Etsy sells one item to one shopper at a time. Faire sells cases of items to retail stores placing wholesale orders. The two platforms solve different problems, not the same one.
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Table of Contents
- Why This Comparison Matters
- Etsy Overview
- Faire Overview
- Head-to-Head: Pricing & Fees
- Head-to-Head: Who You’re Actually Selling To
- Head-to-Head: Ease of Use
- Who Should Choose Etsy?
- Who Should Choose Faire?
- Running Etsy and Faire Together
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Bottom Line
Why This Comparison Matters
A handmade seller hits a ceiling on Etsy: transaction and payment fees eat into every individual sale, and growth means listing more products and chasing more one-off buyers. Faire asks a different question: instead of selling one candle to one shopper, would a boutique buy 24 candles at once?
This guide breaks down what Etsy and Faire actually charge, who buys through each platform, and how the order economics differ. By the end, you’ll know whether Faire belongs next to your Etsy shop, in place of it, or not at all right now.
Here’s exactly how the two platforms stack up.
Etsy Overview
Etsy is a direct-to-consumer marketplace. A shopper searches for a product, lands on a single listing, and buys one to a handful of units at retail price. The entire discovery and checkout flow is built around that one-shopper, one-order pattern.
Key strengths:
- Built-in buyer search traffic: sellers don’t need to drive their own visitors to convert a sale
- Retail pricing, so margin per unit is typically higher than a wholesale order
- Low barrier to entry: a shop can go live the same day, covered in how to set up an Etsy shop
Key weaknesses:
- Fees stack on every single sale: listing, transaction, and payment processing all apply per order, detailed in the full 2026 Etsy fee breakdown
- Revenue depends on repeatedly winning individual buyers, not on landing a handful of large recurring accounts
- Search ranking and discoverability are controlled entirely by Etsy’s algorithm, a dependency examined in how Etsy’s search algorithm actually ranks listings
Pricing summary: Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee per item, a 6.5% transaction fee on the sale price plus shipping, and a 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee for US sellers using Etsy Payments, according to Etsy’s own Fees & Payments Policy.
Faire Overview
Faire is a wholesale marketplace. Instead of shoppers, the buyers on Faire are independent retail stores and boutiques placing bulk orders to stock their own shelves. Faire launched in 2017 and built its business specifically around connecting small brands to small, independent retailers rather than big-box chains.
Key strengths:
- One order from one retailer can be worth as much as dozens of individual Etsy sales
- No listing fee and no monthly subscription charge for sellers: the marketplace commission is the primary cost
- Faire Direct lets a seller route their own existing wholesale customers through the platform at 0% commission
Key weaknesses:
- Wholesale unit pricing is lower than retail, so per-item margin shrinks even before fees
- Success depends on having product ready in wholesale-viable quantities and pricing, which most brand-new Etsy shops aren’t set up for
- The $10 new customer fee and 15% commission apply to every first order sourced through the open marketplace
Pricing summary: Faire charges a 15% commission on marketplace orders plus a one-time $10 new customer fee on a retailer’s first order, and 0% commission (payment processing only) on Faire Direct orders, per Faire’s own Help Center fee documentation.
Head-to-Head: Pricing & Fees
Fees change without notice on both platforms. Always verify current rates directly on Etsy’s official fee policy and Faire’s Help Center before making a decision based on this table.
| Fee Type | Etsy | Faire |
|---|---|---|
| Listing / subscription fee | $0.20 per listing, every 4 months or until sold | $0, no listing or monthly fee |
| Marketplace commission | 6.5% transaction fee on sale price + shipping | 15% commission per order (North America) |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 (US sellers) | 1.9%–3.5% depending on payout speed |
| New/first-order fee | None | $10 one-time, first order only, marketplace-sourced |
| Repeat-customer discount | None built in | 0% commission via Faire Direct link |
| Optional ad fees | Etsy Ads (min. $1/day) and mandatory Offsite Ads at 12–15% | None |
Run the actual numbers on your own price points using the Etsy fee calculator before comparing a specific product’s margin across both platforms.
