Selling at Macy's: Marketplace vs. vendor, onboarding documents, fees and rules, apparel and beauty tax and compliance, and which entity to use (2026)

As of November 2026, brands and factories get into Macy's in two main ways: Macy's Marketplace (a third-party seller platform) and the traditional vendor (wholesale) relationship. The seller of record, revenue recognition, sales tax and annual filings are different on each route, so decide the route first and then the entity and tax setup. Bloomingdale's, a sister nameplate, runs its own third-party sellers and vendors.

Macy's, Inc. announced a curated digital marketplace on November 18, 2021, with Mirakl as the technology partner, and the macys.com Marketplace went live in September 2022. Macy's does not own Marketplace inventory or ship it; it earns a commission on sales. On the vendor route, Macy's issues purchase orders, you ship to its distribution centers or stores under its vendor standards, and Macy's is the retailer.

Description: each row is a route, showing who the seller is, how you get in, who ships, how you are paid and the tax point to watch.

Route	Seller of record	How you get in	Who ships	How you are paid	Tax point
Macy's Marketplace	You ("Shipped and sold by" your name)	Questionnaire; Macy's invites selected sellers	You, from a U.S. warehouse	Customer pays; weekly payout net of commission into a J.P. Morgan escrow account	Revenue at gross, commission as expense; Macy's collects sales tax; possible 1099-K
Macy's vendor (wholesale)	Macy's (you sell to Macy's)	Buyer negotiation, vendor agreement, MacysNet registration	You, to Macy's DCs or stores under its standards (some drop ship)	Macy's pays invoices less deductions and allowances	Wholesale revenue; resale certificate; deductions reduce revenue; generally no 1099-K
Bloomingdale's third-party seller	You	Selected by Bloomingdale's, separately from Macy's	You, contiguous U.S. only	Similar to Marketplace; per contract	Same as Marketplace
Bloomingdale's vendor	Bloomingdale's	Buyer negotiation; same vendor-standards system as Macy's	You, under the standards	Invoices less deductions	Same as Macy's vendor

• You can do both: Marketplace only accepts items Macy's is not already selling first-party (1P). Existing Macy's vendors usually bring styles or categories the 1P assortment does not carry.
• Backstage and in-store shops: Macy's Backstage is an off-price store-within-a-store stocked mainly through buying; licensed and concession shops run on separate contracts and are outside this guide.

Macy's Marketplace is not open registration. Macy's says it works with "a select curated group of sellers and brands." You start with a questionnaire at marketplace.macys.com and pick a primary category; if Macy's follows up, you sign a contract and open a Mirakl seller account. Macy's publishes no quota, review timeline or rejection criteria.

Categories on the questionnaire are Clothing; Handbags & Accessories; Shoes; Home & Garden; Electronics; Toys & Games; Jewelry & Watches; Fitness; Beauty & Wellness; and Other. The site's non-exhaustive list of Marketplace brands includes Dyson, Bose, Sonos, Samsung, LG, PlayStation, Steve Madden, L'Occitane, Lands' End, Magna-Tiles, Carote, Momcozy, Juicy Couture and Petal & Pup.

Description: each row is a requirement, what the FAQ says, why it matters, and where foreign sellers usually get stuck. Your onboarding contact's written instructions govern.

Requirement	What the FAQ says	Why	Where sellers get stuck
W-9	Valid W-9 named "LegalCorporateName_W9"; hand-signed or DocuSigned (not signed in a PDF editor); line 1 must match IRS records and the Mirakl company name	The platform matches the seller's TIN with the IRS	A foreign-owned single-member LLC should not sign a W-9 in the LLC's name; name doesn't match the EIN letter
W-9 revision	The FAQ asks for the October 2018 version	—	The current IRS revision is March 2024; ask your onboarding contact which one they want
U.S. Tax ID	United States Tax ID	1099 reporting and backup withholding	No EIN, or an EIN letter with an old name or address
U.S. bank account	Accepts USD	Payouts	Account name must match the company
Domestic warehouse	Fulfillment and returns in the U.S.	48-hour shipping, UPS returns	No shipping from China; the warehouse state brings tax obligations
U.S. business address and phone	Both required	Contract and service	Whether a registered agent address works is a question to ask
INFORM Act contact	Customer service address and a 10-digit phone in Mirakl, answered during business hours	The INFORM Consumers Act requires marketplaces to verify high-volume sellers	A phone nobody answers
J.P. Morgan account	Invited to open a JPM Concourse account after the Mirakl account; autopay requested	Weekly payouts to escrow	Seller account stays inactive until it is open
DUNS number	Required if you ever did business with Macy's or Bloomingdale's, even just an account	Matching vendor records	Not knowing your DUNS (see yclcpa.com/duns)
GS1 UPCs	GS1-certified UPCs	Item identification	Barcodes bought from non-GS1 resellers

