Faire vs Ankorstore: Which Wholesale Marketplace Suits a Small Brand?

Pick the marketplace whose retailers match yours, then compare fees. Faire lists 15% commission on marketplace orders plus $10 on a retailer's first order (25% on first orders for brands based outside North America), and 0% through Faire Direct. Ankorstore charges a one-off fee for each retailer it brings you and, since January 2026, 0% commission on reorders.

The headline percentage is not the whole cost. Ankorstore does not publish its first-order acquisition fee on any public page I could read (its brand terms point to commercial terms inside the platform), Faire's processing fee rises with payout speed, and a retailer you bring yourself costs far less than one the marketplace finds. The worked order below labels every assumed figure, so swap in the rates from your own brand dashboard and compare what you keep.

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What each marketplace is, in one paragraph each

Faire is a wholesale marketplace where independent retailers browse brands and place orders; it says more than 100,000 brands sell on it. Its how-it-works page lists a 15% commission on all marketplace orders plus a $10 fee on a retailer's first order, while the version for brands based outside North America lists 25% on opening orders and 15% on reorders. Orders that come through a brand's own Faire Direct link are, in Faire's words, completely commission-free. Eligible retailers can order now and pay 60 days later, and Faire charges brands a payment processing fee that is slightly higher for faster payouts.

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Ankorstore calls itself the number one B2B marketplace in Europe and says it reaches more than 300,000 independent retailers. In January 2026 it announced a new model for brands: 0% commission on all reorders, with acquisition costs "charged only once for each new customer brought by Ankorstore". Its brand terms (updated March 2026) name two charges, a customer acquisition fee and a payment fee, and say the percentages sit in commercial terms inside the platform, which are not on any public page I could read. Brands set their own minimum order value, and its referral offer has given brands 0% commission and 0% service fee on the retailers they bring.

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Reach: where your retailers actually are

Reach decides more than fees do. A marketplace is only worth its commission if the shops that buy from it fit your product and can receive it.

• Ankorstore describes its retailers as spread across Europe, and its pages price in euros. If your stock ships easily to those shops, it is the natural fit, and its free reorders reward products that sell through and get reordered.
• Faire says it operates across North America and several other markets. Check the market list for your own base and for the retailers you want, because shipping rules, duties and Faire's own fee structure all vary with where your brand is based.

The honest test is to open each marketplace as a retailer would. Search your own category, look at which brands appear, and note how many are similar in price and style to you. If a dozen brands like yours already sell there, you have proof of demand and also proof of competition. If none do, ask whether that is an opening or a warning.

The worked fee comparison on one sample order

Take an illustrative small brand making hand-poured candles. A retailer places a first order with a wholesale value of $600. The retail price is double the wholesale price, so the shop will sell the same goods for $1,200. The brand's cost to make and pack the goods is $240, so the gross margin before any marketplace fee is $360, or 60 percent.

The Faire rates below are the ones on its how-it-works pages. Ankorstore's first-order acquisition fee is not public, so the table uses a placeholder of 20 percent, which is an assumption and not Ankorstore's figure; its 0% reorder commission comes from its January 2026 announcement, and a payment fee may still apply. Replace every rate with the one on your own brand dashboard.

Look at the last column. A Faire first order leaves $260 of margin on goods that cost $240 to make, about 43 percent of the order after the fee. That is thinner than it looks once you add packaging, shipping you absorb and the cost of a returned or damaged parcel. On Faire, a reorder from the same shop still costs 15 percent; on Ankorstore the reorder commission is zero. A retailer you brought yourself leaves the full $360 on either platform. The pattern is the useful part: Faire spreads its commission across every marketplace order, Ankorstore concentrates its charge on the first, and the cheapest orders on both come through your own links.

The lifetime view of one retailer

Fees on the first order matter less if the retailer reorders. Say the retailer buys four times in a year at $600 each, $2,400 in all:

• Faire: $100 on the first order plus 3 x $90 on the reorders = $370, or about 15.4 percent of sales.
• Ankorstore, using the 20 percent placeholder: $120 on the first order and no commission on the three reorders = $120, or 5 percent, plus whatever payment fee your commercial terms set.
• Either platform, for a retailer you brought yourself: no commission, only Faire's processing fee or Ankorstore's payment fee.

If the retailer never reorders, the comparison turns on the first-order charge alone, and you need Ankorstore's real acquisition fee from your back office to know which platform wins. So the first thing to estimate is your likely reorder rate. Consumables (candles, coffee, skincare) reorder often, which favours a model with free reorders. Gifts and seasonal lines reorder less, so the first-order charge dominates.

Minimums, terms and cash flow

Terms matter because wholesale cash flow is slow. A brand that buys materials in week one, ships in week three and waits 60 days for payment funds the retailer's stock for two months. Both marketplaces pay the brand long before the retailer pays them, which moves that burden off you; that is a large part of what the fees buy. Ask both: "When do I receive payment relative to shipping, and who bears the loss if the retailer does not pay?" Their answers on that single question can outweigh a few points of commission.

