Faire — research brief (BMC #090 on gallery, queue id 90)

Prepared 2026-10-12 (America/Chicago). Faire is private and has not filed for an IPO. Labels: FACT = stated by Faire (newsroom, Help Center, Terms, About page, Business Wire release); company-reported and unaudited. SECONDARY = press or third parties (WSJ, CNBC, Digital Commerce 360, Sacra, investor posts). INFERENCE = interpretation by this project.

Sources (accessed 2026-10-12)

CEO letter, employee tender at $5.2B (Nov 17, 2025): https://www.faire.com/news/2025-11-17-a-milestone-for-faire
Brand fees, North America: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360015893392
Brand fees, outside North America: https://www.faire.com/en-gb/support/articles/360040446591
Brand Terms of Service (US/CAN): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/18525420655003
Faire Direct commission policy: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360031800672
Returns (brand side): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360015893332
60-day payment terms: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360016658851
How retailers pay (Faire pay test): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/30874207730331
Insider membership (US): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/4406840862747
Promoted Listings: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/34730939021851
About page (100,000 brands, 70,000 cities, 10M connections, offices): https://www.faire.com/about
Five years outside North America (Business Wire, Jun 11, 2026): https://www.faire.com/news/faire-marks-five-years-of-growth-outside-north-america
Series G $400M at $12.4B (Nov 16, 2021): https://www.faire.com/news/2021-11-16-announcing-400-million-in-series-g
CNBC Make It, Mar 19, 2026 (2025 revenue +32%, peak $12.59B valuation May 2022, 1,200 peak headcount, ~20% staff cut): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/19/faire-ceo-growing-too-fast-nearly-sank-company-how-we-fixed-it.html
WSJ, Sep 18, 2026 "Faire Won Over Main Street. Now It Wants to Woo Wall Street." (IPO within 12 months, CFO Jason Lee): https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/exclusive-faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-to-woo-wall-street-524fc733
Co-founder Jeffrey Kolovson post summarizing the WSJ interview ("$730m+ in annualized revenue, growing 45%+, and breakeven exiting the year"): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffreykolovson_faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-activity-7507837700071280642-S-WS
Lightspeed partner Alex Taussig post (ads ~9% of revenue, EBITDA breakeven expected Q4, $4.5B+ yearly merchandise): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ataussig_faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-activity-7507891937216122883-lUTH
Digital Commerce 360, Dec 5, 2025 (tender, consolidated shipping): https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/12/05/b2b-marketplace-faire-reaches-5-2-billion-valuation/
Sacra company profile (estimates; 800K+ retailers, Insider 100,000+ members, POS partners): https://sacra.com/c/faire/
Logo: project monogram ("F" on a charcoal tile), not Faire's official mark. Trademark of its owner; identification only.

Teaching arc

Faire is a wholesale marketplace whose real product is trust and credit: it pays the brand, gives the shop 60 days to pay and a free return on a first order, and charges the brand a 15% commission for finding that shop. After growing too fast on incentives in 2021-22, it cut back, and by 2026 says growth is accelerating again with ads and an IPO on the horizon.