• Listing: integrate through one of Macy's feed aggregators (the FAQ names Rithum, Cymbio, Acenda, ChannelEngine, Feedonomics and GoFlow) or directly through the Mirakl API or Shopify Connector. Copy and images follow Macy's style guide; after onboarding, uploaded items take at least 5–6 days to go live.
• Only contracted categories: you may list only categories in your contract, price competitively, and get approval for items over 150 lbs. or needing scheduled delivery.
• Diversity and sustainability claims: to be identified as an underrepresented or sustainable brand, you provide third-party certificates such as WBENC, NMSDC, B Corp, OEKO-TEX or organic.

Macy's does not publish a Marketplace fee schedule; commission is set by contract and category. Some third-party service providers cite roughly 15%, but that is not a figure Macy's publishes, so the contract decides. Operationally: ship within 48 business hours from a U.S. warehouse with approved carriers in unbranded brown boxes; customers can return by mail or at a Macy's store; sellers process UPS returns within 2 business days; payouts are weekly.

• Shipping: approved parcel carriers are UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, Lone Star Overnight, LaserShip and OnTrac; freight items go through Macy's LTL program with prior approval. Use new, unbranded cartons (polymailers for small items), never packaging branded by another marketplace (such as Fulfilled by Amazon packaging), and no promotional inserts.
• Returns: customers return via UPS or in person at Macy's stores; sellers use the Macy's UPS account or their own UPS account and a U.S. returns warehouse. Apparel return rates are high, so return shipping, repackaging and unsellable losses belong in your cost model.
• Customer service: Marketplace customer questions go straight to the seller; Macy's steps in if service levels are missed or the customer is unhappy with the resolution.
• Marketing: sellers can opt into Macy's category events and promotions; customers can generally earn and use Star Rewards points on Marketplace orders (with exclusions); sponsored product ads are available. Keep promotional discounts, loyalty costs and ad spend in separate accounts.
• Data: you receive only the customer data needed to fill and service each order, and you can't use it for anything else.
• Payouts: weekly into the J.P. Morgan escrow account, then to your U.S. bank. Book revenue gross from the settlement detail, with commission, refunds, promotions and ads shown separately, not just the net deposit.

As a Macy's vendor you sell goods wholesale to Macy's. You register on the MacysNet vendor portal and follow the Macy's Vendor Standards: EDI purchase orders, advance ship notices (ASNs) and invoices, and GS1-128 carton labels. Each miss can trigger an "expense offset," Macy's term for a compliance chargeback, deducted from your payment. Markdown allowances, freight allowances and co-op advertising are deducted under the contract too. How you reconcile and book these deductions drives your margin and your tax.

• EDI transactions: the MacysNet new-vendor checklist calls for receiving purchase orders (850), remittance advice (820) and sales data (852), and sending ASNs (856), invoices (810) and carrier bill-of-lading data; UPCs assigned at the size-and-color level and loaded to the catalog on time; UCC-128 (GS1-128) labels on cartons packed by store.
• Expense offsets: common triggers include late, missing or inaccurate ASNs, GS1-128 label errors, UPC or ticket errors, hanger, size-strip or set-tag issues, failure to consolidate and shipping to the wrong facility. The amounts sit behind the MacysNet login and are not public.
• Other deductions: carton or unit shortages, invoice-versus-PO cost differences, duplicate invoices, freight and transportation claims (deadhead miles, layovers, unauthorized air), dock refusals and returns to vendor (RTV).
• Dispute window: third-party summaries of Macy's accounts payable rules give 60 days from the deduction date to submit support; MacysNet's current rules govern. After that, money is hard to recover, so reconcile deductions weekly.
• Markdown allowances and margin support: department stores often negotiate that when goods must be marked down, the vendor funds part of the markdown, by deduction from payments or by credit memo.

