Sellers & Vendors
Configure how sellers join your marketplace, manage their listings, and receive payments.
Overview
Your marketplace can have multiple sellers (vendors) who list and sell their own products or services. This page covers how to configure the seller experience, from onboarding to payouts.
How to Access
Go to Store Settings → Vendor Settings tab to configure seller options.
Seller Onboarding Flow
When someone wants to sell on your marketplace, they go through this process:
Visit "Become a Seller"
Users click on your marketplace's seller signup page. This page is automatically created and can be customized in your navigation.
Create Account or Sign In
New users create an account with email/password or social login. Existing users sign in with their account.
Stripe Connect Onboarding
Complete Stripe's identity verification and connect a bank account for payouts. This is handled securely by Stripe - you never see sensitive financial data.
Approval (Optional)
If you've enabled manual approval, the seller waits for you to approve their application. Otherwise, they proceed immediately.
Start Selling
The seller accesses their Seller Dashboard to create listings and manage their store.
Vendor Approval Settings
Choose how new vendors are approved to sell on your marketplace:
Auto-Approve
Vendors can start selling immediately after completing Stripe onboarding.
Best for: Open marketplaces, high-volume platforms, or when you want minimal friction.
Manual Review
You review and approve each vendor application before they can create listings.
Best for: Curated marketplaces, quality control, or regulated industries.
Listing Moderation
Control how new listings from sellers are published:
Auto-Publish
Listings go live immediately when sellers publish them. Fastest seller experience.
Manual Review
You approve each listing before it becomes visible to buyers. Better quality control.
Listing Statuses
Seller Dashboard
Once approved, sellers access their dashboard to manage their business:
Manage Listings
Create, edit, duplicate, and delete listings. Set pricing, upload images, manage availability.
View Orders
See incoming orders, update fulfillment status, and communicate with buyers.
Track Earnings
Monitor sales, view commission breakdown, and see pending/completed payouts.
Manage Availability
For bookable listings: set available dates, block off times, manage calendars.
Messages
Respond to buyer inquiries and questions about listings.
Seller Profile
Edit public profile information visible to buyers on listings.
How Sellers Create Listings
Sellers create listings from their dashboard using the form you've configured. The fields they see depend on your Listing Form settings.
Typical Listing Fields
Commission & Payments
When a sale is made, the payment is automatically split between you and the seller:
Example with 15% commission rate. Stripe processing fees are deducted separately.
How Payouts Work
- Automatic splits: Stripe Connect handles the payment split automatically
- Direct deposits: Sellers receive payouts directly to their bank account
- Your earnings: Commission is deposited to your Stripe account
- Payout schedule: Configurable in Stripe (daily, weekly, monthly)
Setting Your Commission Rate
Configure your commission percentage in Store Settings → Payments. You can set different rates for different listing types if needed.
Seller Profiles
Public seller profiles build trust and let buyers browse a seller's listings, reviews, and story. Each seller has a dedicated profile page with a header, bio, and listing grid.
Profile Header
Sellers can fill in their own profile info from the seller dashboard, and you (the owner) control which sections show on the public page.
- Display name: Shown on listings and the public profile page
- Tagline: A short one-liner under the seller name (e.g., "Curator of hand-picked 70s ceramics")
- Bio: Longer description that appears on the seller's public page
- Social links: Optional Instagram, X, website, etc.
- Stats pill row: Rating · reviews · listings · joined date — auto-populated
Ella Vintage
Curator of hand-picked 70s ceramics
About
Finding forgotten ceramic treasures from the 70s and giving them new homes. Each piece is hand-photographed and shipped with care. Based in Copenhagen.
Autosave
Seller settings autosave with per-field Saving / Saved /Unsaved indicators — sellers don't need to hit a save button.
Owner-Controlled Public Sections
As the marketplace owner, you decide which sections appear on every seller's public profile page:
- Bio
- Listings grid
- Reviews
- Social links
Enable Seller Profiles
Turn on seller profiles and the "sold by" line in Product Detail Page settings. Choose which public sections show under Store Settings → Sellers.
Custom Signup & Seller Fields
You can define your own fields on the seller signup form (and on the seller dashboard) to collect any information you need — KYC details, payout info, niche eligibility, internal notes, anything. Each field has three configuration dials that decide where it's captured, who can see it, and whether it gates the seller's ability to publish.
Ask at signup, on first listing, or both. Use it to defer non-blocking questions until later, so signup stays short.
Visible — seller fills it in. Admin-only — only you can edit (sellers can't see or change the value). The server enforces this on every save.
When on, the seller can't publish listings until you mark this field approved. Pair with admin-only for a "vetted by us" workflow.
Common patterns:
- Internal score — admin-only, captured at signup, used to rank or filter sellers in the admin table
- Vetted niche category — admin-only with approval gate, so sellers can't go live until you confirm they fit your marketplace
- Display tagline — visible to seller, captured on first listing, surfaces on their public profile
- VAT / tax ID — visible at signup, required for European stores
Where Fields Apply
The same field definitions power the public seller signup form, the seller's own dashboard, and the Managed Sellers form — configure once, use everywhere.
Buyer & Seller Terminology
The default "Buyer" and "Seller" labels don't fit every marketplace. A coaching marketplace might prefer Athlete and Coach; a rental marketplace might prefer Guest and Host. Set custom labels in Store Settings → Buyer & Seller and they replace the defaults across the public storefront.
Buyer label (singular & plural)
e.g. Athlete / Athletes. Used on the sign-up role selector and any other surface that names buyers.
Seller label (singular & plural)
e.g. Coach / Coaches. Used on the sign-up role selector, listings filter, multi-seller cart shipping line, and the dashboard "Upgrade to Seller" button.
Leave any field blank to keep the default translated label. The override only applies on surfaces where the role label is rendered as plain text — places like email subjects, system pages, and admin tools still use the default terminology.
Managing Sellers as Admin
As the marketplace owner, you can manage all sellers from your admin dashboard:
- View all sellers: See list of all vendors with their status
- Approve/reject applications: Review pending seller requests
- Suspend sellers: Temporarily disable a seller's account
- View seller listings: See all listings from a specific seller
- Moderate listings: Approve, reject, or unpublish listings
"Become a Seller" Button
Buyers can upgrade to seller status using the "Become a Seller" button in the navigation. The button respects your approval settings:
- Auto-approve off: Buyer is immediately upgraded to an active seller
- Manual approval on: Buyer sees a pending state and must wait for admin approval before creating listings
Buyer Management
The Sellers & Buyers tab in Store Settings includes a Buyer Management section where you can search, filter, and manage buyers on your marketplace.
Features
- Search buyers: Find buyers by name or email
- Filter by status: View all, active, or banned buyers
- Stats overview: See total, active, and banned buyer counts at a glance
- Ban/unban buyers: Restrict or restore buyer access with a single click
Buyer Banning
When you ban a buyer, you can select a reason from predefined options (fraudulent activity, repeated chargebacks, abusive behavior, policy violation, spam, or custom reason). The banned buyer:
- Receives an email notification explaining they've been restricted (with the reason if provided)
- Cannot sign in to the marketplace (blocked on all auth methods: password, magic link, social login)
- Can be unbanned at any time, restoring full access
Best Practices
- • Start with manual approval if quality control is important to your brand
- • Write clear seller guidelines and display them on the signup page
- • Set a fair commission rate - too high discourages sellers, too low hurts your revenue
- • Enable seller profiles to build trust with buyers
- • Respond quickly to seller applications to maintain momentum