The best Faire alternative for most soap and candle makers who want to sell direct to customers is Homegrown, which gives you a flat $10 per month online storefront with no per-sale platform commission, no shopper fees, and no payout fees. Faire is a wholesale-only marketplace that connects makers with retail buyers and takes 15 to 25 percent of every order — for makers who want to build a direct-to-customer channel and keep that margin, Faire is the wrong tool.
The short version: Faire is wholesale-only. You sell to retailers (boutiques, gift shops, indie stores), Faire takes 25 percent on first orders from new retailers and 15 percent on reorders, and customers pay on Net 60 terms. Homegrown is the opposite model: $10 per month flat, no marketplace commission, customers pay you directly at checkout, and you sell to actual end users — the people who light your candles and use your soap. For soap and candle makers who want a real DTC channel without paying a quarter of every wholesale order to a marketplace, Homegrown is built for that. Other Faire alternatives include your own Shopify store ($39+/mo plus apps) and Etsy (per-listing and per-sale fees that stack). For most independent makers, Homegrown is the simplest and most affordable starting point for selling direct.
Faire is a wholesale marketplace that connects independent makers with brick-and-mortar retailers. According to Faire's homepage, the platform serves over 700,000 retailers across the US, Canada, UK, and Europe — boutiques, gift shops, home goods stores, and other independent retail locations.
The model is simple. As a maker, you list your products on Faire with a wholesale price and a minimum order quantity. Retailers browse, add products to carts, and place wholesale orders. Faire handles payment, fraud protection, and Net 60 retailer financing. You ship the order to the retailer, who marks it up and sells it in their store.
For some types of maker — established candle brands with strong photography, soap makers with a distinctive line and consistent inventory, body care brands ready to scale into 100+ retail locations — Faire genuinely works. The platform's matching engine puts your product in front of buyers who are specifically looking for new brands to stock.
For other makers — solo soap makers running cold-process batches in a kitchen, candle makers selling at local craft fairs, body care makers who care about who actually uses their product — Faire's wholesale-only model is a poor fit. The reasons are financial and emotional in roughly equal measure.
The most common reason is that Faire is wholesale-only and many makers actually want to sell direct.
Here are the main reasons soap and candle makers shop for alternatives:
If any of these match your situation, the question is not whether Faire is bad — for the right kind of maker at the right scale, it works. It is whether wholesale-to-retailer is actually the channel you want to be in, or whether you would rather sell directly to the people who use your product.
Three alternatives stand out for makers who want a direct-to-customer channel.
Homegrown is an online storefront built for local product makers who sell direct to customers. While the platform is best known for cottage food, it works for any pickup-friendly product — soap, candles, body care, herbal salves, and any handmade goods that customers can pick up locally or at a craft fair booth. There are no per-sale platform commissions and no marketplace algorithm between you and your buyers.
Here is what you get with Homegrown:
The pricing structure is the meaningful difference. Faire takes 15-25 percent of every wholesale order. Homegrown takes nothing — $10 per month flat plus standard card processing. On the same dollar of revenue, you keep substantially more.
The model difference is also meaningful. Faire connects you to retailers; Homegrown connects you to end customers. If you would rather sell direct, the model match matters as much as the pricing.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Solo soap and candle makers, body care entrepreneurs, and small-batch makers who want to sell direct to local customers and keep the marketplace cut for themselves. Many makers run a hybrid model — Faire for wholesale into retailers, Homegrown for DTC to local customers.
Start your free 7-day trial with Homegrown.
Shopify is the default for established DTC product brands. For soap and candle makers doing significant volume with a real photography budget and the time to invest in theme customization, Shopify is a credible option.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Established soap/candle brands doing $3,000+/mo in DTC sales, with multiple sales channels and shipping operations.
