Reference
Where cross-border sellers actually sell
A marketplace is a fee schedule attached to an audience. The audience decides whether you have customers; the fee schedule decides whether you keep any money. Each entry sets out the model, the markets covered and the questions to answer before listing.
The three fee models
Almost every platform is some mix of three charges. A referral or commission is a percentage of the sale, usually category-specific. A payment fee is a percentage plus a fixed amount for moving the money. A fixed per-order or subscription charge is paid whether or not the order is profitable. A $0.30 fixed fee is trivial on a $100 order and punishing on a $5 one.
The calculator linked from each entry lets you enter the actual rates from a seller centre and see the payout, the break-even price and the monthly result. Presets are starting points, not quotations: category rates change, and several platforms have raised them recently.
Reach is not distribution
Being on a marketplace gives you a listing inside someone else's search results. It does not give you the customer's email address, the ability to re-market, or control over the ranking that decides whether the listing is seen. That trade — audience in exchange for fees and dependence — is the central decision when choosing where to sell.
A store you own has the opposite profile: no built-in audience, but no commission and a direct relationship with the buyer. Most durable small sellers end up running both, using the marketplace for discovery and the store for repeat purchases.
All entries
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