How to book them: under ASC 606, consideration payable to a customer (chargebacks, markdown allowances, co-op allowances, unless they buy a distinct good or service) generally reduces revenue rather than being recorded as expense. For tax, rebates and allowances paid to a customer need more than the all-events test: economic performance occurs only as payment is made, which generally means when Macy's actually nets the allowance against your invoices or you pay it (Treas. Reg. §1.461-4(g)(3)). An allowance fixed by year end and taken within 8½ months may qualify for the recurring item exception and count in the earlier year; estimates still being negotiated wait. Reconcile customer by customer: PO, invoice, ASN, remittance (820) and deduction detail. When every line ties out, your books are right and your disputes can win.

On February 27, 2024, Macy's, Inc. announced "A Bold New Chapter": close about 150 underproductive Macy's stores through 2026, keep about 350 go-forward locations, expand Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, and strengthen digital. It named 66 closures in January 2025 and 14 more in January 2026 (including Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, North Carolina). Net sales for fiscal 2025 (ended January 31, 2026) were about $21.8 billion; second-quarter 2026 comparable sales rose 2.7% on a basis that includes Marketplace.

• For Marketplace sellers: with fewer stores, digital and Marketplace are among Macy's growth priorities, and its comparable-sales metric combines owned, licensed and Marketplace sales. Customers can return Marketplace items in stores, so fewer stores may push more returns into the mail.
• For vendors: buying concentrates on go-forward stores and digital; store liquidations bring markdowns, so settle markdown allowance and return terms in advance.
• For North Carolina brands: a store closing doesn't change your North Carolina sales or income tax obligations, which follow your inventory, employees and sales (see yclcpa.com/salestax).

These figures come from Macy's, Inc. announcements and quarterly reports; check the company's latest releases for further closures.

On Marketplace orders you are the seller, but Macy's, as a marketplace facilitator, collects and remits sales tax under each state's law, so you generally don't collect on those orders yourself. On the vendor route you sell for resale and Macy's gives you a resale certificate, so you collect nothing. On either route, the state where your U.S. warehouse sits gives you physical presence, and sales on other channels, state income tax and franchise tax remain yours.

• Facilitator collection: all 45 sales-tax states and D.C. have marketplace facilitator laws. Whether and how Macy's collects is confirmed by your contract and settlement detail. Tax collected by the platform is not your income; if your 1099-K includes it, back it out on the return.
• Thresholds count all channels: most states set economic nexus at $100,000 of sales into the state per year; California, Texas and New York use $500,000 (New York also has a 100-transaction test). Some states count marketplace sales toward the threshold. If you also sell on your own site, wholesale or in person, assess registration yourself (see yclcpa.com/stripetax).
• A U.S. warehouse is physical presence: Macy's requires a domestic warehouse, and the state where your own or a 3PL's warehouse sits gives you physical presence regardless of sales. Federal P.L. 86-272 generally doesn't protect sellers holding inventory in a state, and it doesn't apply to gross-receipts-style taxes such as the Texas franchise tax or Washington B&O (more in yclcpa.com/fba).
• Wholesale to Macy's: keep Macy's resale or exemption certificate on file and don't charge sales tax. You may still need to register in your warehouse state and file returns showing wholesale sales.
• Texas and California: 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, and entities at or below it generally file only the Public Information or Ownership Information Report. Inventory or sales over California's "doing business" thresholds bring the $800 minimum franchise tax.

Macy's core categories are apparel, shoes and beauty. New York exempts clothing and footwear under $110 per item from the 4% state tax (local tax depends on the county or city); New Jersey generally exempts clothing and footwear; Pennsylvania generally exempts clothing but taxes formal wear, fur, accessories and sporting goods; Minnesota generally exempts clothing but taxes fur, accessories and sports or protective equipment; Massachusetts exempts the first $175 per item and taxes the excess at 6.25%. Cosmetics are generally taxable in all of them.

Description: each row is a state, with the scope, limit and common exceptions. When the platform collects, it calculates, but your category and attributes must be right; on your own site you set this up yourself.

