The Ultimate Guide to Faire Alternatives
Faire has become the go-to wholesale marketplace for brands and retailers alike. Founded in 2017, Faire connects independent brands with retailers and was created to simplify the process of buying and selling wholesale goods. The platform serves as an intermediary, helping brands reach a broader audience of retail buyers without the need for traditional sales reps or trade shows.
It is estimated that Faire plays host to over 700,000 retailers and 100,000 brands across the globe. So, whether you're a small business looking to scale or you’re an established brand seeking new retail partnerships, Faire provides an accessible platform for connecting with thousands of retailers worldwide.
In addition to the increased exposure that Faire offers brands, benefits of Faire include:
Streamlined Process: The platform simplifies the wholesale process, making it easier for brands to manage orders, track inventory, and communicate with retailers.
Support for Small Businesses: Faire's terms are particularly favorable for small and independent retailers, which means that brands on the platform often have access to a large number of smaller, boutique shops that prioritize unique and high-quality products.
Global Reach: With Faire, brands can expand internationally without needing to navigate the complexities of cross-border sales on their own.
However, as beneficial as Faire can be for both a brand and a retailer, it comes with a number of challenges. For some brands, these limitations lead to frustration and for them to search for Faire alternatives.
This article will first explore what is leading some brands (and retailers) to become frustrated with the platform. And then we will dive into alternatives to Faire. If you’re a brand looking to diversify your wholesale business off of Faire, and not have all of your wholesale eggs in one basket, read on!
What is Causing Brands to Become Frustrated with Faire
Despite the size of the marketplace and the many benefits that Faire offers to brands, there is a growing sense of frustration with it. For some brands, Faire’s fees, policies, and competitive landscape can be sources of frustration. Let’s break down each one of these points a bit further:
High Fees
One of the ways in which Faire makes their money is by charging a commission on orders placed through their platform. They charge brands a 15% plus a $10 fee for any new customer that places an order and a 15% commission for any order after their first order (i.e. a reorder). Not only do you need to consider the “out-of-the-box” fees that you are paying, but you also need to think of the “hidden costs” of doing business on Faire, which includes things like returns for example.
Breakdown of Faire's fees
However, if as a brand you directly refer a brand to your Faire portal and they purchased off of that link, then you will not need to pay a commission to Faire. This is known as Faire Direct.
While these fees may be manageable for some, they can add up quickly, particularly for smaller brands with tighter margins. These fee structures make it difficult for a brand with an average order size of under $200 to make a meaningful profit, when factoring in the brand's product costs. So if you do decide to sell on Faire, be mindful of your order minimums and consider adapting your order minimum to Faire’s pricing structure.
Competition and Saturation
As Faire has grown, so has the competition for brands trying to grab retailers attention. With thousands of brands on the marketplace, standing out can be challenging, especially for new brands or brands selling niche products. The saturation of the marketplace means that brands must invest time and resources into optimizing their product listings, creating compelling images, and participating in Faire's promotional campaigns to get noticed. Oftentimes, brands will outsource this to an agency, which is costly.
Separately, Faire is starting to roll out advertising, meaning if a brand wants to be discovered by more retailers, they are going to need to pay to advertise. This is yet another cost that a brand on Faire must factor in. While Faire may have started out having success as a marketplace, it is slowly turning into a “pay-for-play” marketplace, which is causing brands to search for alternatives to Faire.
And on the competition side of the spectrum, many retailers are growing weary and tired of the platform. The reason being is that a retailer's competitor can go into their store, or browse their store online, see what products they carry and go to Faire to buy the same exact products as them, making it more difficult for them to sell-through the products.
Policy Restrictions
Faire has strict policies regarding communication with retailers outside the platform. When you operate on Faire, or any other marketplace for that matter, the marketplace owns the relationships (meaning any communication to a retailer needs to go through the marketplaces communication system and the marketplace holds all of the sales data). Brands are often prohibited from reaching out to retailers directly or encouraging them to place orders outside of Faire. This can be limiting for brands that want to build more personal relationships with their retail partners or offer custom deals that are not possible within Faire’s framework.
Faire Alternatives: Exploring Your Options
If you're considering alternatives to Faire, you're not alone. Many brands are exploring other platforms or even creating their own wholesale (or B2B) portals to regain control over their wholesale business and “own” their customers.
Read on as we explore some of the top Faire alternatives.
Mable
Mable is a wholesale marketplace similar to Faire, but with a focus on the food and beverage industry. Founded in 2019, Mable aims to simplify the wholesale process for brands and retailers by offering a curated selection of products, streamlined ordering, and flexible payment options.
One of Mable’s standout features is its commitment to sustainability. The platform emphasizes sourcing from local and regional suppliers, reducing the carbon footprint of shipping, and supporting ethical production practices. For brands in the food and beverage space, Mable offers a more specialized and environmentally conscious alternative to Faire.
Mable also boasts lower fees compared to Faire (12.5% commission on all orders), which can be appealing for brands looking to maximize their profits. Additionally, Mable’s platform allows for direct communication between brands and retailers, enabling more personalized relationships. However, similar to Faire, you still need to communicate to your retailers through the platform and Mable “owns” the relationship.
