Become a Vendor

Why Sell on Queer Trans Marketplace? 

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We think there are a multitude of reasons for small business owners to sell their goods with Queer Trans Marketplace, rather than using other platforms or going it alone. We’ll highlight the biggest reasons below: 

• Join a community dedicated to supporting queer-owned small businesses – people who shop on Queer Trans Marketplace are here because they want to support queer small business owners. Here, you can make and sell your goods with pride! 

• Support the community – Queer Trans Marketplace proudly donates 10% of our platform’s profits directly to LGBTQ+ people who need it – whether that’s for moving to a safer location, funding transition-related care, or other grants for members of the community in need. Vendors are invited to donate a portion of their profits as they see fit as well, though this is not required.

• No listing or membership fees – you don’t pay unless you get paid. Period. 

• Vendors take home a higher cut on Queer Trans Marketplace – Platforms like Etsy and Amazon Handmade nickel and dime vendors by taking commissions ranging from 6.5% – 15% of each sale, credit card fees, membership fees, and listing fees. We charge a flat fee of 5% to keep our operations running, and vendors pay 2.9% + $0.30 to Stripe for credit card processing.  
  • No minimum threshold for withdrawals – Unlike other platforms that make you accumulate $50-$100 before withdrawing, we don’t set a withdrawal limit. This is to allow smaller vendors to shorten their cash flow cycle and build up their businesses. However, you can only withdraw payments from orders that have been completed for at least 14 days. This is to ensure that any disputes or refund requests can be settled before withdrawals are made. 

• Marketing on behalf of vendors – Despite charging lower fees than other platforms, we’re more invested in your success! Our mission is to help queer small business owners build thriving businesses, so we work hard to drive traffic to your shops through social media and other marketing. 

• Free learning and development for vendors – Again, we are invested in your success. Queer Trans Marketplace regularly publishes free resources for vendors so you can learn how to grow your small business. 

Unlike other platforms, we don’t exist to help line the pockets of some billionaire. We dream of building a community of thriving queer-owned small businesses that employ other queer people and bring prosperity and economic security to their communities. We seek to build a future where queer people everywhere will be free of discrimination and economic hardship simply for being who they are. Join us, and let’s build something truly amazing. 

Ready to start selling with Queer Trans Marketplace? Check out our Vendor Setup Guide below. 

Queer Trans Marketplace Vendor Setup Guide 

The following guide contains all necessary steps to begin selling on Queer Trans Marketplace. Please follow all steps to set up your account. Please note that we are currently only set up for vendors in the United States – more countries coming soon! 

By following the below steps and registering as a vendor, you agree to our Vendor Terms of Service and agree to follow all Queer Trans Marketplace Rules.

Jump to: 

Create a Vendor Account

Setting Up Your Store

Setting Up Stripe (Payment Processor)

Setting Up Shipping

Adding a Product 

Other Guidance 

Create a Vendor Account 

1. Visit https://queertransmarketplace.com/ and click the Log in/Register button in the top right corner. 

2. Select Register 

3. Select the I am a vendor option and fill in the following fields: 

1. Email, password, First Name, Last name 

2. Shop Name: The name of your store. This will display on your store page and on your products.  

3. Shop url: A customizable url for your store. We recommend making this your Store/business name, and the registration form will auto-fill with your Store/business name, The custom url string entered here will be added onto this base url: https://queertransmarketplace.com/store/. For example, if your Shop is called Super Cool Shoes, the form will autofill super-cool-shoes. This will make the address for your store https://queertransmarketplace.com/store/super-cool-shoes. Note: you cannot have spaces in your url. 

4. Phone number: The phone number you use for your business (this can be your own phone number) 

5. Note: Your email and phone number are not displayed to customers – these are used for verification and communication from Queer Trans Marketplace, and are never shared by Queer Trans Marketplace. 

4. Log into your account 

Vendor Setup Wizard 

After your first login, you will be prompted to use the Vendor Setup Wizard. This is a quick way to set up your vendor account. Simply click the “Let’s Go!” button and the wizard will walk you through the basics of account creation.    

Using the Vendor Setup Wizard will allow you to skip to Setting Up Shipping below.  

Setting Up Your Store 

After logging in, hover over My Account (the person icon) in the top right corner of your screen and click Dashboard. From here, you can set up your shop and add products. 