State	Exempt	Limit	Common exceptions (taxable)
New York	Clothing and footwear, 4% state tax	Under $110 per item or pair	Local tax unless the locality opts in (NYC does); accessories, sports and protective gear
New Jersey	Clothing and footwear	No dollar limit	Accessories, sport and recreational equipment, protective equipment; fur has its own rules
Pennsylvania	Everyday clothing and footwear	No dollar limit	Formal wear (tuxedos, evening gowns and similar), fur, accessories and jewelry, sporting goods
Minnesota	General clothing	No dollar limit	Fur clothing, accessories, sports and recreational equipment, protective equipment
Massachusetts	Clothing and footwear	First $175 per item	Excess over $175 at 6.25%; athletic or protective clothing

• Accurate categories save trouble: the platform decides exemption from your category, material (fur or not), use (athletic or protective) and price. Get it wrong and customers are over- or under-charged, and the refunds and complaints come back to you.
• Beauty is generally taxable: cosmetics, fragrance and skincare are taxed like general merchandise in most states; items with drug ingredients (sunscreen, antiperspirant) have special rules in some states.
• Other states: Rhode Island, Vermont and a few others have full or partial clothing exemptions; sales tax holidays are temporary, not the standing rule.

Beauty brands entering the U.S. register manufacturing facilities, list each product, name a "responsible person," report serious adverse events and keep safety substantiation under FDA's Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA). Apparel needs FTC textile labels showing fiber content, country of origin and the dealer's identity, plus care labels. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese-origin apparel and footwear remain. These are product and legal questions for an attorney and compliance adviser; we make sure certification, testing and duty costs land in the right accounts and in inventory cost.

• MoCRA: facilities that manufacture or process cosmetics register with FDA and renew every two years; the responsible person (the manufacturer, packer or distributor named on the label) lists each product and its ingredients and updates annually; serious adverse events are reported within 15 business days. Qualifying small businesses are exempt from registration and listing, except for products that contact the eye's mucous membrane, are injected, are for internal use or alter appearance for more than 24 hours. FDA issued final mandatory-recall Q&A guidance in October 2026. FDA's current rules and your attorney's advice govern.
• Textile labels: the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and FTC rules require generic fiber names and percentages, country of origin, and the manufacturer's or dealer's name or RN number; wool products have their own rules; care instructions follow the FTC Care Labeling Rule. Macy's style guide and vendor standards add ticketing requirements.
• Tariffs: as of November 2026, most Chinese-origin apparel and footwear sit on Section 301 List 4A (generally 7.5%), with the 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty stacked on top since July 24, 2026; IEEPA tariffs stopped after the Supreme Court's February 20, 2026 ruling, and importers of record can seek refunds; apparel's ordinary (MFN) duty rates are already high. The full tariff stack is in Figure 3 of yclcpa.com/aigo.
• Importer of record: goods must be in a U.S. warehouse before they sell on Macy's, and whoever is importer of record pays the duty and can claim refunds. Duty, inbound freight and brokerage go into inventory cost (see yclcpa.com/fba).
• Forced-labor screening: cotton goods face Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) import scrutiny; supply-chain documentation is handled by your attorney and customs broker.

Macy's Marketplace requires a U.S. Tax ID and a W-9, so settle the entity first. A U.S. resident can use an LLC or an S corporation. A foreign-owned single-member LLC has a W-9 problem, so most foreign sellers use a C corporation or have the LLC elect corporate status on Form 8832. A Chinese factory that has grown uses a U.S. subsidiary as importer and seller, priced at arm's length. A multi-platform seller keeps one company and tracks each channel.

Description: each row is a seller profile, with the usual entity, the tax form given to Macy's, annual filings and what to watch.