Key figures

No full-year revenue dollar figure has been published. CEO Max Rhodes told CNBC that revenue in 2025 grew 32% over 2024; Faire declined to provide documentation (SECONDARY). Nov 2025: an annualized revenue run rate of more than $500M with over 40% YoY growth in Q3 2025; nearly $3B GMV expected for 2025; GMV growth accelerated eight consecutive quarters; net dollar retention above 110%; ads above 5% of revenue two years after launch (FACT, company letter).
Sep 2026 (WSJ interview with CEO and CFO Jason Lee): annualized revenue run rate above $730M, growing 45%+; breakeven exiting 2026 (co-founder post; Lightspeed post says EBITDA breakeven expected Q4 and ads ~9% of revenue); IPO targeted within 12 months (SECONDARY). Not annualized or converted by this project; the atlas lists Faire under "No full-year figure on canvas".
Valuation: $12.4B at $400M Series G (Nov 2021, FACT); $12.59B post-money after the May 2022 Series G extension (Faire spokesperson to CNBC, SECONDARY); $5.2B employee tender led by WCM with Baillie Gifford and True North (Nov 2025, FACT). Raised about $1B+ in its first five years (CEO to CNBC, SECONDARY); Sacra estimates $1.7B total.
Brand fees (North America, FACT): 15% commission on marketplace opening orders and reorders + one-time $10 new customer fee on the first order from a retailer; payment processing 1.9% + $0.30 (60-day payout), 2.4% + $0.30 (30-day), 3.5% + $0.30 (next day); 0% commission on qualified Faire Direct orders. Outside North America: 25% on a first order (15% + 10% referral fee), 15% reorders, 3% next-day payout fee.
Retailer side (FACT): net 60 terms for approved retailers with a spending limit (Faire covers the upfront cost); free returns on first orders with each brand within 60 days (brand payout not affected; Faire resells some returns in Sale Collections); Insider membership $19.99/month with free shipping on selected brands; Faire pay test with 3% discount; brands set order minimums.
Ads (FACT): Promoted Listings pay-per-click with monthly budget; nearly 12,000 brands used it in US/Canada; launched for brands in Europe in June 2026.
Scale (FACT): 100,000 brands, 70,000 cities, 10M connections (About page); outside North America 100,000+ retailers and 50,000 brands in 30+ countries, 26% of brands ship cross-border, 120+ international brands above $1M on Faire (Jun 2026); Europe growing nearly twice as fast as North America (Nov 2025); nearly 3M new brand-retailer relationships in 2025 and brand reorder rates +15% YoY (CEO letter, Jan 2026). Sacra: 800K+ retailers (SECONDARY).
People: headcount peaked around 1,200 and was cut roughly 20% after Apr 2022 (CEO to CNBC, SECONDARY). No current headcount used. Offices: London, New York, San Francisco, São Paulo, Toronto, Waterloo (FACT).

Not used

Third-party revenue estimates (Sacra $355M 2022 / $616M 2023, Teardown tables), an "Ecommerce Times" article with Bernstein GMV claims that could not be verified, and modeled take-rate figures.
No full-year revenue was computed from run rates; no current headcount or retailer count from Faire beyond the statements above.

