the 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500). Pay quarterly estimates.
• S corporation: pay yourself a reasonable salary subject to payroll tax, and take the rest as distributions free of self-employment tax; the cost is running payroll, filing Form 1120-S and a higher accounting bill. It's usually worth a hard look at around $50,000 of annual profit (see yclcpa.com/scorp). Foreign persons can't be shareholders.
• C corporation: 21% federal tax, with a second tax on dividends. Suits brands raising investors or retaining large profits (see yclcpa.com/ccorp).
• Which state: usually where you actually operate; forming elsewhere means registering back home as a foreign entity and paying both states (see yclcpa.com/llc). Companies and LLCs doing business in California owe at least $800 a year in franchise tax.
• The full entity comparison: see the guide at yclcpa.com/entity.

Description: one row per type of brand, with the form it gives Faire, what it files every year, where profit is taxed, who it suits and what to watch.

Situation	Gives Faire	Files every year	Where profit is taxed	Suits	Watch out for
U.S. resident, sole proprietor or single-member LLC	W-9: your name + SSN or your EIN	Form 1040 Schedule C; self-employment tax	U.S. individual rates	Starting out, modest profit	The 1099-K is in your name; pay quarterly estimates
U.S. resident, LLC taxed as S corporation	W-9: entity name + EIN	Form 1120-S, payroll; K-1 on your return	U.S. individual rates; profit beyond salary avoids self-employment tax	Steady profit, roughly $50,000 a year or more	Reasonable salary required; no foreign shareholders
Foreign-owned single-member LLC (no Form 8832)	The owner's W-8, not the LLC's W-9	Pro forma 1120 + 5472; with effectively connected income, the owner files 1040-NR or 1120-F	For tax, the foreign owner is doing the business	Needs a U.S. entity for banking and contracts, modest volume	$25,000 per missed 5472; U.S. inventory or staff can create effectively connected income
Foreign company with a U.S. subsidiary (C corporation)	W-9: subsidiary name + EIN	Form 1120 + 5472; 1042 / 1042-S on dividends; BE-13	U.S. at 21%; the parent's profit on sales to the subsidiary is taxed at home	U.S. warehouse, U.S. staff, long-term plans	Arm's length related-party pricing; customs values must line up
Multi-platform seller (Faire + Etsy / Shopify / Amazon)	The same entity and form on every platform	One set of books, revenue by platform	As above, by entity	Wholesale and retail together	Retail and wholesale platforms follow different sales tax rules; your own site's sales tax is yours

A U.S. LLC with one foreign owner and no Form 8832 election is disregarded for tax: it shouldn't give a W-9 under its own EIN, its foreign owner gives a W-8, and it files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 every year. Electing corporate status on Form 8832 turns it into a U.S. C corporation paying 21% federal tax with withholding on dividends. Run the numbers first, because the election generally locks in for 60 months.

• W-9 or W-8: Faire's U.S. brand setup asks for a W-9 and its international setup for a W-8. Under the Form W-9 instructions, a foreign-owned disregarded LLC shouldn't give a W-9 in its own name. Whether you register as a U.S. or international brand decides whether Faire issues a 1099-K and whom it reports to the IRS, so settle it with your CPA first (see the guide at yclcpa.com/w8ben).
• Form 5472: a 100% foreign-owned disregarded LLC files a pro forma 1120 with Form 5472 every year to report dealings with its owner, including contributions, loans and expenses the owner paid. Each missed form starts at a $25,000 penalty (see yclcpa.com/5472).
• Effectively connected income: a U.S. warehouse with inventory, or people in the U.S. taking orders, shipping or negotiating for you, can mean a U.S. trade or business with effectively connected income, and the owner files Form 1040-NR or 1120-F. Chinese residents can look to the U.S.-China treaty's permanent establishment article, but must file on time to claim it, and state taxes ignore the treaty.
• Form 8832: after a corporate election the LLC files a full Form 1120 + 5472 and pays 21% federal tax; after-tax profit paid to a foreign owner is subject to 30% withholding, generally 10% under the U.S.-China treaty. Under Treas. Reg. §301.7701-3(c)(1)(iv), after a change in classification another change is generally barred for 60 months; an initial election effective on formation doesn't count. The full analysis is in the guide at yclcpa.com/walmart.
• ITIN: a foreign owner filing Form 1040-NR can apply for an ITIN with the return; as an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent we verify passports so originals stay with you (see yclcpa.com/itin).

Chinese factories that want Faire as a steady channel usually set up a U.S. subsidiary as importer, hold inventory in a U.S. warehouse and ship to retailers domestically. Retailers then aren't importers, and payouts, returns and logistics run smoothly. The cost is two rules: the factory's price to the subsidiary must be arm's length and reported on Form 5472, and the customs value must match the subsidiary's inventory cost.