Seller profile	Usual entity	Given to Macy's	Annual filings	Watch
U.S. resident (citizen, green card, resident alien)	Single-member LLC (Schedule C) or S corporation	W-9 (owner's SSN or the LLC's EIN per the W-9 instructions)	1040 Schedule C / SE, or 1120-S plus payroll	An S corporation can save self-employment tax at higher profits (yclcpa.com/scorp)
Single-member LLC 100% owned by a foreign person	Not recommended as is; use a C corporation or elect corporate status on Form 8832	Without an election, the W-9 instructions call for the foreign owner's W-8 (usually W-8ECI), which conflicts with Macy's W-9-only rule	No election: pro forma 1120 + 5472, plus 1040-NR for the owner with effectively connected income; with election: 1120 + 5472	The 8832 election is generally locked for 60 months; full analysis at yclcpa.com/walmart
Foreign company + U.S. subsidiary (C corporation)	U.S. C corporation as seller and importer	The subsidiary's W-9	1120 + 5472; state returns	21% federal tax; dividends to a foreign parent withheld at 30%, generally 10% under the U.S.–China treaty; purchases priced under §482 (yclcpa.com/subsidiary)
Multi-platform seller (Amazon, Walmart, Macy's, etc.)	One C corporation or LLC with channel-level books	Same W-9 and TIN, identical names everywhere	By entity; sales tax thresholds across all channels	Inventory in several warehouses and states; assess state taxes together

• Why the foreign-owned single-member LLC gets stuck: it is a disregarded entity for federal tax. Under the W-9 instructions a disregarded entity doesn't certify in its own name; the owner does, and a foreign owner gives a W-8 (generally W-8ECI when the income is effectively connected with a U.S. business) rather than using the LLC's EIN as though it were a U.S. person. Macy's lists only the W-9, so the two collide.
• Form 8832 corporate election: an LLC files Form 8832 to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation, becomes a U.S. C corporation for tax and can properly sign a W-9. The effective date can go back up to 75 days before filing; after a change in classification, another change is generally barred for 60 months (Reg. §301.7701-3(c)(1)(iv)), though an initial election effective on formation doesn't count. Then it files 1120 + 5472 at 21% federal (see yclcpa.com/ccorp).
• Effectively connected income risk: if a foreign-owned LLC doesn't elect, inventory in a U.S. warehouse, sales in the U.S. and U.S. employees or agents generally mean a U.S. trade or business. The owner files Form 1040-NR (a foreign corporation files 1120-F) at graduated rates, on top of the yearly pro forma 1120 + 5472 (see yclcpa.com/5472).
• C corporation, two layers: 21% federal at the company; after-tax dividends to a Chinese shareholder are withheld at 30%, generally reduced to 10% under the U.S.–China treaty with a W-8BEN. Profits kept for growth bear only the 21% for now.
• No S corporation: foreign individuals and foreign companies can't be S corporation shareholders.
• State of formation: Wyoming and Delaware are common; a warehouse or employees in another state call for foreign qualification there (see yclcpa.com/llc). A foreign person forming a U.S. company with 10% or more of the vote files BEA's BE-13 within 45 days.

Many apparel and home brands on Macy's are backed by a Chinese factory. The usual setup is that the factory sells to a U.S. subsidiary, which imports and sells on Macy's. Three things follow: the factory-to-subsidiary price must be arm's length (§482); customs value and tax inventory cost must line up (§1059A); and the subsidiary files Form 5472 with its 1120, reporting each type of transaction with the parent.

• Transfer pricing (§482): the subsidiary bears marketing, inventory and returns risk in the U.S. and should earn a reasonable profit. Prices set too high leave the U.S. company in permanent losses and invite IRS adjustment; too low creates customs and home-country problems. Keep a written pricing analysis and contract.
• Customs value and inventory cost (§1059A): inventory bought from a related party generally can't carry a tax cost above the customs value declared at entry. Year-end price adjustments need to be coordinated with customs.
• Form 5472: a U.S. corporation 25% or more foreign-owned reports each foreign related party and each type of transaction (purchases, loans, services, royalties); each missed form starts at $25,000.
• Payments to the parent: royalties and interest are generally U.S.-source, withheld at 30% and generally 10% under the treaty with a W-8BEN-E, reported on Forms 1042 and 1042-S by March 15. Fees for services performed in China are generally foreign-source and not withheld.
• Full analysis: see yclcpa.com/subsidiary.

A Marketplace seller paid more than $20,000 in more than 200 transactions in a year can receive a 1099-K from the platform or its payment processor. It shows gross amounts, including platform-collected sales tax and pre-refund amounts, so reconcile it to the weekly settlement detail. The vendor route pays wholesale invoices and generally doesn't produce a 1099-K, but every deduction and allowance still needs matching. On both routes, inventory and cost of goods sold are tracked by unit and include duty and inbound freight.

