How to Sell Wholesale on Shopify — Current Options for Makers (2026)
Shopify's wholesale marketplace Handshake was quietly shut down in late 2023. If you've been searching for how to sell wholesale on Shopify, here's a clear guide to the options that exist right now.
If you searched for “Shopify Handshake” hoping to list your handmade products on Shopify’s wholesale marketplace, there’s something important you need to know: Handshake was shut down in late 2023.
Shopify quietly retired the platform after making a strategic investment in Faire, effectively endorsing Faire as the wholesale channel of choice for Shopify merchants. The old Handshake help pages still exist, but the marketplace is no longer accepting new brands or orders.
That’s the bad news. The good news? The wholesale landscape for Shopify sellers has actually improved. You have more options now — and better ones — than when Handshake was around.
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What happened to Shopify Handshake?
Handshake launched in late 2020 as Shopify’s attempt to build a wholesale marketplace that connected independent brands with retail buyers. It worked like a curated B2B directory: brands could list their products and qualified retailers could place wholesale orders through the platform.
For a few years it had potential — Shopify reported tens of thousands of retailers on the platform. But Handshake was US-only, limited in categories, and never reached the scale needed to give brands meaningful wholesale volume.
In 2023, Shopify announced an investment in Faire (the dominant independent wholesale marketplace) and launched official Faire apps directly inside the Shopify App Store. Shortly after, Handshake was phased out entirely. Shopify’s message was clear: Faire is the wholesale marketplace we’re backing.
Your options for selling wholesale on Shopify in 2026
There are now three main paths for Shopify sellers wanting to add wholesale:
- Faire — the marketplace approach (your products listed, retailers find you)
- Shopify B2B — build your own wholesale channel inside Shopify (Shopify Plus only)
- Third-party wholesale apps — add B2B pricing and ordering to your existing Shopify store without upgrading to Plus
Most small makers will start with Faire. Here’s a breakdown of all three.
Option 1: Faire (the recommended wholesale marketplace)
Faire is now the largest independent wholesale marketplace in the world, with over 700,000 retailers buying from brands across the platform. Shopify has an official Faire sales channel app, which means orders, inventory, and product data sync automatically between the two platforms.
For most handmade makers, Faire is the fastest way to start selling wholesale without building your own wholesale infrastructure.
How Faire works for brands
You create a brand profile, list your products with wholesale pricing, and Faire’s algorithm surfaces your products to relevant retailers. Retailers browse, order at wholesale, and you fulfil through your normal Shopify workflow.
Faire is strongest in these categories: home & living, beauty & wellness, food & beverage, apparel, jewelry, and gifting — all strong fits for handmade and small-batch makers.
Faire fee structure
Faire’s pricing has two components depending on how a retailer finds you:
Marketplace orders (retailers who discover you through Faire’s search):
- 15% commission on the product subtotal
- Payment processing fee: 1.9–3.5% + $0.30 per transaction (depends on payout speed)
- $10 one-time new customer fee on each retailer’s first order
Faire Direct orders (your own retailers who you send a Faire Direct link):
- 0% commission — you just pay the processing fee
So if you already have a roster of wholesale accounts, you can migrate them to Faire Direct and keep significantly more margin. The 15% marketplace commission is really the cost of discovering new retail partners through the platform.
Use our Faire fee calculator to model your actual margins before listing.
Inventory tracking with Faire + Shopify
When you connect Faire to Shopify, wholesale orders sync to your Shopify store automatically. Craftybase connects to Shopify, which means Faire wholesale orders flow into your inventory tracking and COGS calculations alongside your direct-to-consumer orders — no manual double-entry required.
Option 2: Shopify B2B (Shopify Plus merchants only)
Shopify launched native B2B features in 2022 as part of the Shopify Plus plan. If you’re on Shopify Plus, these tools let you run a wholesale channel inside your existing Shopify store — no third-party app or separate marketplace required.
What Shopify B2B includes
- Company profiles — set up accounts for each wholesale buyer with their own pricing, catalogues, and payment terms
- Custom price lists — show different pricing to B2B customers vs. your retail storefront
- Net payment terms — offer Net 30 or Net 60 billing to retail accounts
- B2B checkout — a dedicated checkout flow for wholesale buyers with minimum order quantities and account-specific rules
- Self-service buyer portal — your retailers can log in and reorder without contacting you
It’s a full wholesale management system baked directly into Shopify, and it connects directly with Craftybase’s Shopify inventory integration.