Etsy is the global marketplace most makers know. It charges $0.20 per listing, 6.5% transaction fee, 3% + $0.25 payment processing, and listing renewals every four months. Optional Offsite Ads add 12-15% on top.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Makers whose product line benefits from global discovery — distinctive design, photography-heavy, willing to compete in Etsy's algorithm. Compare with our best platform for selling baked goods online breakdown for the related Etsy-vs-alternatives analysis.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of pricing and features for makers comparing wholesale to DTC channels:
| Feature | Faire | Homegrown | Shopify Basic | Etsy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel type | Wholesale-only | DTC | DTC | DTC marketplace |
| Monthly cost | $0 | $10/mo (annual) or $12.50/mo | $39/mo | $0 |
| Per-sale commission | 25% (new retailer) / 15% (reorder) | 0% | 0% (Shopify Payments) | 6.5% |
| Per-listing fee | None | None | None | $0.20 every 4 months |
| Card processing | Included | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 3% + $0.25 |
| Required apps | None | None | $20-$50/mo typical | None |
| Optional ads | None on platform | None | Off-platform | Offsite Ads 12-15% |
| Customer relationship | You sell to retailer (no end customer) | You own the relationship | You own the relationship | Customer belongs to Etsy |
| Setup time | 1-2 hours | ~15 min | 4-8 hours | 30-60 min |
| Pickup-first workflow | N/A (shipping wholesale) | Yes | Workaround | No |
| Cottage food support | No | Yes | Possible | Limited |
| Best for | Established makers scaling wholesale | Local-first DTC | Established DTC at scale | Global discovery |
The cost picture for a maker doing $1,000 per month in product revenue:
| Platform | Subscription | Commission/fees | Card processing | Total at $1,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faire (new retailer) | $0 | $250 (25%) | (included) | ~$250 |
| Faire (reorders) | $0 | $150 (15%) | (included) | ~$150 |
| Homegrown | $10 | $0 | ~$33 (2.9%+30¢) | ~$43 |
| Shopify Basic | $39 + $20-$50 apps | $0 | ~$33 | ~$92-$122 |
| Etsy | $0 | $65 (6.5%) | ~$25 | ~$90 (more with ads) |
Faire is the most expensive option by a wide margin in pure platform cost terms. The tradeoff is that Faire's commission buys you access to 700,000 retailers — a customer pool you cannot easily reach on your own. Homegrown's $43/mo at $1,000 in DTC revenue is the cheapest option, but you have to bring your own customers (your social channels, your craft fair booths, your word of mouth).
The right choice depends on which channel you actually want to be in. Here is a quick decision guide:
If you want to sell direct to local customers without paying a marketplace cut, Homegrown is the best Faire alternative.
Start your free 7-day trial with Homegrown.
Before you commit to any platform, run through this checklist:
The right platform for a solo maker building a DTC channel costs less than $15 per month all-in, takes no commission on your sales, supports both food and non-food cottage products, and gives you a customer relationship you actually own.
Yes. While Homegrown is best known for cottage food, the platform supports any pickup-friendly product, including soap, candles, lotions, body butters, salves, lip balms, and other non-food cottage products. The product taxonomy includes attributes for non-food makers (cold process, tallow, fragrance-free, etc.) so your listings do not get force-categorized as food.
Faire charges 25 percent commission on the first order from a new retailer and 15 percent on reorders from the same retailer. There is no monthly subscription. On $1,000 per month in wholesale revenue split evenly between new retailers and reorders, total Faire commission lands at $200/mo. The commission is paid out of your margin, not the retailer's price, so the cost compounds quickly as wholesale revenue grows.
Yes, and many makers do exactly this. Faire handles your wholesale relationships with retail boutiques. Homegrown handles your direct-to-customer sales with end users — local craft fair attendees, customers from your social channels, regulars who DM you for restocks. The two channels serve different customer pools and do not conflict.
Probably not directly, because Faire customers are retailers, not end users. The retailer that ordered your soap on Faire is a boutique owner, not the person who buys the soap in their store. To reach end users, you typically need your own social presence, your own customer list, or a presence at local craft fairs and markets. Homegrown gives you the storefront link to point those end users to.
Faire is wholesale, Shopify is DTC. Different channels entirely. The relevant comparison is "Shopify (DTC, $39/mo + apps) vs Homegrown (DTC, $10/mo)." Both are legitimate DTC paths; the difference is cost, setup time, and feature scope. For a solo soap maker selling 50-200 units per month, Homegrown's flat $10 with a 15-minute setup is usually the better fit.
Not currently. Homegrown is built for direct-to-customer transactions. If your business is primarily wholesale to retailers, Faire or your own Shopify B2B portal will fit better. If your business is primarily DTC with occasional wholesale, you can run wholesale separately and use Homegrown for DTC.
Hand them a card with your Homegrown storefront link or a QR code that opens it. They scan it on their phone, browse your product line, place an order, and pay. You schedule pickup at the next craft fair, at a regular weekly pickup spot, or arrange another local pickup point. The whole flow happens without an app download or account creation on the customer side.
Your soap and candle business deserves a direct channel to the people who actually use your products. Homegrown gives independent makers a shareable storefront link, built-in payments, and local pickup scheduling for $10 per month with no marketplace commission. Start your free 7-day trial.