• Marketplace books: record gross sales from each weekly settlement, with commission, refunds, promotions and loyalty costs, ads and shipping in separate accounts; keep platform-collected sales tax out of revenue (see yclcpa.com/1099k).
• Vendor books: record receivables by invoice and clear them with the 820 remittance; post deductions by type (compliance, shortages, markdown allowances, freight, co-op) against revenue; track disputes separately and file them within 60 days.
• Returns and shrink: apparel and beauty return a lot. Resellable items go back to inventory, unsellable ones are written off with documentation.
• Inventory: cost includes the factory price, duty, inbound freight, brokerage and freight to the U.S. warehouse; count units and value at year end. Businesses with average gross receipts of $32,000,000 or less (2026) can use simplified inventory methods.
• Multiple channels: if Macy's, Amazon and your own site share one company, keep one set of books split by channel so margins are clear and 1099-K amounts are neither doubled nor missed.

Macy's Marketplace has a high bar and a narrower range (mainly apparel, shoes, beauty, home, toys and electronics), but its customers are loyal department-store shoppers with Star Rewards and in-store returns. Next to open or semi-open platforms such as Amazon, Walmart and Etsy, it works more like a curated mall; next to Wayfair's supplier model, on Marketplace you are the seller.

Description: each row is a platform, showing model and seller of record, fees, fulfillment, who can join, sales tax, 1099 and payouts. Fees are the general published terms and change often.

Platform	Model / seller of record	Fees	Fulfillment	Who can join	Sales tax	1099	Payout
Macy's Marketplace	Third-party platform; seller is seller	Not published; commission by contract and category	Seller ships from a U.S. warehouse within 48 business hours	Curated invitation; U.S. Tax ID, W-9, U.S. bank and warehouse	Macy's collects as facilitator	1099-K above the threshold	Weekly, to J.P. Morgan escrow
Macy's vendor	Wholesale; Macy's is seller	No commission; chargebacks, markdown allowances and co-op per contract	Ship to Macy's DCs or stores under its standards	Buyer negotiation	Macy's collects; you sell for resale	Generally none	Per payment terms, less deductions
Amazon	Open marketplace; seller is seller	Professional plan $39.99/month plus referral fees (most categories 8%–15%)	FBA or merchant-fulfilled	Individuals and businesses from the U.S., China and most countries	Amazon collects	1099-K	Generally every 14 days
Walmart Marketplace	Vetted marketplace; seller is seller	No monthly fee; referral fees mostly 6%–15%	WFS or seller-fulfilled	Businesses from the U.S. and some countries including China, after review	Walmart collects	1099-K	Generally every two weeks
Wayfair	Supplier (wholesale / drop ship); Wayfair is seller	No commission; you sell at wholesale cost	Drop ship or CastleGate	Supplier application	Wayfair collects	Generally none	Per supplier terms
Etsy	Open marketplace (handmade, vintage, craft supplies)	$0.20 listing + 6.5% transaction fee + U.S. payment processing 3% + $0.25	Seller ships	Individuals and businesses worldwide	Etsy collects	1099-K	Per deposit schedule
TikTok Shop	Content-commerce platform; seller is seller	U.S. commission about 6% in most categories	Platform logistics or approved warehouses	Local stores need a U.S. person or company; cross-border usually by invitation	TikTok collects	1099-K	Per settlement cycle

• Who fits Macy's: brands with a U.S. warehouse that can reliably ship in 48 hours and sell what department-store shoppers buy: apparel, shoes, beauty, home and toys. Unbranded, price-only products rarely get picked.
• Platform details: see yclcpa.com/amazon, yclcpa.com/walmart, yclcpa.com/wayfair, yclcpa.com/etsy, yclcpa.com/tiktok and yclcpa.com/target.

Choose the route and the entity first, then line up the hard requirements: Tax ID, W-9, bank, warehouse and barcodes. Plan imports, sales tax and bookkeeping at the same time. Sort these out before you send the questionnaire, and onboarding moves fast once you are picked.

Description: work top to bottom; each row is a task, why it matters and who handles it.