Minimums: set them so small retailers can say yes

A low minimum helps retailers test you; a high minimum protects your margin on small parcels. Work out your break-even parcel: the smallest order that covers picking, packing and shipping. If packing and posting a parcel costs $12 and your margin after fees is 40 percent, a $100 order leaves $40 and the parcel eats 30 percent of it. A $250 order leaves $100 and the parcel eats 12 percent. Set the minimum near the point where shipping drops below about 10 percent of your margin. More on this in tiered minimum order quantities.

The one-order sheet to copy

This is the sheet I would build before listing anything. It fits in a spreadsheet, and every line can be filled from a vendor page or your own costs. The values shown are the illustrative candle order from above.

Marketplace:            [name]
Order value (wholesale): $600
Your cost of goods:      $240
Commission rate:         [from your brand dashboard]  e.g. Faire first order 15% + $10
Commission amount:       $100
Payment processing fee:  [check: charged separately on both]
Packing materials:       $12
Shipping you pay:        [0 if retailer pays; else amount]
Return/damage allowance: 2% of order = $12
Net after all costs:     600 - 240 - 100 - 12 - 0 - 12 = $236
Net as % of order:       39%

With every cost except the processing fee included, the first order nets $236 on $600, or 39 percent. If your target is at least 30 percent, that first order is acceptable. If shipping falls on you at $40, net drops to $196 (33 percent), the processing fee comes off on top, and the order is marginal. Build the sheet for a first order and a reorder, and for each marketplace, and you can see in four columns where each one pays.

Shipping, currency and duties: the checks outside the fee

Commission is the visible cost. Three less visible ones can match it.

• Who pays shipping. Check whether the marketplace supplies a prepaid label, whether the retailer or the brand carries the cost, and any free-shipping threshold. A threshold that you fund can eat a thin margin.
• Currency. Ankorstore's pages price in euros, and Faire's fee structure depends on where your brand is based. If your costs are in another currency, an order's value moves with the exchange rate between order and payout. Ask what rate is used and when.
• Cross-border paperwork. Selling to shops in another country can mean customs forms, duties and different labelling rules, and the marketplace may or may not handle them. Ask before you list, and take advice from a customs broker or accountant where you are unsure.

Wrong assumptions here turn a profitable order into a loss. An illustrative case: a brand ships a $200 order across a border, the retailer is billed import duty they did not expect, and they refuse the next reorder. The brand's listing never said who handles duty. Add a line to each product page stating terms, and keep a one-paragraph reply ready for the question.

A message to bring your own retailers across

Since the own-retailer routes are the cheapest part of both marketplaces, an invitation is worth writing carefully. An assistant can produce a first draft from your facts, and you remove any claim you cannot back up. Here is an illustrative version:

Subject: Reordering [brand] through [marketplace]

Hello [first name],

From next season we are taking wholesale reorders through [marketplace].
For you that means: [payment terms you have confirmed on their page],
one place to see past orders, and the same wholesale prices as before.

Your next order can be placed here: [your brand link]
If you would rather keep ordering by email, that is fine too.

Thank you for stocking us,
[your name]

The message commits to nothing the platform controls, and it offers a way out. Check the exact terms for retailers you invite on the platform's page before you quote them, since terms for eligible retailers can differ from one account to another.

Seasonality and how it changes the choice

Wholesale buyers place most orders ahead of busy retail periods. A brand selling gift candles may see 60 percent of its yearly wholesale orders between late summer and early winter. That affects three decisions. First, cash: you buy materials in July and are paid in September or later, so a marketplace that pays brands soon after shipping helps more at peak than in a quiet month. Second, capacity: if three marketplaces all deliver orders in the same fortnight, can you make and ship them? Third, commission: peak-season orders are often first orders from new shops, which carry the highest rate. Say what share of your sales is likely to be first orders in the peak and use that share in your model. A brand with a peak of 80 percent first orders should model a higher blended fee than one with steady reorders all year.

Questions to put to each marketplace before you list

1. What is the commission on a first order from a retailer you bring me, and on a reorder? Please show it in my brand dashboard before I list.
2. Is there any separate service, payment or subscription fee?
3. When am I paid, relative to the shipping date, and who carries the loss if a retailer does not pay?
4. Which countries can I ship to, and which can retailers order from?
5. What is the minimum order, and can I set my own above it?
6. How do I export my order and retailer data if I leave?
7. What happens to a retailer I brought myself if I stop selling on the platform?

Write the answers in a table with the date and a link to the page that says it. Vendor pages change, and a dated note settles any later argument about what was promised. If an answer comes only by email, save the email.

Retailer behaviour: what shops want from a small brand

A marketplace gets a retailer through the door once. What brings them back is the same as it was before platforms: reliable dispatch, accurate descriptions and a brand that answers questions. Retailers choose small brands for something a large supplier does not offer, whether that is a distinctive product, a story or a margin that works for them. They typically want to see a wholesale price that lets them double it for retail, a minimum they can afford to test, and a lead time they can plan around. Put those three facts in the first lines of every listing.