# Faire — research brief (BMC #090 on gallery, queue id 90) Prepared 2026-10-12 (America/Chicago). Faire is **private** and has not filed for an IPO. Labels: **FACT** = stated by Faire (newsroom, Help Center, Terms, About page, Business Wire release); company-reported and unaudited. **SECONDARY** = press or third parties (WSJ, CNBC, Digital Commerce 360, Sacra, investor posts). **INFERENCE** = interpretation by this project. ## Sources (accessed 2026-10-12) - CEO letter, employee tender at $5.2B (Nov 17, 2025): https://www.faire.com/news/2025-11-17-a-milestone-for-faire - Brand fees, North America: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360015893392 - Brand fees, outside North America: https://www.faire.com/en-gb/support/articles/360040446591 - Brand Terms of Service (US/CAN): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/18525420655003 - Faire Direct commission policy: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360031800672 - Returns (brand side): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360015893332 - 60-day payment terms: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/360016658851 - How retailers pay (Faire pay test): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/30874207730331 - Insider membership (US): https://www.faire.com/support/articles/4406840862747 - Promoted Listings: https://www.faire.com/support/articles/34730939021851 - About page (100,000 brands, 70,000 cities, 10M connections, offices): https://www.faire.com/about - Five years outside North America (Business Wire, Jun 11, 2026): https://www.faire.com/news/faire-marks-five-years-of-growth-outside-north-america - Series G $400M at $12.4B (Nov 16, 2021): https://www.faire.com/news/2021-11-16-announcing-400-million-in-series-g - CNBC Make It, Mar 19, 2026 (2025 revenue +32%, peak $12.59B valuation May 2022, 1,200 peak headcount, ~20% staff cut): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/19/faire-ceo-growing-too-fast-nearly-sank-company-how-we-fixed-it.html - WSJ, Sep 18, 2026 "Faire Won Over Main Street. Now It Wants to Woo Wall Street." (IPO within 12 months, CFO Jason Lee): https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/exclusive-faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-to-woo-wall-street-524fc733 - Co-founder Jeffrey Kolovson post summarizing the WSJ interview ("$730m+ in annualized revenue, growing 45%+, and breakeven exiting the year"): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffreykolovson_faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-activity-7507837700071280642-S-WS - Lightspeed partner Alex Taussig post (ads ~9% of revenue, EBITDA breakeven expected Q4, $4.5B+ yearly merchandise): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ataussig_faire-won-over-main-street-now-it-wants-activity-7507891937216122883-lUTH - Digital Commerce 360, Dec 5, 2025 (tender, consolidated shipping): https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/12/05/b2b-marketplace-faire-reaches-5-2-billion-valuation/ - Sacra company profile (estimates; 800K+ retailers, Insider 100,000+ members, POS partners): https://sacra.com/c/faire/ - Logo: project monogram ("F" on a charcoal tile), **not** Faire's official mark. Trademark of its owner; identification only. ## Teaching arc **Faire is a wholesale marketplace whose real product is trust and credit: it pays the brand, gives the shop 60 days to pay and a free return on a first order, and charges the brand a 15% commission for finding that shop. After growing too fast on incentives in 2021-22, it cut back, and by 2026 says growth is accelerating again with ads and an IPO on the horizon.** ## Key figures - **No full-year revenue dollar figure has been published.** CEO Max Rhodes told CNBC that revenue in 2025 grew 32% over 2024; Faire declined to provide documentation (SECONDARY). Nov 2025: an annualized revenue run rate of more than $500M with over 40% YoY growth in Q3 2025; nearly $3B GMV expected for 2025; GMV growth accelerated eight consecutive quarters; net dollar retention above 110%; ads above 5% of revenue two years after launch (FACT, company letter). - Sep 2026 (WSJ interview with CEO and CFO Jason Lee): annualized revenue run rate above $730M, growing 45%+; breakeven exiting 2026 (co-founder post; Lightspeed post says EBITDA breakeven expected Q4 and ads ~9% of revenue); IPO targeted within 12 months (SECONDARY). Not annualized or converted by this project; the atlas lists Faire under "No full-year figure on canvas". - Valuation: $12.4B at $400M Series G (Nov 2021, FACT); $12.59B post-money after the May 2022 Series G extension (Faire spokesperson to CNBC, SECONDARY); $5.2B employee tender led by WCM with Baillie Gifford and True North (Nov 2025, FACT). Raised about $1B+ in its first five years (CEO to CNBC, SECONDARY); Sacra estimates $1.7B total. - Brand fees (North America, FACT): 15% commission on marketplace opening orders and reorders + one-time $10 new customer fee on the first order from a retailer; payment processing 1.9% + $0.30 (60-day payout), 2.4% + $0.30 (30-day), 3.5% + $0.30 (next day); 0% commission on qualified Faire Direct orders. Outside North America: 25% on a first order (15% + 10% referral fee), 15% reorders, 3% next-day payout fee. - Retailer side (FACT): net 60 terms for approved retailers with a spending limit (Faire covers the upfront cost); free returns on first orders with each brand within 60 days (brand payout not affected; Faire resells some returns in Sale Collections); Insider membership $19.99/month with free shipping on selected brands; Faire pay test with 3% discount; brands set order minimums. - Ads (FACT): Promoted Listings pay-per-click with monthly budget; nearly 12,000 brands used it in US/Canada; launched for brands in Europe in June 2026. - Scale (FACT): 100,000 brands, 70,000 cities, 10M connections (About page); outside North America 100,000+ retailers and 50,000 brands in 30+ countries, 26% of brands ship cross-border, 120+ international brands above $1M on Faire (Jun 2026); Europe growing nearly twice as fast as North America (Nov 2025); nearly 3M new brand-retailer relationships in 2025 and brand reorder rates +15% YoY (CEO letter, Jan 2026). Sacra: 800K+ retailers (SECONDARY). - People: headcount peaked around 1,200 and was cut roughly 20% after Apr 2022 (CEO to CNBC, SECONDARY). No current headcount used. Offices: London, New York, San Francisco, São Paulo, Toronto, Waterloo (FACT). ## Not used - Third-party revenue estimates (Sacra $355M 2022 / $616M 2023, Teardown tables), an "Ecommerce Times" article with Bernstein GMV claims that could not be verified, and modeled take-rate figures. - No full-year revenue was computed from run rates; no current headcount or retailer count from Faire beyond the statements above.