What Is a Marketplace Seller, in Plain Words
A seller is a merchant who lists and sells products on a marketplace: Wildberries, Ozon, or Yandex Market. A seller can be a sole proprietor, a limited company, or self-employed: they open a seller account, upload product cards, ship goods to the platform's warehouse or fulfill from their own, and receive payouts minus commission.
In short: a seller is whoever sells on a marketplace in their own name and is responsible for the product, price, stock, and card content.
How a Seller Differs from a Supplier, a Buyer, and a Brand
- Seller — sells to the end customer through the marketplace and runs a seller account (WB Seller, Ozon Seller).
- Supplier — produces or supplies goods to the seller; may not trade on the platform at all.
- Buyer — purchases goods (often wholesale or abroad) for resale.
- Brand — owns the trademark; may sell as a seller itself or go through distributors.
One person can combine roles: source from a supplier and sell under their own brand.
What a Seller's Job Involves
- registering and running the seller account;
- product cards: photos, infographics, description, attributes (SEO);
- managing price, stock, and inbound shipments;
- advertising and card promotion;
- working with reviews and rating;
- sales analytics and unit economics.
Some of this can be outsourced — for example, account management or card promotion.
Seller Fulfillment Models: FBO, FBS, DBS
- FBO — stock sits in the marketplace's warehouse; the platform picks and delivers.
- FBS — stock sits in the seller's warehouse; the marketplace delivers after the order.
- DBS — the seller delivers to the customer directly.
More in the FBO vs FBS guide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
"Who is a WB seller?" A merchant on Wildberries who trades through the WB Seller account: uploads product cards, manages prices and stock, and receives payouts from the platform minus commission.
"How does a seller differ from a regular merchant?" A seller is the same merchant — the term has simply stuck to those who trade on marketplaces. Unlike offline retail, the storefront, payments, and often logistics sit on the platform's side.
"How much does a marketplace seller earn?" Earnings depend on the niche, turnover, margin, and ad spend share — not on the fact of registration. The correct approach is unit economics per SKU: price minus cost, commission, logistics, advertising, and taxes.
"What is a seller account?" The merchant's working dashboard: WB Seller on Wildberries, Ozon Seller on Ozon, the seller dashboard on Yandex Market. It is where you manage cards, shipments, advertising, and finances.
"Who are marketplace sellers, in plain words?" Sellers are merchants who list their products on a platform and are responsible for the range, price, card, and stock, while the marketplace handles logistics and payments. Put simply: a shop without a storefront or checkout — the storefront and checkout belong to the platform, the product and decisions are yours.
"What is a Wildberries seller?" The same merchant, just inside the WB Seller account: creates cards, ships stock to the platform's warehouses or fulfills from their own, and keeps an eye on buyout rate and rating. The onboarding steps are in the guide how to sell on Wildberries.
