Lowe's Marketplace vs. Becoming a Lowe's Vendor: Sales Tax, 1099-K and Setup

On Lowe's Marketplace you sell to the customer: Lowe's collects sales tax as the marketplace facilitator, you receive a 1099-K once payments pass $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year, and the states where your U.S. warehouses sit bring their own obligations. As a Lowe's vendor you sell wholesale to Lowe's: you charge no sales tax on Lowe's resale certificate and get no 1099-K, but you manage EDI, deductions and allowances. Pick the route before onboarding so the entity setup and the books don't need redoing.

The core difference: who the seller is

Lowe's Marketplace is Lowe's third-party seller program on Lowes.com. It launched in December 2024, and Lowe's announced a partnership with Mirakl in May 2025. Shoppers see that an item is sold and shipped by a third-party seller, and you ship the order from a U.S. warehouse. For tax purposes you are the retail seller of record, and Lowe's is the marketplace facilitator.

Being a Lowe's vendor is different. Retail product suppliers register on Lowe's supplier page through RangeMe, private-brand suppliers through PROVIS, and only selected suppliers get a vendor number. Vendors typically work one of two ways: a stocking (1P) vendor delivers to Lowe's distribution centers or stores; a drop-ship vendor sells to Lowe's but ships from its own warehouse straight to the customer. Either way, Lowe's is the retailer that sets the retail price and charges the customer sales tax, and you are the wholesaler.

Sales tax: collected by the platform, or covered by a resale certificate

Marketplace sellers

Every state with a sales tax has a marketplace facilitator law: once a platform meets the threshold, it collects and remits sales tax on marketplace orders for third-party sellers. Lowe's does this for Lowes.com orders in those states, so you generally don't collect it yourself.

Three things are still yours. First, warehouse states. The Lowe's Marketplace application says only U.S.-registered businesses may apply and that orders ship from U.S. warehouses. Inventory in a state gives you physical presence there regardless of sales thresholds, and some states require sellers with physical presence to register even when the marketplace collects every order. Second, off-platform sales. Your own website, wholesale and in-person sales are yours to tax; the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 a year in most states and $500,000 in California, Texas and New York. Third, gross-receipts taxes. Washington B&O and the Texas franchise tax are not sales taxes, and the platform doesn't pay them for you.

Vendors

Selling to Lowe's is a wholesale sale, so you charge no sales tax, but you collect Lowe's resale or exemption certificate and keep it by state. In a state audit, wholesale sales without a certificate can be treated as taxable retail sales.

Drop-shipping adds a layer: when goods go from your warehouse straight to a customer in another state, some states want the retailer's resale certificate to be valid in the delivery state. Collecting the right certificates up front is far easier than chasing them later.

1099-K: one route has it, the other doesn't

Marketplace sellers: OBBBA restored the federal 1099-K threshold, so a platform issues a 1099-K once payments exceed $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year, showing gross customer payments. Your payouts are net of commissions and refunds, so book revenue gross, record commissions, refunds and shipping separately, and list the differences from the settlement reports. Our 1099-K guide walks through the reconciliation.

Vendors: Lowe's pays invoices for goods. That is wholesale revenue paid directly, not through a third-party settlement organization, so there is generally no 1099-K. Revenue follows your invoices, and Lowe's deductions, price protection, co-op advertising fees and defective allowances generally reduce revenue or are booked as expenses. Keep Lowe's deduction detail for each one and dispute on time where you can.

W-9 and backup withholding

Both routes ask for tax information. A U.S. company gives its EIN on a W-9, with the name exactly as on IRS records; if it is missing or mismatched, the payer must apply 24% backup withholding. A foreign-owned single-member LLC is disregarded for U.S. tax, and under the W-9 instructions a foreign owner generally gives a W-8, not a W-9 under the LLC's EIN. See our W-8BEN and W-9 guide.

State income tax: vendors aren't always taxable where they deliver

Marketplace inventory sits in U.S. warehouses, and federal P.L. 86-272 generally doesn't protect sellers that keep inventory in a state, so warehouse states usually mean income or franchise tax filings.

A stocking vendor can be in a different position. If your only activity in a state is soliciting orders, and goods ship from outside the state to Lowe's distribution center there, P.L. 86-272 may shield you from that state's net income tax. It doesn't reach gross-receipts taxes like the Texas franchise tax or Washington B&O, and it doesn't cover employees, warehouses or service work in the state. A drop-ship vendor shipping from its own warehouse has warehouse-state obligations much like a Marketplace seller.

Setup: Marketplace requires a U.S. business

As of November 2026, the Lowe's Marketplace application lists only U.S. states, requires an EIN and says only businesses registered in the United States may apply; Lowe's FAQ also says the initial launch excludes sellers shipping from abroad. A Chinese seller therefore forms a U.S. company and leases U.S. warehouse space first.

Supplier registration asks for a federal tax ID, a D-U-N-S number, legal structure, parent company and product certifications. An import vendor, for which Lowe's is importer of record, doesn't necessarily need a U.S. company; a domestic vendor that imports and delivers in the U.S. generally needs a U.S. company as importer.

A side-by-side example

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): a ceiling fan retails for $200. On the Marketplace you sell 1,000 units on Lowes.com; customers pay $200,000, and Lowe's separately charges and remits their sales tax. Assume a 12% commission of $24,000 and $6,000 of refunds, so you receive about $170,000; the 1099-K reflects gross amounts and is reconciled to settlement reports. You pay LTL and parcel freight, and you file in your warehouse state.

As a vendor you sell 1,000 units to Lowe's at a $110 wholesale price, invoicing $110,000, with no sales tax and no 1099-K. Lowe's deducts $2,200 for ship-notice errors and takes a $3,300 defective allowance; you book $110,000 of revenue, reduce it by $5,500, and keep the deduction detail and any dispute record.

Margins and cash flow differ sharply between the two. Running this comparison before onboarding is easier than reworking things after signing.

Bottom line

Marketplace seller and Lowe's vendor are not two names for the same thing: one is retail, the other wholesale, and sales tax, the 1099-K, state tax and bookkeeping all differ. Settle the entity, tax ID, W-9 or W-8 and warehouse state before onboarding. Eligibility, product compliance, a platform comparison and an entity-choice table are in our Lowe's guide. To talk through your situation, book a free 15-minute call or add WeChat YCLUSA.

Sources

Lowe's: Sell on Lowe's Marketplace (FAQ)

Lowe's: Supplier Registration

Lowe's press release: Mirakl partnership (2025-05-21)

IRS: Instructions for Form 1099-K

IRS: Instructions for Form W-9

IRS: Publication 1281, Backup Withholding

Last verified: November 9, 2026

General tax information only, not tax, legal or investment advice for any individual. Lowe's seller and supplier agreements govern platform rules; consult a professional about your situation.