A quick sum shows why the doubling rule matters to them. If your wholesale price is $6 and a shop sells at $12, their margin is $6, or 50 percent. If you raise your wholesale price to $7 to cover a commission, they must sell at $14 to keep the same margin, and a $14 item may no longer fit the shelf price they are comfortable with. Pushing marketplace fees into the wholesale price therefore has a limit, and it is worth checking the retail prices of similar products before you adjust.

Where AI helps on a wholesale marketplace

An assistant will not decide which marketplace you should use, but it saves hours on three jobs. Remove retailer names and contact details from anything you paste.

Listing text for wholesale buyers

Retailers need different information from consumers: case size, wholesale and recommended retail price, lead time, materials, care and shelf life. Paste your product facts and ask for a wholesale listing, with an instruction not to invent any specification:

Write a wholesale listing for a shop buyer. Use only these facts.
Include: what it is, case size, wholesale price, suggested retail price,
lead time, materials, care or shelf life, and one line on who buys it.
If a fact is missing, write "[CHECK]".
Facts: [paste product sheet]

An illustrative output flags "[CHECK] burn time" because you did not give it. Then you test a candle and fill it in. The guide to Faire listings and retailer messages with AI goes through this at length.

Margin checks

Give an assistant your cost, wholesale price, commission rate and shipping and ask it to produce the one-order sheet above. Then check the sums by hand on one row. Models are fair at formatting tables and unreliable at arithmetic on long chains, so verify before you act. Pricing wholesale goods with a chat assistant or an app compares approaches.

Messages to your own retailers

If you want to bring your own shops onto a marketplace to use the lower commission route, draft a short invitation: why you are using it, what they gain (payment terms, one reorder button), and a request to place their next order there. Keep it factual about what the terms are, and do not promise discounts the platform controls.

A decision table for three kinds of brand

A mistake that shows up in month three

An illustrative stationery brand lists notebooks on a marketplace and is delighted with ten first orders. Month three arrives and the owner discovers that shipping a 100-unit minimum order cost more than expected, that two shops ordered at the minimum and never returned, and that the commission on the ten first orders took a fifth of revenue. None of it was hidden; it was never modelled. The fix is a one-page sheet, kept for every marketplace you use: orders, first versus reorders, fees, shipping, returns and margin per order. Review it every month, and drop a marketplace if its median order does not clear your break-even parcel.

Test it small before you commit your range

1. Pick six products, not sixty, with healthy margins and low fragility.
2. List them on one marketplace with prices you could live with on a first order.
3. Invite three of your own retailers to place an order through it and record the fee you actually pay.
4. After six weeks, compare the order sheet with the assumed numbers and note what differed.
5. Repeat on the second marketplace, or decide the first is enough.

Keep your prices consistent on both, with your own site's wholesale page and the marketplaces, so a retailer who sees you twice does not feel short-changed. If you want to work through the margins and the messages with your own figures, that is what my AI implementation consultation covers. For the broader promotion side, see a four-channel plan for a small brand.

Questions small brands ask about wholesale marketplaces

Can I sell on both Faire and Ankorstore?

Usually yes: nothing on the public pages I read requires exclusivity, but check each marketplace's current brand terms. The practical limits are stock, pricing consistency and admin time. Keep wholesale prices identical on both so retailers who see you twice do not feel short-changed.

Do I pay commission on my own existing customers?

Usually little or nothing. Faire says orders that come through a brand's own Faire Direct link are completely commission-free. Ankorstore has described its referral offer as 0% commission and 0% service fee on referred retailers' transactions, and since January 2026 it says all reorders carry 0% commission. Conditions apply, so read the current terms and test with one customer.

How fast do I get paid?

Faire says it pays brands promptly after orders ship, with faster payout options carrying a slightly higher processing fee, while eligible retailers get 60 days to pay. Ankorstore's brand sign-up page has promised payment within 48 hours, and its brand terms tie payment to the retailer confirming receipt, whatever terms the retailer was given. Check the current payout article on each before you plan cash flow.

What does a wholesale marketplace not do for me?

It will not set your wholesale prices, pick your products, pack orders or fix thin margins. Your retail price must be roughly double your wholesale price, and your wholesale price must cover costs plus marketplace fees. If it cannot, the marketplace will not rescue the numbers.

Further reads

• EDI for Small Business: Do You Need It to Sell to Big Retailers? — When a large retailer asks for EDI instead of a marketplace.
• Can AI Read Emailed Orders Into a Wholesaler's System? — Turning emailed wholesale orders into clean lines.
• How to Use AI in a Bakery Business: Wholesale and Standing Orders — Standing orders for a small food producer.
• Ecommerce Customer Service Outsourcing vs AI: Costs for a Small Brand — Support costs once wholesale orders grow.
• Walmart Marketplace vs Amazon: Which Should a Small Seller Add Next? — Approval, fees, fulfilment, competition and ads compared, with a decision rule by product type for the seller who has one channel and wants a second.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: Faire's how-it-works pages (commission, $10 first-order fee, Faire Direct, 60-day retailer terms, payout fees, markets); Ankorstore's January 2026 product news (0% commission on reorders), brand terms (updated March 2026), brand sign-up page and retailer-benefits page; all checked November 2026. Ankorstore's acquisition-fee percentage is not on a public page, so the worked example uses a labelled placeholder.