Step	Task	Why	Who
1	Choose the route: Marketplace, vendor or both	Seller of record, revenue and tax differ	You + CPA
2	Choose the entity: LLC / S corp for U.S. residents; C corp or LLC + 8832 for foreign owners	Macy's takes a W-9 only	CPA
3	Form the company and appoint a registered agent; get the EIN letter; BE-13 within 45 days for foreign owners	U.S. Tax ID; matching name and address	Secretary of State; IRS; BEA
4	Open a U.S. bank account; set up a U.S. business address and a phone that is answered	Payouts; INFORM Act	Bank
5	Complete the W-9 (line 1 matches IRS records; hand-signed or DocuSigned); confirm the revision	TIN matching	CPA review
6	Get a GS1 company prefix and assign UPCs by size and color	GS1-certified UPCs	GS1 US
7	Pick the U.S. warehouse and the importer of record; model duty and landed cost	48-hour shipping; warehouse-state taxes	Broker; warehouse; CPA
8	Beauty: MoCRA; apparel: fiber and origin labels	Noncompliance can mean removal or recall	Attorney, compliance adviser
9	Choose a feed aggregator (Rithum, etc.) or Mirakl API / Shopify Connector	Listings	Provider
10	Set up accounts: gross sales, commission, refunds, promotions, ads, collected sales tax, inventory	1099-K reconciliation and annual returns	CPA
11	Assess state sales tax: warehouse state and other channels	Physical and economic nexus	CPA

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): Ms. Li owns a women's apparel factory in Guangzhou. In January 2026 the factory formed B Inc., a Delaware C corporation it owns 100%, leased space in a New Jersey 3PL, and made B Inc. the importer of record. In March 2026 Macy's Marketplace accepted the brand, and in the second half B Inc. also received a Macy's vendor purchase order.

Marketplace (full year)

Vendor (second half)

Tax treatment (assuming $60,000 of other annual expenses)

• B Inc.'s taxable income is about $98,200 + ($261,000 − $150,000 cost of goods) − $60,000 = $149,200, with federal tax at 21% of about $31,332, plus New Jersey corporation business tax under state rules.
• Form 5472 goes with the 1120, reporting purchases from the Guangzhou factory and the shareholder's capital contribution. Each missed form starts at $25,000.
• The New Jersey warehouse is physical presence: Macy's collects sales tax on Marketplace orders, and B Inc. registers for New Jersey sales tax and corporation business tax. Women's apparel is generally exempt in New Jersey, but categories must be accurate.
• Profits kept in B Inc. bear only the 21% for now; a later dividend to the Guangzhou factory is withheld at 30%, generally 10% under the treaty with a W-8BEN-E.
• Had Ms. Li used her own 100%-owned Wyoming LLC without an election, she couldn't properly give Macy's a W-9 in the LLC's name, the U.S. warehouse would create effectively connected income taxed to her on Form 1040-NR at graduated rates, and the LLC would still owe pro forma 1120 + 5472.

Start with whether you are a U.S. resident or a foreign owner, whether you have a U.S. entity and warehouse, and whether you want Marketplace or the vendor route.

• Situation A: U.S. resident with your own brand, aiming for Macy's Marketplace. Use an LLC or S corporation; prepare the W-9, bank, warehouse and GS1 UPCs, then submit the questionnaire. Once accepted, book from settlement detail and assess your warehouse state.
• Situation B: Chinese owner with a Wyoming single-member LLC already selling on Amazon. Decide whether the LLC should elect corporate status on Form 8832 (mind the 60-month rule) or whether a new C corporation should handle Macy's and other W-9-only channels; catch up any missing 5472 and 1040-NR filings.
• Situation C: Chinese factory wanting to sell into Macy's. Form a U.S. subsidiary as importer and seller; sign a supply agreement priced under §482; the subsidiary files 1120 + 5472.
• Situation D: existing Macy's vendor with rising deductions. Pull a year of deductions by type and reconcile; dispute within 60 days where you can; book them against revenue, and time year-end allowances under the economic performance rules and the recurring item exception.
• Situation E: beauty brand. Complete MoCRA registration and listing before you apply; treat sales tax as general merchandise and collect on your own channels. For complex structures, book a paid consultation at yclcpa.com/advisory.