Do you collect sales tax selling wholesale on Faire? Resale certificates and when brands still register (2026)

When you sell wholesale on Faire, you generally don't collect sales tax on Faire orders. Faire is registered as a marketplace facilitator in the 45 states with a statewide sales tax and in DC, and it handles collecting retailers' resale certificates, reporting platform sales, and collecting and remitting tax where required. What stays with you is your off-platform selling, the states where your inventory sits, and the gross receipts taxes Faire doesn't touch.

Why wholesale usually isn't taxed

Sales tax falls on final consumption. A shop buys inventory to resell it and collects tax when it sells to a consumer, so the wholesale sale is exempt when the buyer gives a resale certificate. The general rule across states is that the seller must obtain and keep a valid certificate at the time of the sale. If an auditor finds none, the sale can be treated as a taxable retail sale, and the seller owes the tax, interest and penalties.

That is the headache of traditional wholesale: one certificate per customer per ship-to state, with expired or incomplete ones chased down. Faire takes that job over.

What Faire says

The brand terms. Section 9 of Faire's Brand Terms of Service effective September 15, 2026 (U.S. and Canada) says that under state marketplace facilitator laws Faire is responsible for sales tax compliance on sales to U.S. retailers, including maintaining data sufficient to support treating transactions as sales for resale.

The Help Center. Faire's Help Center says it is deemed the marketplace facilitator for platform transactions, so the sales tax obligations shift from brands to Faire, including collecting resale certificates from retailers, reporting platform sales and collecting or remitting tax where required. As of November 2026 its list of registrations covers 45 states plus DC, which is every state with a statewide sales tax. North Carolina is on the list.

The retailer side. U.S. retailers enter their state resale number under Resale credentials in their Faire profile, with one for each state they ship to. Business-use buyers such as hotels, restaurants and offices don't need a resale number, but Faire charges them sales tax.

What brands still do

You may still list the sales on your returns. Faire notes that if you are registered in a state, you may need to report Faire sales shipped there on your own return and then deduct them as marketplace sales so they aren't taxed twice. Forms and lines differ by state.

Off-platform wholesale means your own certificates. Orders you invoice yourself, sell directly to a store or take at a trade show outside Faire leave the resale certificate with you. North Carolina uses Form E-595E, and some states won't accept the multistate form. For an existing customer, Faire Direct costs 0% commission plus the processing fee and hands sales tax and certificates to the platform; your own invoice saves the fee but leaves certificates and bad debt with you.

Gross receipts taxes are not Faire's. Faire says its marketplace role covers sales and use taxes only. Taxes on gross receipts, such as Washington B&O, the Ohio CAT and the Texas franchise tax, are yours to evaluate. 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 when no tax is.

When you need your own sales tax registration

Inventory or people in a state. Physical presence, such as your studio, warehouse or a 3PL, triggers registration in many states regardless of sales volume.

Off-platform sales over an economic nexus threshold. Most states use a remote seller threshold of about $100,000 a year. If your own site's retail sales, trade show retail and direct wholesale together cross it in a state, you register there. Some states count marketplace sales toward the threshold and some don't, so check state by state.

Marketplace-only sellers. If all your sales go through registered marketplaces (Faire, Etsy, Amazon) and you have no physical presence in a state, most states don't require you to collect separately, though a few still expect registration and returns. The rules move, so review them yearly.

Own use and samples. Goods you use, trade show displays and samples sent to influencers can owe use tax in some states.

A common mix, worked through

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): a North Carolina jewelry brand sells $150,000 a year on Faire to 30 states, $40,000 retail on its own website (mostly to North Carolina) and $20,000 wholesale directly to shops at trade shows. Faire handles sales tax and resale certificates on the $150,000. The brand has a studio in North Carolina, so it registers there and collects North Carolina tax on its own site's sales into the state. For the $20,000 of trade show wholesale it collects a resale certificate from each shop (Form E-595E for North Carolina shops). Whether the North Carolina return lists and deducts Faire sales shipped into the state follows the state's form instructions. Off-platform sales into other states are far below the thresholds, so it generally doesn't register elsewhere.

The takeaway

Faire takes over the most tedious part of wholesale, the resale certificates, but not every sales tax duty you have. Keep sales split into Faire orders, other marketplace orders, off-platform wholesale and off-platform retail, then check each state for physical presence and thresholds.

Commission, payouts, the 1099-K and entity choice are in the Faire wholesale guide; North Carolina rules are in the North Carolina sales tax guide. If you're unsure which states you need, book a free 15-minute call or add WeChat YCLUSA.

Sources

Faire: Where is Faire registered as a marketplace facilitator?

Faire: Brand Terms of Service (USA/CAN, effective 2026-09-15)

Faire: Who are business-use buyers?

Faire: Do I need a resale tax ID?

NCDOR: Sales and use tax forms (Form E-595E)