Faire puts your wholesale line in front of retailers who are already there to buy. Shopify lets you sell wholesale from your own site and keep the full margin, but you have to find every buyer yourself.
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Table of Contents
- Why This Comparison Matters
- Faire Overview
- Shopify Overview
- Head-to-Head: Pricing & Fees
- Head-to-Head: Features & Automation
- Head-to-Head: Ease of Use
- Retailer Discovery: Built-In Audience vs. Building Your Own
- Who Should Choose Faire?
- Who Should Choose Shopify?
- Running Both: A Realistic Playbook
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Bottom Line
Why This Comparison Matters
A maker who has been selling one item at a time on Etsy or their own site eventually hits the same wall: growth now depends on getting into other people’s stores, not just selling to individual shoppers. That means wholesale, and it means picking how to run it.
This article settles the specific question sellers ask once they’re ready to sell in bulk to boutiques and retailers: list on Faire’s marketplace and pay a commission on every order, or run wholesale straight from a Shopify store and keep the margin yourself. We’ll cover exact fees, what each platform actually does for you, and which one fits a given stage of the business.
Both are legitimate paths. Neither is a shortcut. Here’s what each one actually costs and requires, evaluated against the same framework CartCompare uses on every comparison (see our About page for the methodology).
Faire Overview
Faire is a wholesale marketplace that connects independent brands with retailers, boutiques, and gift shops looking to stock curated inventory. Retailers browse and place bulk orders directly through Faire; the brand ships, and Faire handles payment collection, buyer credit terms, and dispute support.
Key strengths:
- No monthly or listing fee. You only pay when an order comes through.
- Built-in retailer demand. Brands don’t need an existing wholesale sales team to get discovered.
- Faire absorbs buyer credit risk on eligible net-terms orders, so brands still get paid on their own payout schedule even if the retailer pays 60 days later.
Key weaknesses:
- The 15% commission plus a one-time new-customer fee eats into a category where margins are already thinner than direct-to-consumer.
- No control over your own storefront design, checkout, or customer data outside the Faire ecosystem.
- Brands compete inside Faire’s search and category pages against every other seller in the same niche.
Pricing summary: North America-based brands pay a 15% commission on marketplace orders, plus a one-time $10 new customer fee on a retailer’s first order only (reorders drop to the standard 15%, no repeat new-customer charge). Payment processing runs 1.9%-3.5% + $0.30 per order depending on how fast the brand wants to be paid out. There is no monthly subscription fee for brands. Orders placed through a brand’s own Faire Direct link, rather than discovered on the open marketplace, carry 0% commission. Source: Faire Help Center.
Shopify Overview
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform for building and running an online store. It’s built primarily for direct-to-consumer selling, but its B2B feature set lets a brand run a separate wholesale storefront, complete with custom pricing tiers and net payment terms, from the same account.
Key strengths:
- The brand owns the storefront, the customer relationships, and every dollar of margin beyond the monthly plan and payment processing.
- B2B tools (company accounts, volume pricing, quantity rules, self-serve reordering) are included starting on the Basic plan, not gated to the most expensive tier.
- One account can run both a retail (DTC) store and a wholesale (B2B) storefront side by side.
Key weaknesses:
- Zero built-in retailer discovery. Every wholesale buyer has to be found, pitched, and onboarded manually or through outside sales channels.
- Monthly subscription applies whether or not any wholesale orders come in that month.
- B2B catalogs are capped at 3 on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans; unlimited catalogs require Shopify Plus, which starts at $2,300/month.
Pricing summary: Shopify’s core plans are Basic at $39/month ($29/month billed annually), Grow at $105/month ($79/month annually), and Advanced at $399/month ($299/month annually), with Shopify Plus starting from $2,300/month for higher-volume operations. Source: Shopify Pricing.
Head-to-Head: Pricing & Fees
Fees and plan pricing change. Figures below are current as of August 2026; always confirm current rates on the official pricing pages linked in this article before making a decision.
| Fee Type | Faire | Shopify (Basic plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | $0 | $39/mo ($29/mo billed annually) |
| Commission / transaction fee | 15% per marketplace order | 2.9% + 30¢ online card rate (Shopify Payments), or an additional 2% transaction fee when not using Shopify Payments |
| New customer fee | $10 one-time, first order only | None |
| Payment processing | 1.9%-3.5% + $0.30 per order | Included in the transaction fee above |
| Faire Direct / owned-link orders | 0% commission | Not applicable, all orders are on the brand’s own site by default |
| B2B / wholesale tools | Built into the marketplace | Included from the Basic plan (up to 3 B2B catalogs) |
The math shifts fast depending on order size. On a $1,000 wholesale order discovered through Faire’s marketplace, a brand pays roughly $150 in commission plus processing, versus a flat $39 monthly Shopify fee plus a sub-3% processing charge on the same order run through its own B2B storefront. Faire’s model scales its cost with revenue; Shopify’s is closer to a fixed cost that gets cheaper per order as volume grows.