The catch: Shopify Plus pricing
Shopify Plus starts at approximately $2,300 USD per month. For most small makers, this is a difficult investment to justify unless you already have significant wholesale volume. If you’re just starting out in wholesale, Faire or a third-party wholesale app is a far more cost-effective first step.
Option 3: Wholesale apps for non-Plus Shopify merchants
If you’re on a standard Shopify plan and don’t want to pay Faire’s commission structure, there’s a third option: third-party wholesale apps that add B2B pricing and ordering to your existing store.
Apps like BSS B2B Wholesale Solution, Process Wholesale, and Wholesale Lock Manager let you:
- Show different prices to verified wholesale customers (tag-based)
- Create a separate wholesale login page on your existing store
- Set minimum order quantities by product
- Offer net terms with manual approval
These apps typically cost $20–$100/month — far less than a Faire commission or a Plus upgrade. The trade-off is that you won’t get marketplace discovery (retailers need to find you directly), so they work best if you already have existing wholesale relationships to migrate.
Other wholesale marketplaces worth knowing
Faire is dominant, but it’s not the only marketplace available to independent makers:
- Creoate — a growing marketplace for emerging independent brands, with strong UK and European reach and low order minimums
- IndieMe — built specifically for handmade and artisan products from North American creators, with retailers who actively seek out handmade goods
- Bulletin — a curated marketplace with a strong indie aesthetic, good for brands with distinctive visual identity
None of these have the retailer network that Faire does, but they can be useful for finding wholesale buyers in specific niches or geographic markets.
Pricing your wholesale products correctly
Before you list on any platform, make sure your wholesale pricing is sustainable. The standard formula is:
Wholesale price = Cost of goods × 2 (at minimum)
Your retail price then needs to be at least double your wholesale price, giving you room for both the wholesale margin and any marketplace commission.
Use our wholesale price calculator to check your margins before committing to a platform’s pricing structure. If 15% Faire commission leaves you underwater, fix your pricing first — don’t just absorb the cost.
For a deeper look at wholesale strategy, read our complete guide to selling handmade products wholesale.
Tracking wholesale inventory alongside retail
One challenge makers face when adding wholesale is keeping track of inventory across multiple selling channels. A Faire order draws down the same materials as an Etsy order — but if your systems don’t talk to each other, it’s easy to oversell or run out of materials mid-batch.
Craftybase connects to both Shopify and Faire, pulling in wholesale orders alongside your direct-to-consumer sales and updating materials inventory in real time. You can see exactly how much of each material you’ve used across all channels, and whether you have enough stock to fulfil outstanding wholesale orders without interrupting retail fulfilment.
Learn more about wholesale inventory management for makers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify Handshake still available in 2026?
No. Shopify Handshake was phased out in late 2023 after Shopify made a strategic investment in Faire. The marketplace no longer accepts new brands or orders. Shopify has officially endorsed Faire as the recommended wholesale marketplace for Shopify merchants, with dedicated Faire apps available directly in the Shopify App Store.
What is the best wholesale marketplace for Shopify sellers in 2026?
For most independent makers and small brands, Faire is the strongest option. It has the largest retailer network, official Shopify integration, and a 0% commission structure for your existing wholesale accounts (Faire Direct). The 15% marketplace commission applies only to new retailers who discover you through Faire's platform — think of it as a customer acquisition cost rather than a blanket fee on all sales.
Do I need Shopify Plus to sell wholesale on Shopify?
No. Shopify's native B2B features (company profiles, custom pricing, net terms) are exclusive to Shopify Plus (~$2,300/month). But you don't need Plus to sell wholesale. You can sell through Faire on any Shopify plan, or use third-party wholesale apps like BSS B2B Wholesale Solution to add B2B pricing to your existing store. These are far more cost-effective starting points for most small makers.
How does Faire's fee structure work for Shopify sellers?
Faire charges 15% commission on orders from new retailers who find you through the Faire marketplace, plus a payment processing fee (1.9–3.5% + $0.30 depending on payout speed) and a $10 one-time new customer fee per new retailer. For your own existing wholesale accounts, Faire Direct orders carry 0% commission — you only pay the processing fee. Use a fee calculator to check your actual margins before listing.
How do I track wholesale inventory when selling on multiple channels?
Tracking wholesale alongside retail requires a system that connects all your sales channels. Craftybase integrates with both Shopify and Faire, pulling in orders from both channels and updating your materials inventory in real time. This means a Faire wholesale order draws down the same materials as an Etsy or Shopify retail order — so you always know exactly what you have available and can price and plan production accordingly.