On a $30 individual Etsy sale with no shipping charge, fees total $3.30: a $0.20 listing fee, a $1.95 transaction fee (6.5%), and a $1.15 payment processing fee (3% + $0.25). That leaves the seller $26.70, or 89% of the sale. On a $300 first-time wholesale order placed through Faire’s open marketplace, the 15% commission ($45) plus the flat $10 new-customer fee take $55 combined, leaving the seller $245, or about 82% of the order. The Faire order is worth ten times as much as the Etsy sale, even though its fee percentage looks higher on paper.
Head-to-Head: Who You’re Actually Selling To
This is the real fork in the decision, more than the fee percentages.
Etsy buyers are individual shoppers making a personal purchase decision, usually browsing on mobile, comparing a handful of listings, and converting in a single session. Etsy’s own Star Seller program and review system exist specifically to build trust with that kind of one-time or occasional buyer.
Faire buyers are retail store owners and buyers making a stocking decision for their shelves: a boutique deciding whether 24 units of a product will sell to their own customers over a season. They order in case packs or set minimums, they order less often, and they expect wholesale pricing (commonly 50% or less of retail) before Faire’s commission is even applied.
Question is: does your product line already have a wholesale price point that still leaves room for profit after a 15% commission? If margins are already thin at retail, wholesale plus commission can erase them entirely.
Head-to-Head: Ease of Use
Etsy setup is built for a first-time seller: pick a shop name, list a product, and the store is live. Faire’s onboarding leans more toward brands that already have production capacity, a wholesale price list, and packaging designed for case-pack shipping rather than single-unit orders.
Etsy handles payout, tax forms, and buyer messaging inside one seller dashboard used the same way for every order. Faire handles order minimums, net payment terms for retailers, and case-pack logistics. None of that exists in a typical Etsy transaction.
Sellers coming from Etsy’s SEO-driven discovery model should expect a different growth lever on Faire: catalog quality and being featured in Faire’s own retailer-facing recommendations matter more than the keyword tactics covered in the complete guide to Etsy SEO.
Who Should Choose Etsy?
- You’re a new or solo maker without inventory built up for wholesale-sized orders
- Your product sells well at retail price to individual buyers already
- You want to start selling today without negotiating wholesale pricing first
- You’re still building your pricing strategy and need retail-price data before setting wholesale rates
- You’d rather rely on Etsy’s built-in search traffic than pitch retail buyers directly
Who Should Choose Faire?
- You already have a proven product with production capacity for case-pack quantities
- Your margins hold up at 50%-or-less-of-retail wholesale pricing after a 15% commission
- You want fewer, larger orders instead of a high volume of single-unit sales
- You’re actively trying to diversify revenue beyond a single marketplace, a goal covered in the complete guide to leaving Etsy for your own store
- You already have some of your own wholesale customers you could route through a 0%-commission Faire Direct link
Running Etsy and Faire Together
Most sellers treat this as an addition, not a choice between the two. Etsy and Faire solve different revenue problems, and several sellers profiled in Marketplace Hackers’ own reporting kept Etsy running while adding a wholesale channel on the side. See how Peg and Awl grew from an Etsy shop to a wholesale brand and how Brooklyn Candle Studio grew beyond Etsy to 400+ stores without shutting down their original shop.
Here’s the deal: adding Faire doesn’t require leaving Etsy first. A practical sequence looks like this:
- Confirm wholesale math works. Take your best-selling Etsy product and calculate its price at roughly 50% of retail, then subtract Faire’s 15% commission. If there’s still real margin left, the product is a wholesale candidate.
- Build a wholesale price list and case-pack sizes. Faire buyers order in multiples, not single units. Decide your minimum order quantity before listing anything.
- List a focused starter catalog on Faire, not your full Etsy inventory. Retail buyers evaluate a brand on a handful of strong SKUs, not breadth.
- Keep Etsy running as your retail channel while Faire orders come in on a separate, lower-frequency cadence. The two rarely cannibalize each other since the buyers aren’t the same person.
- Track fees separately. A tool from the best bookkeeping apps for Etsy sellers roundup can usually handle a second sales channel’s fee structure, but confirm it supports wholesale/commission-based fee tracking before relying on it for both platforms.
