Macy's Marketplace in 2026: How Brands Get In, and the Company and Tax Setup to Finish First (W-9, U.S. Warehouse, Entity)

Macy's Marketplace is not open registration. Brands submit a questionnaire at marketplace.macys.com, and Macy's invites the ones it wants by category. Onboarding requires a U.S. Tax ID, a W-9, a U.S. bank account that accepts dollars, a U.S. warehouse, and a U.S. business address and phone, and your seller account goes live only after you open a J.P. Morgan escrow account. Every one of those is a company or tax decision, so settle them before you send the questionnaire.

What does Macy's Marketplace look like today?

Macy's, Inc. announced a curated digital marketplace on November 18, 2021, built on Mirakl, and launched it on macys.com in September 2022. Third-party sellers set their own prices and ship from U.S. warehouses. Their listings look like Macy's own, with one added badge: “Shipped and sold by” the seller. Macy's doesn't own the inventory; it earns a commission on each sale.

As of November 2026, the Marketplace FAQ says Macy's works with a select, curated group of sellers and brands. The questionnaire's primary categories are clothing, handbags and accessories, shoes, home and garden, electronics, toys and games, jewelry and watches, fitness, beauty and wellness, and other. You can list only items Macy's isn't already selling first-party, every item needs a GS1-certified UPC, and listings flow through a feed aggregator such as Rithum or Feedonomics, or directly through Mirakl's API or Shopify Connector. Bloomingdale's chooses its own third-party sellers separately.

Which onboarding requirements are really tax questions?

A U.S. Tax ID and a W-9. Macy's wants a valid W-9 whose line 1 matches IRS records and the company name in your Mirakl account, hand-signed or signed through DocuSign, not in a PDF editor. The FAQ asks for the October 2018 revision, while the current IRS revision is March 2024, so ask your onboarding contact which one to use. If the name and TIN don't match, the payer may have to apply 24% backup withholding to payouts under IRS rules.

A U.S. bank account and a J.P. Morgan escrow account. Payouts go to a U.S. account in the company's name. After your Mirakl account is set up, Macy's invites you to open a J.P. Morgan Concourse account; the seller account stays inactive until you do. Payouts then arrive weekly into that escrow account, and Macy's asks sellers to turn on autopay.

A U.S. warehouse. Orders ship within 48 business hours, and returns come back by UPS and must be processed within 2 business days, all from a warehouse in the United States. Shipping from China doesn't work. Wherever that warehouse is, you now have physical presence.

INFORM Act contact details and DUNS. Mirakl needs a customer service address that receives mail and a 10-digit phone answered during business hours. If you've ever done business with Macy's or Bloomingdale's, even just opening an account, you'll be asked for your DUNS number.

Which entity should a foreign seller use?

Macy's takes only a W-9, and that is a problem for a single-member LLC 100% owned by a foreign person. For federal tax the LLC is a disregarded entity. Under the W-9 instructions, a disregarded entity's owner provides the form, and a foreign owner gives a W-8 (generally a W-8ECI when the income is effectively connected with a U.S. business) rather than signing a W-9 with the LLC's EIN as though it were a U.S. person.

There are two common fixes: form a C corporation, or have the existing LLC file Form 8832 to be taxed as a corporation. Either way you have a U.S. company taxed as a C corporation that can properly sign a W-9, pays 21% federal tax, and files Form 5472 with its Form 1120 every year. After an 8832 change in classification, another change is generally barred for 60 months, though an initial election effective on the formation date doesn't count. Dividends to a Chinese shareholder are withheld at 30%, generally 10% for a Chinese tax resident under the U.S.–China treaty.

If nothing changes, inventory in a U.S. warehouse and sales in the U.S. generally amount to a U.S. trade or business. The foreign owner then files Form 1040-NR and pays graduated individual rates, and the LLC still owes a pro forma 1120 with Form 5472 every year, with a $25,000 starting penalty for each missed form. A foreign person who forms a U.S. company and holds 10% or more of the vote also files BEA's BE-13 within 45 days.

U.S. residents (citizens, green card holders and resident aliens) can use their own LLC or S corporation and complete the W-9 under its instructions.

What state taxes does a U.S. warehouse bring?

Macy's, as a marketplace facilitator, collects and remits sales tax on Marketplace orders under each state's law. Your warehouse state is a different matter: physical presence there can mean sales tax registration and state income or franchise tax, and the platform handles none of it. Inventory in Texas can bring a franchise tax filing; for 2026 and 2027 reports the no-tax-due threshold is $2,650,000 of total revenue. Crossing California's “doing business” thresholds brings the $800 minimum franchise tax. Sales on your own site or wholesale are yours to assess and register.

How should you book the payouts?

The weekly settlement detail is your source document. Record gross sales as revenue and keep commission, refunds, promotions and loyalty costs, sponsored ads and shipping in separate accounts; keep platform-collected sales tax out of revenue. If payouts top $20,000 in more than 200 transactions in a year, the platform or its payment processor issues a 1099-K showing gross amounts, which you reconcile to the settlements before filing. Macy's doesn't publish its commission; it is set by contract and category. The roughly 15% some third parties cite isn't a number Macy's has published, so model your margin on the contract rate.

What order should the first year follow?

Choose the entity first: an LLC or S corporation for U.S. residents, a C corporation or an LLC with a Form 8832 election for foreign owners. Form the company and get the EIN letter, file BE-13 within 45 days if you are a foreign owner, open the U.S. bank account, get a GS1 prefix, settle the U.S. warehouse and importer of record, complete the W-9 to match IRS records, and only then submit the questionnaire. Once accepted, book weekly settlements and assess your warehouse state. A calendar-year C corporation files Form 1120 and Form 5472 by April 15 of the following year.

For the Marketplace and vendor routes side by side, a comparison with Amazon, Walmart and other platforms, clothing sales tax rules and a full worked example, see our Macy's guide. To sort out your entity and W-9 before you apply, book a free 15-minute consultation or message us on WeChat at YCLUSA.

Sources

Macy's Marketplace FAQ

IRS: About Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)

IRS: About Form 8832, Entity Classification Election

IRS: About Form 5472

Texas Comptroller: Franchise Tax

Last verified: November 9, 2026

This article is general tax information, not tax or legal advice for any individual. Platform rules are governed by your contract and your onboarding contact's written instructions; consult a professional about your situation.