This blog post was originally published by Deliverr, which is now Flexport. The content has been adjusted to fit the Flexport brand voice and tone, but all other information remains unchanged. With the merging of Deliverr’s services (DTC fulfillment, B2B distribution, and Last Mile delivery) into Flexport’s existing international freight and technology services, we’re now able to provide merchants with true end-to-end logistics solutions spanning from the factory floor to the customer’s door.

Disclaimer: This blog outlines some marketplace financing options available for online sellers. This article isn’t intended to offer financial advice, and we suggest you do your own research and speak to a specialist financial advisor when considering options.

The phrase “you’ve got to spend money to make money” has never been more true than for eCommerce sellers. If you’re looking to open or grow your online store, you likely need some form of funding to get started.

There are many funding options available for online sellers, including personal savings, crowdfunding, investment, and bank loans. In this article, we’re focusing on marketplace financing options, one of the quickest and easiest ways to obtain and repay additional funds when selling on Walmart, Amazon, Wish, and Shopify.

When to consider marketplace financing

If you read our blog on the flywheel effect of selling on marketplaces, you know that to gain traction and momentum when selling online, you need to put in a lot of initial effort to “get the wheel turning.”

Marketplace financing helps you to fund that initial effort, through:

• Tools – Investing in order management, inventory, and listing tools that help you manage more orders.
• Inventory – Purchasing inventory in bulk to reduce costs or buy new product lines to expand into.
• Employees – Hiring additional staff to give you capacity to source products, list more items, manage more orders, and support different customers.
• Marketing – Investing in marketplace ads, content marketing, product photography, and SEO optimization.
• Expansion – Expanding to additional marketplaces or hiring expertise to build your own Shopify store.

Top marketplace financing options

The best thing about using marketplace finance options to fund the growth of your business is that these options are tailored and linked with your marketplace accounts. This often means there are no lengthy applications or credit checks and that repayments are taken according to your sales figures – making financing quicker and repayment easier.

There are many marketplace financing options out there; to get you started with your search, here are a few of the most popular ones per marketplace.

Amazon financing options

Amazon Lending

Amazon Lending is an Amazon-owned financing option for small- and medium-sized businesses on the marketplace. Loans range from between $1,000 to $750,000 and are capped at 12 months’ repayment.

Amazon Lending is invitation-only, meaning that if you have an invitation message on your Seller Central homepage, you’ve already passed the eligibility requirements. While Amazon hasn’t publicly published these requirements, success cases suggest that Amazon looks for a 12-month selling history, $10,000 of sales in the past 12 months, positive customer satisfaction scores, and no serious complaints in the previous six months.

After you complete a short online application form, Amazon confirms acceptance within five working days, and funds are delivered in the following five working days. Loan repayments are automatically deducted from your seller account disbursements at a fixed percentage each month.

Credit check: No

Duration: 12 months

Interest: Yes

Early repayment penalty: No

Restrictions: You can only use funds to replenish or augment your Amazon inventory.

Walmart financing options

Payoneer

Payoneer is a payment platform that also offers Walmart sellers capital advances of up to $500,000, based on sales data.

Once you connect Payoneer to your Walmart store and pay earnings into your Payoneer account, Payoneer automatically sends capital advance offers based on your historical and predicted sales performance. Payoneer pre-approves these offers, meaning you don’t have to fill out a lengthy application form or wait for approval.

When you accept a capital advance offer, the funds are deposited into your Payoneer account in minutes. Repayments are taken automatically from your Walmart earnings at a fixed percentage.

Credit check: No

Duration: Varies

Interest: Fixed fee

Early repayment penalty: No.

Wish financing options

Payability

Payability offers Wish marketplace sellers working capital financing of up to $250,000, delivered in just 24-hours.

Eligible sellers must have nine months’ selling history and average monthly sales of $10,000 or more. The amount advanced depends on your eCommerce sales success, with a typical advance being between 75% to 150% of one month’s sales revenue.

To apply, complete an online application, and Payability will evaluate your business, sales history, and account health. After approval, funds are transferred to your bank account on the same day, using Same Day ACH or Instant Transfer. You can also access funds via the Payability Seller Card.

Repayments are deducted from your Wish earnings, at a fixed percentage between 12% to 25%, until fully repaid.

Credit check: No

Duration: Varies

Interest: A weekly flat fee of between 0.5% and 1%

Early repayment penalty: No.

Shopify financing options

Shopify Capital

Shopify Capital is a Shopify financing option for Shopify sellers, offering between $200 to $1,000,000.

Eligibility for Shopify Capital financing requires location in the US, having a low-risk business, using Shopify Payments or another enabled third-party payment provider, and processing a certain volume of sales.

If you meet the eligibility requirements, you’ll see a message in Shopify admin inviting you to view your funding options and apply. You can also access this via Shopify admin > Settings > Capital > View funding offers. Shopify approves applications within 2-5 working days, with funds delivered immediately after.

Repayments begin two days following receipt of the loan, based on a percentage of your daily sales.

Credit check: No

Duration: 12-months

Interest: Fixed percentage of the loan amount

Early repayment penalty: No.

Multi-channel financing options

If you sell on multiple marketplaces, there are a variety of multi-channel financing options available.

Payability

Payability (mentioned above) also offers cross-channel financing for whichever marketplaces you sell on.

Stripe Capital

Stripe users have access to capital based on your overall processing volume and history on Stripe. Repayments are collected automatically as a percentage of sales processed through the platform.

SellersFunding

SellersFunding offers a variety of marketplace financing options, ranging from daily advances to 12-month term loans of up to $1,000,000.

E-commerce Seller Financing

E-commerce Seller Financing connects with your marketplace accounts to provide quick financing of up to $250,000 if you’ve sold more than 250 items and are making at least $10,000 per month.

Key takeaway

eCommerce financing for sellers gives you the funds necessary to grow your business quickly, establish market dominance, and pave the way for future success. Of course, it is always better to fund the growth of your business using profits, but when that’s not possible, it’s good to know there are alternative options available to make it possible.

The contents of this blog are made available for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for any legal, business, or financial decisions. We do not guarantee, represent, or warrant the accuracy or reliability of any of the contents of this blog because they are based on Flexport’s current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions, about which there can be no assurance due to various anticipated and unanticipated events that may occur. This blog has been prepared to the best of Flexport’s knowledge and research; however, the information presented in this blog herein may not reflect the most current regulatory or industry developments. Neither Flexport nor its advisors or affiliates shall be liable for any losses that arise in any way due to the reliance on the contents contained in this blog.