Realistic timeframe: most sellers report it takes 4-8 weeks to get a wholesale price list, case-pack sizing, and starter catalog ready for Faire. That’s longer than the same-day setup Etsy allows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Faire a replacement for Etsy?
No. Faire sells to retail stores placing wholesale bulk orders, while Etsy sells directly to individual shoppers. Most sellers use Faire to add a second revenue channel, not to replace their existing Etsy shop.
Which is cheaper, Etsy or Faire?
It depends on order size. Etsy’s roughly 9.5–10.5% combined fee applies to a single-unit retail sale, while Faire’s 15% commission applies to a much larger order total at wholesale pricing. The dollar cost per unit can go either way depending on your specific price points.
Do I need a completely different product line to sell on Faire?
Not necessarily, but you do need a wholesale price point (commonly 50% or less of your retail price) and the ability to fulfill case-pack quantities instead of single units.
What’s the minimum order size on Faire?
Sellers set their own minimum order quantity and minimum order value for their Faire catalog. There’s no single platform-wide minimum that applies to every brand.
Can I sell on Etsy and Faire at the same time?
Yes. The two platforms serve different buyers, individual shoppers on Etsy and retail stores on Faire, so running both at once is common and doesn’t require exclusivity on either side.
Does Faire charge a monthly subscription fee?
No. Faire does not charge sellers a monthly or annual subscription fee to maintain a shop on the marketplace, according to Faire’s own fee documentation.
How does Faire’s $10 new customer fee work?
Faire charges a one-time $10 fee on a retailer’s first order when that retailer discovered the seller through the open marketplace. Reorders from the same retailer are not charged the fee again.
What is Faire Direct and how does it lower fees?
Faire Direct is a personal ordering link a seller can send to their own existing wholesale customers. Orders placed through that link carry 0% commission. The seller pays only the standard payment processing fee.
How fast does Faire pay sellers out?
Payout speed on Faire affects the payment processing fee, which ranges from roughly 1.9% for slower payout to 3.5% for faster payout, per Faire’s published fee documentation.
Is Faire better for beginners than Etsy?
Usually not. Etsy’s same-day setup and built-in shopper traffic make it a lower barrier to entry for a first-time seller, while Faire assumes a seller already has wholesale-ready pricing and production capacity.
Does Faire handle returns and customer service for wholesale orders?
Order terms, including returns, are set between the seller and the retail buyer according to the seller’s own stated policies, not run through Etsy-style buyer-protection messaging.
Will adding Faire hurt my existing Etsy sales?
Not directly. Because Faire buyers are retail stores and Etsy buyers are individual shoppers, the two channels are typically selling to different people rather than competing for the same sale.
The Bottom Line
Etsy and Faire aren’t really competitors. They’re built for two different buyers. If your product sells well at retail price to individual shoppers and you’re still building out inventory, stay focused on Etsy and get the fee math right with the Etsy fee calculator. If you already have a wholesale-viable price list and production capacity for case-pack orders, Faire can add a second revenue stream without touching your existing Etsy shop.
Calculate your Etsy fees first before deciding whether a 15% wholesale commission on a lower unit price actually beats what you’re already paying per sale.
Related Articles
- Etsy Fee Increases in 2026: The Full Seller Breakdown: the complete current fee schedule referenced throughout this comparison
- How Peg and Awl Grew From an Etsy Shop to a Wholesale Brand: a real seller’s path from Etsy-only to wholesale accounts
- Etsy vs Shopify for Handmade Sellers: a different comparison for sellers considering their own retail storefront instead of wholesale
About This Research
Nadia Cole has spent the better part of a decade elbow-deep in marketplace algorithms — first optimizing Etsy shops for other sellers, then writing about what actually works instead of what sounds good in a blog post.
This article is based on a direct comparison of Etsy’s and Faire’s own published fee schedules and seller documentation, specifically Etsy’s Fees & Payments Policy and Faire’s Help Center, cross-checked against current seller-reported fee breakdowns rather than third-party estimates.
Content reviewed and updated: 2026-09-15
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