• Related-party pricing: the subsidiary imports, warehouses and sells wholesale, carrying the operating risks other than retailer credit, and should earn a steady, reasonable profit. A subsidiary that loses money every year invites an IRS adjustment under §482 (see the guide at yclcpa.com/subsidiary).
• §1059A: for goods imported from a related party, inventory cost for income tax can't exceed the customs value. Declaring low to customs while booking high doesn't work.
• Tariffs: as of November 2026, Section 301 duties on Chinese-origin goods remain, some goods carry Section 232 duties too, and de minimis is gone. Duty, freight and brokerage go into inventory cost. The tariff stack and refunds are covered in the guide at yclcpa.com/fba.
• Inventory states: wherever the goods sit, the subsidiary has physical presence for sales tax registration and state income or franchise tax. Faire handles sales tax on Faire orders, but the other inventory-state obligations remain.
• Faire's positioning: Faire recruits independent brands. The factory lists under its own brand and must hold the rights to brand and design; goods made for other brands can't be listed as your own.

Faire fits small brands with their own label selling what independent shops stock, such as gifts, home goods, jewelry, beauty and food: retailers do the selling, you take the wholesale price, the platform carries payment terms and opening-order returns, and it handles sales tax and resale certificates. The price is a 15% commission and wholesale margins. Selling to consumers earns higher margins but leaves traffic, customer service and returns to you.

Description: one row per channel, with the model and seller, main fees, fulfillment, who can join, sales tax, 1099 and payouts.

Channel	Model / seller	Main fees	Fulfillment	Who can join	Sales tax	1099	Payout
Faire	Wholesale marketplace; brands sell to retailers and business buyers	15% commission ($10 extra on North American first orders, 25% first orders outside North America); Faire Direct 0%; processing 1.9%–3.5% + $0.30	Ship with Faire or your own	By application; U.S., Canada, U.K., EU, Australia, New Zealand supported, others may apply	Faire as marketplace facilitator in 45 states + DC, with resale certificates	1099-K to U.S. brands ($20,000 and 200 orders)	Next day, 30 or 60 days
Amazon Business	Amazon's business-buying channel; the seller sells	Professional plan + normal referral fees; business prices and quantity discounts	FBA or self-fulfilled	Professional sellers in good standing	Amazon collects; exempt buyers use Amazon's tax exemption program	1099-K	Amazon settlement cycle
Alibaba.com	Global B2B platform, mostly factories	Annual membership, ads	Mostly cross-border; the buyer is often the importer	Mainly factories and traders in China and elsewhere	For U.S. buyers, Alibaba.com collects as marketplace facilitator; buyers can apply for exemption	Per the platform's practice	Per platform and Trade Assurance rules
Direct to retailers	You sell to stores and invoice them	No platform fee; trade shows, rep commissions, bad debt are yours	Your own	Anyone	You collect and keep resale certificates and file where you have nexus	Usually none	Your terms; bad debt is yours
Amazon	Marketplace selling to consumers	$39.99/month Professional + referral fees (mostly 8%–15%) + FBA fees	FBA or self-fulfilled	Most countries, including China	Amazon collects	1099-K	Settlement cycle
Walmart	Marketplace selling to consumers	No monthly fee; referral fees mostly 6%–15%	WFS or self-fulfilled	U.S. and listed countries, after approval	Walmart collects	1099-K	Settlement cycle
Wayfair	Retailer buying from suppliers	No per-sale commission; you supply at base cost, allowances and fees deducted	North American drop ship or CastleGate	Home goods suppliers worldwide	Wayfair collects as retailer; your sale is for resale	Merchandise payments generally no 1099-K	60 days after invoice
Etsy	Marketplace selling to consumers; handmade, design, vintage	$0.20 listing + 6.5% transaction + payment processing	Seller ships	Etsy Payments countries; no new shops from mainland China	Etsy collects	1099-K	Etsy Payments
TikTok Shop	Marketplace selling to consumers	About 6% referral in most categories + creator commissions	Platform logistics or approved warehouses	U.S. entity for local shops; cross-border by invitation	TikTok collects	1099-K	Settlement cycle
Shopify store	Your own site; you are the seller	Monthly plan (Basic $39 monthly) + payment fees	Your own	Anyone	You collect and file	Shopify Payments issues 1099-K	Payment provider payouts

• Faire's upside: buyer credit checks, 60-day terms, bad debt and opening-order returns all sit with the platform; you don't run sales tax or resale certificates on Faire orders; and Faire Direct gives existing customers a commission-free ordering and payment-terms tool.
• Faire's costs: commission plus processing typically runs about 17% to 19%, more on first orders; prices must match other channels; Faire can change your visibility, hold payouts or close the account; returned goods get resold at a discount.
• Amazon Business: business pricing added to an Amazon seller account, with corporate buyers; rules and tax follow Amazon retail (see yclcpa.com/amazon and yclcpa.com/fba).
• Alibaba.com: suits factories taking large orders from overseas importers, not selling to small U.S. shops. A factory on both Alibaba.com and Faire should keep brands and prices clearly separated.
• Etsy and Shopify: consumer sales with higher margins, but you handle sales tax (on Shopify), returns and traffic (see yclcpa.com/etsy and yclcpa.com/shopify).