Head-to-Head: Features & Automation
Faire’s feature set is built around discovery and trust: retailer credit terms up to 60 days, order minimums set per brand, automated invoicing, and a returns policy that Faire underwrites on a retailer’s first order. A brand doesn’t build any of this. It’s already running the day the account goes live.
Shopify’s B2B tools, covered on the official B2B feature page, give a brand company-level accounts with custom price lists, quantity rules (minimums, maximums, case-pack increments), self-serve reordering for existing wholesale customers, and automated workflows through Shopify Flow for tasks like invoice sending or rep notifications. None of that includes finding the retailer in the first place. It’s infrastructure for buyers a brand already has a relationship with.
Choose Faire’s tooling if: the brand needs retailer credit and returns risk handled by someone else. Choose Shopify’s tooling if: the brand already has wholesale relationships and wants full control over pricing, invoicing, and reorder flow.
Head-to-Head: Ease of Use
Getting a first product live on Faire takes an afternoon. Upload product photos, set wholesale price and minimums, and the listing is searchable in Faire’s marketplace immediately. No storefront design, no domain setup, no payment gateway configuration.
Shopify requires more setup: choosing a theme, configuring the B2B catalog and company profiles, setting up payment processing, and (for most brands) also running a separate consumer-facing storefront to make the subscription worthwhile beyond wholesale alone. Expect a few days to a couple of weeks for a functional wholesale storefront, longer if it’s paired with a full retail launch.
Retailer Discovery: Built-In Audience vs. Building Your Own
For most brands weighing these two, the real decision point is where the retailers come from, not the fee structure.
Faire’s marketplace exists specifically so retailers can browse and discover new brands without a sales call. A boutique owner restocking inventory can search a category, compare a handful of brands, and place a net-60 order the same day. That discovery layer is the entire reason the commission exists.
Shopify’s B2B tools assume the retailer relationship already exists, from a trade show, a cold outreach campaign, or a referral. Nothing in Shopify surfaces a brand to retailers who haven’t heard of it. A brand running wholesale purely through Shopify B2B is running its own sales function alongside its store.
Here’s the trade-off in one line: Faire sells access to buyers, Shopify sells infrastructure for buyers a brand already has.
Who Should Choose Faire?
- Brands with no existing wholesale sales pipeline who need retailer discovery, not just order processing
- Sellers who want buyer credit risk (net-60 terms) handled by the platform instead of extending it themselves
- Brands testing wholesale for the first time who don’t want to commit to a wholesale-specific monthly subscription before knowing if the channel works
- Product categories that fit Faire’s typical retailer base: home goods, gift, beauty, and lifestyle products sold into boutiques
Who Should Choose Shopify?
- Brands with an existing base of wholesale retailers who don’t need a discovery marketplace, just order infrastructure
- Sellers who already run a Shopify store for DTC and want to add a wholesale channel without a second platform
- Higher-volume wholesale accounts where a 15% commission on every order would outweigh a flat monthly fee
- Brands that want full control of pricing, customer data, and the checkout experience for wholesale buyers
The same control-versus-reach trade-off shows up outside wholesale too. See WooCommerce vs Etsy for how it plays out for sellers deciding between an owned storefront and marketplace traffic on the retail side.
Running Both: A Realistic Playbook
Many brands don’t pick one. A common pattern: use Faire to get discovered by new retailers and build an initial buyer base, then move repeat, high-volume wholesale accounts onto a Shopify B2B storefront once the relationship no longer needs Faire’s discovery layer or credit terms.
- List core wholesale SKUs on Faire first. Set realistic order minimums and let the marketplace surface the brand to retailers actively browsing the category.
- Track which retailers reorder. A retailer who places two or more orders is a candidate to move off Faire’s 15% commission.
- Set up a Shopify B2B catalog in parallel, even before moving anyone over. Configure company accounts and volume pricing so it’s ready.
- Offer repeat retailers a direct account on the brand’s own Shopify B2B storefront, typically with a small price incentive since the brand no longer pays Faire’s commission on that relationship.
- Keep new-buyer discovery on Faire indefinitely. The marketplace’s value is in bringing in retailers a brand wouldn’t have found otherwise, not in replacing an owned sales channel entirely.
