---
title: "Multi-Vendor Marketplace Platform & Payouts | Commerce Engine"
description: "Launch a multi-vendor marketplace: every seller gets its own store, shoppers check out once across sellers, and payouts settle automatically on your terms."
canonical_url: "https://www.commercengine.io/solutions/marketplace"
---

> Commerce Engine site index: https://www.commercengine.io/llms.txt

# Commerce Engine for multi-vendor marketplaces

Give every seller a complete store of its own, let shoppers buy from all of them in one checkout, and pay every seller automatically, on their own terms. More than ₹250 crore has gone through Davai, our own B2B marketplace, where Commerce Engine began.

## Seller onboarding and KYC

Decide what every seller must hand over. Sellers apply from their own store, their details are checked as they go, and nobody sells until you approve them.

- **Your document checklist**: GST, PAN and any document you name, such as a drug license, each marked required or optional.
- **Checked as they apply**: Business details are fetched from the GSTIN, and payout bank accounts are verified by penny drop.
- **No paperwork**: Sellers upload documents from their own store, and you review them in yours.
- **Your call**: Approve or reject each document and each seller, with a note. A seller goes live only once you've approved every required document.

**Docs:** [Marketplace config API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/marketplace/retrieve-marketplace-config)

**See also:** [Verify trade buyers on B2B](https://www.commercengine.io/solutions/b2b.md)

## Seller stores

Every seller gets a complete store, not just a vendor login. Sellers run their whole business on your marketplace from a store of their own, and keep selling the same products on their website, app, shop counters and other marketplaces.

- **A full store**: Catalog, stock, orders, shipments and staff, all the seller's own.
- **Sell everywhere**: The same listings on the seller's website, app, counters and your marketplace.
- **Many marketplaces**: A seller can join more than one marketplace built on Commerce Engine from the same store.
- **Your standards**: Set required attributes per category, and publish each listing.

**Docs:** [Marketplace listings API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/catalog/create-or-update-marketplace-listing)

**See also:** [Catalog & Inventory](https://www.commercengine.io/features/catalog.md)

## Real-time inventory sync

Sellers choose which warehouses serve your marketplace. A sale anywhere they sell reaches your stock the moment it happens, so nobody buys what's already gone.

- **Sellers choose**: Which warehouses serve your marketplace, one by one.
- **Synced as it moves**: Every stock change reaches you as it happens, per warehouse and down to the batch.
- **No overselling**: Listings need tracked stock, with backorders off.
- **Checked at the cart**: Each item is checked against live stock as it goes in.

**Docs:** [Marketplace inventory API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/marketplace-catalog/retrieve-product-inventory)

**See also:** [Batch and expiry tracking on Catalog & Inventory](https://www.commercengine.io/features/catalog.md)

## Multi-vendor checkout

Shoppers fill one cart from every seller they like and pay once. Each item is checked with its seller as it goes in, and once the order is placed, every seller gets just its own share to fulfill.

- **One checkout**: One cart and one payment, across every seller. The customer pays you.
- **Checked live**: Stock, and each seller's delivery options, item by item.
- **Split on order**: Each seller's store receives only its own items.
- **Fair shipping**: Shipping charges are shared out between the sellers' orders.

**Docs:** [Seller order webhook](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/marketplace/seller-order-created)

**See also:** [Take one payment with Hosted Checkout](https://www.commercengine.io/features/payments.md)

## Marketplace fulfillment

Keep sellers' stock in your own warehouses and ship it yourself, or let sellers ship from theirs. One order can mix the two, and every parcel arrives with its own tracking.

- **Fulfilled by you**: Keep sellers' stock in your warehouses and ship it.
- **Fulfilled by them**: Sellers ship from their own warehouses and track it in their store.
- **Mixed orders**: Checkout splits one order into shipments by where the stock is.
- **Tracked apart**: Each parcel has its own courier, rate and tracking.

**Docs:** [Seller shipment webhook](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/marketplace/seller-shipment-created)

**See also:** [Rates, packing and couriers on Shipping](https://www.commercengine.io/features/shipping.md)

## Seller payouts

Set each seller's terms once. Payouts are worked out, batched and paid on schedule, and you and your sellers see the same record of what's paid and what's still due.

- **Per-seller terms**: Commission as a percentage, a fixed amount per order or both, plus TCS and TDS rates, a hold period and a minimum payout.
- **Tax withheld**: On every seller invoice, commission is taken on the invoice total, TCS on the taxable value plus shipping, and TDS on the total.
- **Your schedule**: A hold period per seller, from T+1 to your return window. When it ends, eligible invoices are batched for payout.
- **Paid out**: Automatically by IMPS or NEFT from your ICICI business account to the seller's verified bank account, or settle outside the platform and record each payment with its UTR.