1. To set up your store, hover over Settings on the menu on the left side of the screen and click Store 

2. Most content on the store page is optional, but you must add your country and state. This is not displayed on the front end of your store, but is used for shipping. 

1. Adding a banner, profile photo, and biography is recommended to improve your store’s appearance and increase customer interest. 

2. Unless your store also has a physical location you would like to bring traffic to, adding your Store Schedule is not recommended. 

Setting up Stripe (Payment Processor)

Queer Trans Marketplace uses Stripe, a third-party payment processor. Stripe processes millions of secure financial transactions annually. This makes them much better equipped than a small website like Queer Trans Marketplace to securely store and protect your financial information, as well as customer credit cards. Stripe will also send you tax information on your earnings each year to help you with accurate record-keeping. 

To begin accepting orders from customers, you must create a Stripe account and add your bank info. If you already connected a Stripe account with the setup Wizard, you can skip this step. Otherwise, please follow the steps below to connect Stripe.  

1. Log into your Queer Trans Marketplace vendor account.  

2. Hover over the My Account icon in the top right corner, then click “Dashboard” 

3. From the Vendor Dashboard, click Settings -> Payment 

4. Hover over “Add Payment Method,” then click “Direct to Stripe” 

5. A new page will load. Click the “Connect with Stripe” button. 

6. You will be redirected to Stripe. Follow the onboarding instructions on Stripe to create your account.  

7. During onboarding, Stripe will prompt you to connect to your financial institution for payouts  

Notes on optional settings during Stripe Onboarding:  

1. Setting up Two-Factor Authentication for Stripe is strongly recommended. Queer Trans Marketplace does not store any personal vendor information – this is stored through Stripe due to their advanced security capabilities. Setting up Two-Factor Authentication helps keep your information safe.
2. Connecting your bank account with Link is optional and not recommended unless you use this account with numerous other platforms. 
3. Allowing Stripe to calculate and collect sales tax on your behalf is recommended – this will make it so you do not need to manually calculate taxes on products, and Stripe will prepare reports to help you with filing taxes each year.  

After setting up Stripe, return to your Queer Trans Marketplace vendor page. Add a product to your cart, and navigate to checkout. You should see a checkout page and a checkout form. Do not make an actual purchase – if you see this form, you have successfully completed setup. 

(The text above about Test Mode being enabled will not appear, but the rest of the form will). 

Setting up Shipping

If you have physical products that you plan to ship, you must set up shipping before adding products. This will allow you to collect a shipping fee at checkout to help cover your shipping costs. 

As a default, no shipping rates are set. This is so that vendors can set their own shipping rates based on the products you sell, the shipping service you use, and how much it will cost you to ship.  

Important: If you do not set the shipping method for your shop, customers will be unable to buy your products – when they go to checkout, they will see “No shipping options available for your area” 

1. On the menu on the left side of the vendor dashboard, hover over settings and click Shipping. From the shipping screen, click this button to switch to Zone shipping (this is a must to enable shipping properly)

2. A new page loads. Under Zone Name, hover under United States and click Edit. 

3. Click the “Add Shipping Method” button. A popup will appear. Select “Flat Rate” from the dropdown and click “Add Shipping Method.” 

4. The popup will close, and Flat Rate will appear under the Shipping Method list. Hover under Flat Rate and click Edit. 

5. A new popup will appear. Scroll Down to the “Shipping Class Cost.” (You can leave the top section blank). Here, you can set costs for the following default shipping classes: Bubble Mailer, Small, Medium, and Large. Fill in costs for each option based on the shipping you want to charge. 

6. At the bottom of this popup, you will see a dropdown under “Calculation Type.” We strongly recommend setting this to “Per Order: Charge Shipping for the Most Expensive Shipping Class.” This option will let customers buying multiple items from your store pay one shipping fee, rather than paying for each individual item (and therefore being discouraged to buy more things from you) 

1. For advanced options, you may use the formulas under the dialogue box. For example, if you want to charge a separate shipping fee per item shipped, you can write in (Cost) * [qty]. I recommend starting with a flat rate and changing these settings later. 

2. Remember that you are competing with websites like Amazon who often charge free shipping – if you nickel and dime customers with high shipping costs, they may choose not to buy.  

3. After filling in each option, click Save Settings. 

7. Go back to Settings -> Shipping and repeat for Locations not covered by your other zones. This option is used for international shipping, so you may wish to set higher rates here. 