Realistic timeframe: most brands run this hybrid model within 3-6 months of their first Faire listing, once there’s enough order history to see which retailers are worth moving to a direct relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Faire or Shopify cheaper for wholesale selling?
It depends on order volume and size. Faire has no monthly fee but charges 15% commission per marketplace order, so cost scales with revenue. Shopify charges a flat monthly plan fee (from $39/month) plus a processing fee under 3% per transaction, which becomes cheaper per order as wholesale volume grows.
Which is better for a brand with no existing wholesale customers?
Faire, in most cases. Its marketplace is built specifically to surface new brands to retailers actively browsing for inventory. Shopify has no equivalent discovery mechanism; it assumes the wholesale relationship already exists.
How long does it take to get a wholesale listing live?
On Faire, typically the same day, upload products, set pricing and minimums, and the listing is searchable immediately. On Shopify, setting up a B2B catalog with company accounts and custom pricing usually takes a few days to two weeks depending on catalog size.
Are there hidden fees on Faire?
The main costs beyond the 15% commission are a one-time $10 new customer fee on a retailer’s first order and payment processing of 1.9%-3.5% + $0.30 per order. There’s no monthly subscription. Orders through a brand’s own Faire Direct link carry 0% commission.
Are there hidden fees on Shopify for wholesale?
Beyond the monthly plan, the main cost is payment processing (2.9% + 30¢ online with Shopify Payments on the Basic plan, lower on higher tiers) or a surcharge if using a third-party processor. B2B catalogs beyond 3 require upgrading to Shopify Plus.
Can a brand use both Faire and Shopify at the same time?
Yes, and many do. A common approach is using Faire for new-retailer discovery and moving repeat, high-volume accounts to a direct Shopify B2B storefront once the relationship is established.
Which has better tools for setting wholesale minimums and pricing tiers?
Both support order minimums and tiered pricing. Faire’s are set per listing within its marketplace interface. Shopify’s B2B catalogs allow more granular control, including per-company custom pricing and case-pack quantity rules, but require manual setup for each account.
What happens to wholesale customer data if a brand leaves Faire?
Faire owns the marketplace relationship and transaction history for orders placed through its platform; a brand doesn’t retain direct contact details for buyers discovered there beyond what’s shared through order fulfillment. On Shopify, the brand owns all customer and order data outright since the storefront is self-hosted through the platform.
Does Faire or Shopify handle buyer credit risk?
Faire underwrites eligible retailers for net-60 payment terms and still pays the brand on its chosen payout schedule regardless of when the retailer actually pays. Shopify has no built-in buyer credit system; a brand extending net terms on its own B2B storefront carries that risk itself unless it uses a third-party financing app.
Which is better for a brand just starting to sell wholesale?
Faire removes more of the initial friction: no subscription commitment, no storefront to build, and access to retailers already looking to buy. It’s a lower-risk way to test whether wholesale works for a product line before investing in a dedicated Shopify B2B setup.
The Bottom Line
Faire and Shopify solve different halves of the same problem. Faire finds the retailer. Shopify keeps the relationship once a brand has one. Neither replaces the other, they’re built for different stages of a wholesale channel.
If a brand has no wholesale customers yet and needs discovery, start with Faire. The 15% commission buys access to retailers actively browsing for new inventory, with no upfront cost if nothing sells.
If a brand already has an established base of repeat wholesale buyers, run it through Shopify’s B2B tools. The flat monthly cost and sub-3% processing fee beat a 15% commission once order volume is consistent.
Compare more platform pairings on CartCompare to find the right fit before committing a product line to either channel.
Related Articles
- Faire vs Etsy: Bulk Wholesale or Retail Storefront: for makers deciding between wholesale scale and direct-to-consumer marketplace sales.
- Faire vs Amazon: Wholesale Platform or Retail Reach: how Faire’s retailer network compares to selling direct at Amazon’s scale.
- TikTok Shop vs Shopify: Marketplace or Storefront?: the same discovery-versus-ownership trade-off, applied to consumer social commerce instead of wholesale.
About This Research
CartCompare Editorial Team is an independent e-commerce platform research group that evaluates store builders, marketplaces, and wholesale channels against a fixed comparison framework: pricing, core features, ease of use, and who each platform actually fits.
This article is based on direct review of Faire’s published seller fee documentation and Shopify’s official pricing and B2B feature pages, cross-referenced against current vendor terms as of August 2026. All fee figures cited are sourced, not estimated.
Content reviewed and updated: 2026-08-24
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CartCompare is an independent e-commerce platform research site. Have a platform we haven’t covered yet, or think we got a fact wrong? Reach out via ecomcartcompare.com/about.
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