Faire is an online marketplace for wholesale buyers. That means the customers browsing the website are independent shop owners looking to find products to stock in their shops and stores.
Essentially, it's like Etsy or Amazon, but for retail buyers.
Faire.com sells a huge amount of wholesale products, including lots of recognisable brands from all over the world, the UK, US, Europe, Canada, Australia. And there are more brands joining all the time.
The benefit of Faire for buyers, is being able to view and access hundreds of purpose led brands in one place, to stock in their stores.
The benefit of Faire for sellers, is being able to get in front of buyers who may not otherwise discover them.
But before you go dashing to stock your products on Faire, there are a few considerations.
How does their wholesale work as a seller?
As a brand owner and product based business owner, you can use Faire.com to sell your products directly to retailers, amongst thousands of other products and brands.
It’s similar to selling on Etsy or Not On The Highstreet, but the buyers are store owners rather than consumers.
You take charge of your product listing and adding your products to the website (again, like Etsy).
You add your wholesale and retail prices, product descriptions and product photos.
You also create a profile that you can populate with videos and images that tell your brand story and grow that all essential know, like and trust factor with retail buyers.
You’ll also add your minimum order numbers, and terms and conditions.
As with any online platform, it's really important to consider the keywords you’re using.
Think about the kind of keywords potential retail buyers will be using on the site to find products like yours and make sure they’re in your product listings.
Once your profile is completed and you’ve uploaded your product listings - as long as you’ve listed your products well and used great photography…. it’s then down to Faire.com to sell your products to retail buyers.
Receiving an order on Faire
When a retail buyer wants to place an order, they do so directly through the website. The order is then sent to you to be fulfilled.
You’ll be paid for the order (minus Faire’s commission) and shipping within 1-30days, depending on your agreed payment window.
Faire’s commission is around 15% - 25% depending on what agreement you have with Faire (which often depends on which country you’re in, when you sign up, and your agreed payment window).
You can see more on up-to-date commission agreements with Faire here.
How does Faire work for buyers?
Faire is convenient for buyers because everything’s in one place, making it a brilliant platform for collating a seasonal collection or items that will work well together in a window display.
Let’s say for autumn, they want to create a cottage core theme. They might search terms like:
Cottage core
Mushroom cushions
Forest candles
Cottage garden
… and Faire will show all of the products that fit with those search terms, from across hundreds of brands. (A reminder about how important SEO is on Faire).
Returning orders on Faire
The first time a buyer orders from a brand on Faire, they are entitled to return it—making it risk-free for the buyer but also risk-free for the seller, as you still get paid for the order. Faire keeps the stock from that order and sells it to another retailer.
The pros of using Faire
It gives you, as a product business owner, access to retail buyers and shopkeepers that you wouldn't normally be exposed to. The same goes for retailers; they can find a whole host of brands they may not otherwise have discovered.
You only get charged a commission if a retailer discovers you through the platform. If you bring a retail buyer to the platform, you're not charged a commission for their order. This can be useful if you want to offer a retail buyer longer credit terms without as much of a cashflow or risk consideration on your end, as Faire guarantees to pay you.
For buyers, they can pay for orders from different brands in one invoice, Which makes buying on Faire a big time saver for them.
You're able to offer your retailers credit terms while still getting paid within your agreed payment window - as Faire manages the credit.
You can sometimes access free shipping.
The cons of using Faire
Not all retail buyers use Faire. A lot of retail buyers still like to order directly from brands so they can build a connection with their store suppliers.
You can't expect Faire to do your wholesale work for you - you’re competing against thousands of other products on the platform. You need to make sure your profile and listings look premium, and do direct wholesale outreach as well. Faire doesn't replace the need to pitch and market yourself to retail buyers.
You’re giving up some control of how your products are viewed and sold online, to Faire.
You have to pay Faire commission - so make sure you’re really across your numbers and understand how profitable you are selling on Faire. You’ve got to be 100% clear on your margins.
You don't own the contact details of buyers, the relationship is between the retail buyer and Faire, meaning that you have to work harder to create a relationship with your buyers to keep your re-ordering up.
My recommendation for business owners
Faire offers a great way to reach buyers that would otherwise not reach you, and a great way to offer buyers credit terms you wouldn’t otherwise be able to offer them.
Faire is especially useful if you want to scale your wholesale by selling in other countries, especially the US.
BUT you don't want to rely 100% on Faire because as with any third party, an algorithm change can change everything overnight.
In addition to using Faire, make sure you’re also doing your own wholesale outreach and have a database of contacts of your own. Continue building relationships with buyers as that’s likely to create repeat orders.
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