7. You can now choose your shipping class during product creation (below) to select the product size and charge shipping. 

Adding a Product 

1. On the menu on the left side of the Vendor Dashboard, click Products 

2. A new page loads. Click the Add New Product button. 

3. Fill in the following product info fields: 

1. Name: A straightforward but unique and descriptive name (for example, rather than just “Soap,” try “Handmade Lavender Bar Soap” 

2. Product Type: We recommend selecting Simple for the product type of your first product. 

3. Product Cover Image: this image will display when people view your product through the search bar, browse function, or your store. Adding a product cover image is strongly recommended to increase customer interest and generate sales. We also recommend adding a short description of your image under “Alt Text” when uploading an image to your Media Library. This ensures that users with a screen reader will be able to get a description of your image.  

4. Category: The category and subcategory for your product (Such as Personal Care -> Soap). You may select from the pre-set categories in the list. 

5. Price: The regular price for your product. The calculator above this box will show your earnings before Stripe’s credit card processing fee for the price you have set. 

6. Discounted Price: We recommend leaving this blank for your first product. This function can be used to run a sale on your product (See “Running a Sale” below for more on this) 

7. Tags: Tags will help users find your product in the search bar. You can pick already-created tags from the dropdown, or add your own tags by typing them in and clicking them to add. We recommend short, descriptive tags such as “Soap,” “Bar Soap,” and “Lavender Soap.” 

8. Brands: Leave Blank 

9. Short Description: A short description for your product. For example: “Lavender-scented bar soap. This body soap will leave you feeling relaxed and clean!” 

10. Description: A longer description for your product. Use this section to tell customers why your product is unique and worth buying.  

11. SKU: a unique identifier for your product. Use dashes between words (like lavender-bar-soap) 

12. Stock Status: In stock (you may return to mark out of stock if you run out) 

1. Click the “enable product stock management” checkbox if you would like to sell a limited supply of an item. This enables you to enter your current stock, set a low stock threshold, and enable or disable backorders. If you choose not to check this box, your product will show In Stock until you mark it Out of Stock. 

13. Shipping and Tax: If you are selling a physical product that you need to ship, you can collect shipping at checkout. You must set up your shipping rates using the steps under Setting up Shipping to sell a physical product. 

1. Set your shipping class (Small, medium, etc) based on the product you are selling and how much you need to collect for shipping. 

2. We recommend leaving “Taxable” and “Standard” under the tax class. 

14. Linked Products: Optional. You can add Upsells for products you would prefer customers to buy (such as a larger size) or Cross-sells, which are promoted in a customer’s cart after the add this product. Leave these blank if you do not have related products to sell. 

15. Attribute: Leave blank unless selling Variable products.  

16. Other Options (Optional) 

1. Product Status: Option to put the product online, or save as a draft. The product will only be visible if the status is set to “Online.” 

2. Visibility: controls the visibility for the product. “Visible” is recommended. 

3. Purchase Note: You can add a purchase note if you would like to add custom info to the order email. 

4. Enable Product Reviews: we recommend leaving this box checked. Positive reviews add credibility for your products and encourage future sales. 

17. Frequently Bought Together: Optional. You can use this section to advertise other products you sell customers might be interested in when viewing this product. You can search for your other products by name or SKU, then select them to add them here. You can also add a discount if customers buy multiple items (for example, a $5 discount if customers by both my Lavender Soap Bar and my Lemon Soap Bar) 

Congratulations! You are ready to sell your products on Queer Trans Marketplace! Invite your friends to visit your store! 

Other Guidance 

The below guides are not necessary to begin selling on Queer Trans Marketplace, but contain helpful information! 

Creating a Sale 

1. To run a sale on a product, select “Products” from the Vendor Dashboard. 

2. Hover on the name of the product you want to put on sale, then select Edit 

3. Under discounted price, write the price you want to sell for during the sale (for example, if I write in $8.00, customers can buy my product for $8.00) 

4. Click Schedule and fill in the dates in the From and To boxes to set your sale dates. 

5. When customers search for your product, the sale will display in the search and the product page. Use sales to attract new customers to your store!  

Withdrawing Your Earnings

You can withdraw your earnings by going to Vendor Dashboard -> Withdraw. There is no minimum threshold for withdrawals, but you can only withdraw payments from orders that have been completed for at least 14 days. This is to ensure that any disputes or refund requests can be settled before withdrawals are made.