**Docs:** [Seller payout API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/payouts/list-seller-payout-config)

**See also:** [Collect every payment first, on Payments](https://www.commercengine.io/features/payments.md)

## Also included

- **Private sellers**: Show a wholesaler's catalog only to the buyers you approve, one account at a time. See [B2B commerce](https://www.commercengine.io/solutions/b2b.md).
- **Verified trade buyers**: Ask buyers for GST, PAN or a drug license before they order, and approve them in one place. See [B2B commerce](https://www.commercengine.io/solutions/b2b.md).
- **Invoices in the seller's name**: Every shipment gets a GST invoice in its seller's own number series, with e-invoicing fields. See the [invoice webhook](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/invoices/invoice-created).
- **Cancel one seller's part**: Cancel and refund a single seller's shipment while the rest of the order carries on. See the [refund webhook](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/marketplace/seller-shipment-cancelled-and-refunded).
- **Payout controls**: Hold a disputed payout, pay a seller early, or add a credit or debit to the next batch. See the [payouts API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/payouts/list-seller-payout-config).
- **Loyalty per seller**: Run a loyalty program on one seller's products, or across the whole marketplace. See [Customers & Loyalty](https://www.commercengine.io/features/customers-and-loyalty.md).

## Webhooks and APIs

Signed webhooks follow each part of an order from your marketplace to the seller's store: seller orders, seller shipments, listings and invoices. Listings, marketplace stock and payouts each have an Admin API.

**Webhook events**

- `seller.order.created`: A seller's part of an order.
- `seller.shipment.created`: A shipment for the seller to send.
- `product.marketplace-listing.listed`: A seller listed a product.
- `invoice.created`: An invoice in the seller's name.

**Marketplace endpoints (Admin API)**

- `POST /catalog/marketplace-listings`
- `POST /catalog/marketplace-listings/{marketplace_id}/list`
- `GET /catalog/marketplace/products`
- `POST /catalog/marketplace/products/publish`
- `GET /catalog/marketplace/products/{id}/inventory`
- `GET /orders/payouts/config`
- `GET /orders/payouts/invoices/batches`
- `GET /orders/payouts/metrics/stats`

**Docs:** [Webhooks overview](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/overview) · [Marketplace catalog API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/marketplace-catalog/list-all-products) · [Payouts API](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/admin/api-reference/payouts/list-seller-payout-config)

## FAQ

### What kind of marketplace can I build on Commerce Engine?

A multi-vendor marketplace you own and run. Sellers join, list their products and fulfill their own orders, while you set the rules and take your commission. It suits consumer marketplaces and B2B ones, where you can verify trade buyers and show some sellers only to approved accounts.

### Does every seller get its own store?

Yes. Each seller runs a complete Commerce Engine store, with its own catalog, stock, orders, shipments and staff, and connects it to your marketplace. The same store keeps selling on the seller's own website, app and counters, and can join other marketplaces built on Commerce Engine.

### How do sellers join, and what do they need to submit?

Sellers apply from their own store. You choose the documents they must send, such as GST, PAN or any document you name, and mark each one required or optional. GSTIN details are fetched automatically, payout bank accounts are verified by penny drop, and a seller goes live only once you've approved every required document.

### How does stock stay in sync?

Sellers choose which of their warehouses serve your marketplace. Every stock change in those warehouses reaches you as it happens, per warehouse and down to the batch, and each item is checked against that stock as it goes into a cart. Listings need tracked stock with backorders off, so nobody can buy what isn't there.

### What happens when one order has products from several sellers?

The customer pays once, to you. The order is then split by seller: each seller's store receives only its own items, with shipping shared out between them. You can cancel and refund one seller's part while the rest of the order carries on.

### Can we ship orders ourselves instead of the seller?

Yes. Keep a seller's stock in your own warehouses and ship it yourself, let the seller ship from theirs, or do both in the same order. Checkout splits the order into shipments by where the stock is, and each parcel gets its own courier, rate and tracking.

### How are seller payouts worked out?

You set each seller's terms: commission as a percentage, a fixed amount per order or both, TCS and TDS rates, a hold period and a minimum payout. On every seller invoice, commission is taken on the invoice total, TCS on the taxable value plus shipping, and TDS on the total. When the hold period ends, eligible invoices are batched for payout.

### How, and how often, are sellers paid?

Automatically, by IMPS or NEFT from your ICICI business account to the seller's verified bank account. You can also settle outside the platform and record each payment with its UTR. Timing follows each seller's hold period: one day pays a seller T+1, while seven days waits out a return window. You can hold a payout, pay one early, or add a credit or debit to the next batch.

### What can developers build on?

Listings and their sync, marketplace inventory, seller orders and shipments, seller invoices and payouts all have Admin APIs. Signed webhooks cover seller orders, seller shipments, listings and invoices, so your systems can follow each seller's order from the moment it's placed.

## Related

- [Payments](https://www.commercengine.io/features/payments.md): Collect every payment before it is shared out.
- [Shipping](https://www.commercengine.io/features/shipping.md): Rates, packing and couriers for every parcel.
- [Catalog & Inventory](https://www.commercengine.io/features/catalog.md): One stock on every channel, down to the batch.
- [B2B commerce](https://www.commercengine.io/solutions/b2b.md): Trade buyers, customer-group pricing and credit.
- [All features](https://www.commercengine.io/features.md)

## Get started

- [Book a demo](https://app.youform.com/forms/qqvhuspq): We'll set up your marketplace with you, from seller KYC to payout terms, and bring your first sellers on board together.
- [Read the webhooks overview](https://www.commercengine.io/docs/api-reference/webhooks/overview)
- [Start building free](https://app.commercengine.io/signup) on the Free plan