AirGoods
AirGoods is another up-and-coming wholesale platform that offers a unique approach to connecting brands with retailers. Unlike Faire, which focuses on a broad range of product categories, AirGoods focuses on specialty food and beverage products (which is similar to Mable). This niche focus allows AirGoods to cater specifically to retailers and brands within these industries, offering a more tailored experience.
One of the key advantages of AirGoods is its emphasis on quality over quantity. The platform is selective about the brands it accepts, ensuring that only high-quality, design-forward products are available to retailers. This can be a significant advantage for brands looking to position themselves in the premium market segment.
AirGoods has a very similar commission structure as Faire (15% + $10 in the opening order and then 15% on all reorders). But, since they are newer than Faire and looking to gain market share, they are offering a variety of incentives, including free shipping. Additionally, the platform provides tools for managing inventory, tracking orders, and analyzing sales data, helping brands make informed decisions about their wholesale strategy.
Building Your Own B2B Portal
For brands looking for complete control over their wholesale business, building your own B2B portal is a viable option. This approach allows you to create a custom platform that meets your specific needs, without the fees and restrictions imposed by third-party marketplaces. The only downside of this approach is that you are going to need to have the time and resources to build out and maintain a platform, but with the time and effort required to do this, comes many benefits.
There are several ways to build a B2B portal, depending on your resources and technical expertise:
Shopify: If you are a Shopify Plus merchant, then you have access to Shopify’s B2B tools. However, if you run your DTC business on Shopify (and are not a Plus customer), you can still leverage Shopify to run your wholesale business, albeit with a little creativity. You can build out separate wholesale products and make them accessible to only certain customers (i.e. your retailers). Additionally, the Shopify app ecosystem offers a range of tools and apps specifically designed for B2B e-commerce. Within the Shopify ecosystem, you can create a branded wholesale portal, manage orders, and offer custom pricing to different retailers. Shopify’s platform is user-friendly and scalable, making it a popular choice for brands of all sizes.
Candid: Candid is a specialized B2B platform that offers a more customized experience compared to Shopify. With Candid, you can create a visually stunning wholesale portal that reflects your brand’s aesthetic. The platform also offers features like inventory management, order tracking, and analytics, helping you stay on top of your wholesale operations.
Zoey: Zoey is another B2B e-commerce platform that offers robust features for managing wholesale orders. Zoey’s platform is highly customizable, allowing you to create a portal that meets your specific business needs. The platform also offers integrations with popular accounting and inventory management systems, making it easy to streamline your operations.
Building your own B2B portal requires an initial investment of time and resources, but it can pay off in the long run by giving you full control over your wholesale business. You’ll be able to set your own policies, pricing, and terms, without the limitations imposed by third-party platforms.
If you go down this path of building your own B2B portal, one aspect to me mindful of is making it easy for retailers to login and purchase products from you. Additionally, since you will be building out your own portal and not selling goods through Faire (or any other marketplace for that matter), you will likely be able to offer your retailer better pricing because you don’t need to factor in the commissions that you need to pay a marketplace.
Vanik
The final alternative to Faire that we want to talk about is of course, Vanik. Vanik is a platform that is built specifically for brands selling through wholesale channels to manage and grow their retail relationships directly. Instead of being reliant on third parties (like marketplaces and distributors) for retention purposes or manually needing to remember to follow-up with retailers that you manage directly, Vanik makes it easy to automate, scale and own all of your retail relationships.
Benefits of owning your customer
Vanik allows you to own the entire retail retention process which helps you:
Gain stronger control over your brand
Have a direct line of communication with your retailers (and not be reliant on a marketplace to connect you to your customers)
Drive a better profit
Vanik is designed for brands who want to take control of their direct retail relationships outside of marketplaces. We have leveraged insights from hundreds of conversations with brands that sell through wholesale channels, either directly or through marketplaces, like Faire.
Vanik makes it simple for retailers to place a reorder. Unlike a marketplace (like Faire, Mable or AirGoods), or a dedicated B2B portal (like Shopify Plus or Zoey), the retailer doesn’t need to login to a platform to place a reorder. Vanik will automatically send an email to a retailer when it’s time for them to reorder, based on their previous order history. If the retailer wants a reorder, they can click through to a landing page, add/subtract products on their own and checkout. Without needing to login to a platform or trade emails back and forth with the brand.
Vanik will help you make more money, save time and deliver a better experience to retailers - all of which are big wins!
Wrap Up
While Faire has undoubtedly made a significant impact on the wholesale industry, it’s not the only option available to brands. Whether you’re frustrated with Faire’s fees, policies, or simply want to own your retail relationships, there are several alternatives worth exploring.
Mable and AirGoods offer specialized platforms with more favorable policies and a focus on specific industries. However, keep in mind that both Mable and AirGoods are marketplaces, which mean that you don’t “own” the customer. If you want to build your own B2B portal, you will get complete control over your wholesale operations. Building a B2B portal is the most time intensive option and will still require a retailer to login to your platform to place an order. Vanik offers the best of both worlds, by offering brands a way for them to automate retailer retention, while owning their customers and delivering their brands a simple two-click order process.
Each of these Faire alternatives has its own unique strengths, and the best choice will depend on your brand’s specific needs and goals. By exploring these options, you can find the platform or solution that aligns with your business strategy and helps you achieve your wholesale objectives in 2024 and beyond.