Many small brands start selling to consumers on Etsy or Shopify and then add Faire to sell to shops. The business model changes, and the tax setup should follow: revenue shifts from retail to wholesale, margins drop, inventory grows, and payouts come on terms; sales tax moves from the platform collecting retail tax to resale exemptions; and one 1099-K becomes two or more.

• Entity: brands that sold on Etsy in their own name often form an LLC once they start wholesaling, signing with stores and taking trade show orders, to separate business from personal. Use the same entity, EIN and W-9 name on Etsy, Faire and Shopify so the 1099-Ks line up.
• Pricing: wholesale is often about half of retail, and Faire takes its commission from the wholesale price. Rebuild unit costs and margins at wholesale instead of budgeting off Etsy retail margins.
• Price consistency: Faire expects consistent pricing across channels, and retailers can't sell below MSRP; discounting below that on Etsy or your own site puts you in conflict with your stockists.
• Inventory: wholesale means stocking up. Unsold goods at year-end can't be deducted as expenses under either the cash or accrual method; take a year-end count.
• Sales tax: Etsy and Faire orders are handled by the platforms; your own site's retail sales, trade show retail and direct wholesale are yours to register for, collect on or document with resale certificates.
• Self-employment and estimates: profit jumps when wholesale scales, so adjust quarterly estimates, and look at an S corporation once profit is steady. Etsy tax details are in the guide at yclcpa.com/etsy.

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): Lin lives in North Carolina and runs a scented candle brand through a single-member LLC. She started on Etsy and added Faire in 2026. Her Faire order subtotals for the year total $200,000 across 900 orders: $120,000 of marketplace orders, including 300 first orders from new retailers, and $80,000 through Faire Direct from existing and trade show customers. She picks 30-day payouts and ships on her own, with $9,000 of postage fully reimbursed. Retailers report damage that costs her $1,500 in deductions. Cost of goods sold (materials, packaging, labor) is $70,000 and other expenses (trade shows, samples, software, insurance) are $25,000. Orders shipped in December and paid in January 2027 total $15,000 (shipping $600); orders shipped in December 2025 and paid in January 2026 total $10,000 (shipping $400).

How to read it:

• The 1099-K is $3,700 below book revenue, and nothing is underreported: the gap is cross-year orders and damage deductions. Keep the reconciliation so you can answer an IRS matching notice.
• Platform fees run 13%: commission, new customer fees and processing total $26,070, or 13% of subtotals; if every order came from the marketplace it would approach 19%. Moving existing customers to Faire Direct is the most direct saving.
• Sales tax: all 900 orders go through Faire, which handles sales tax and resale certificates. Lin has inventory and a workplace in North Carolina, so her North Carolina registration depends on her off-Faire sales (Etsy collects on Etsy orders; trade show retail is hers to collect).
• Self-employment tax: $77,430 × 92.35% × 15.3% is about $10,941. As an S corporation paying herself a $45,000 reasonable salary, payroll taxes on the salary would be about $6,885, saving roughly $4,000 a year before the cost of payroll and Form 1120-S. At higher profit the S corporation looks better.
• A foreign brand for comparison: if a Chinese company ran the same business shipping from China, its 300 marketplace first orders would carry 25% commission; retailers would be importers paying duty and would order less; payouts would need a U.S. account. It usually wouldn't receive a 1099-K, but that doesn't mean no U.S. filing duty; that depends on whether it has effectively connected income.

Start with who you are (U.S. resident, foreign individual or foreign company), where goods ship from and where else you sell, then settle the entity and tax setup. Common situations:

• Situation A: a U.S. resident moving from Etsy into wholesale. Start as a single-member LLC or sole proprietor and give a W-9 with your own name and SSN or EIN; move existing customers to Faire Direct; set up the books and pay quarterly estimates; run the S corporation numbers once profit is steady.
• Situation B: a U.S. brand on Faire plus its own wholesale site and trade shows. Leave Faire orders to Faire; collect your own resale certificates on off-platform wholesale and track economic nexus by state; register in inventory states; reconcile 1099-Ks and books platform by platform.
• Situation C: a Chinese brand testing Faire. Apply with the Chinese company, give a W-8BEN-E and set up a U.S. dollar account; ship from China yourself with country of origin and tariff codes on each product; remember retailers pay the duty, so start with small, light, high-margin items.
• Situation D: a Chinese factory planning long-term U.S. wholesale. Form a U.S. C corporation as importer with U.S. warehouse inventory, apply to Faire through the subsidiary with a W-9; set intercompany prices and customs values; file Form 1120 + 5472 every year and review each inventory state's taxes.
• Situation E: a foreign owner who already has a U.S. single-member LLC. Catch up any missing pro forma 1120 + 5472 filings; check whether Faire has you as a U.S. or international brand and whether it holds a W-9 or W-8, and fix it if wrong; at higher volume weigh Form 8832 or a separate C corporation.