Can Makers Contact Stockists Outside of Faire’s Platform?
Updated March, 2026
It's so exciting to get an order from a new stockist. But the thing that is most satisfying and ultimately transformative to your business is to have long-term relationships with stockists that order from you repeatedly over the span of years.
Those relationships -- as in, you both know each other's full names and are excited to tell each other's story -- are the true foundation of your wholesale success. Faire may not be around forever… and when it does close or change, your stability rests in the real connections you have with your stockists.
Our most successful makers look at Faire as one piece of their wholesale strategy -- not as their end-to-end approach. They know that they need to connect with stockists who buy from them on Faire, for instance:
Following through with stores who have expressed interest in ordering, and making sure that order comes through.
Checking in immediately after the order arrives to make sure it arrived well and ask whether the stockist needs anything.
Sharing updates, news, and new products with current stockists.
Following up periodically with stockists who haven’t ordered in a while.
But underlying all of this is a question we hear constantly: Can I contact my stockists outside of Faire?
Contacting Retailers Outside of Faire
Our review of Faire's Terms of Service, their published articles, a detailed study of available third-party articles, as well as correspondence with their staff, allows us to reassure you:
Makers absolutely can contact their stockists outside of Faire's platform.
To be clear: you cannot move stockists who found you on Faire off the platform to save on commission — that's explicitly against their terms of service, and rightly so. But Faire doesn't prohibit makers and retailers from connecting, communicating, and corresponding outside of their platform.
Think of Faire as the introduction, not the entire relationship. The stores that become your best long-term stockists will likely be ones where you've made a real connection -- where they know your brand, you know their shop, and you're in regular contact across seasons.
Build a Record That's Yours
When a retailer orders through Faire, what you get is a relay email -- a Faire-generated address that routes messages through their system. It works for in-platform communication, but it keeps the relationship tethered to Faire.
Finding their actual email is usually not hard once you start looking. Start with their website, check Instagram, or simply ask in your Faire message: "Would it be okay if I followed up by email directly? I'd love to stay in touch." Most store owners are happy to share it. Once you have a real email address, add it to your records -- this is how you start building a picture of the relationship that exists independently of Faire.
From there, collect the identity, contact information, and order history for every stockist who buys from you -- regardless of where that order came from. If Faire is the only place you're tracking relationships, you'll eventually run into problems, because Faire only shows you what happened on Faire. It doesn't know about the stockist who found you at a craft fair, the store you've been emailing directly for two years, or the account that came in through your own website.
What you actually need from your records is pretty simple: who your stockists are, when they last ordered, what you know about their shop, and when you're planning to follow up next. A well-maintained spreadsheet works fine when you're starting out. If you want something more robust, tools like HubSpot, Zoho, and Airtable each have their strengths. One newer option worth a look is Overjoy AI, a wholesale-specific CRM that integrates directly with both Faire and Shopify -- it's on the pricier side, but for brands that are already fairly established in wholesale, it can bring outreach, follow-ups, and stockist records into one place. For earlier-stage makers, a simpler and cheaper tool will do the job just fine. In Wholesale In a Box, we walk you through a comprehensive system for this, but even a simple system is better than nothing.
The main thing is that your retailer records live somewhere you own and control -- not just inside a platform that could change its terms or go away.
Stay in Close Communication
The most sustainable approach we've seen is a simple quarterly check-in -- four times a year, you're touching base with your active accounts. That's enough to stay present without becoming noise. There are a few ways to make this work depending on how many accounts you have and how much time you can realistically give it.
A quarterly wholesale newsletter can work well, if you’re thoughtful about the content. Try to make it as personal and interesting as possible. It’s fine to sell in the newsletter, but make sure there are plenty of the juicy behind-the-scenes and other storytelling elements that will make store owners want to read.
A once-per-quarter personal sweep is more hands-on: you go through your active accounts one by one and send a short individual email to each. This takes more time but lands differently than a group email. Even just a line or two that's specific to their shop -- referencing something you noticed on their Instagram, or following up on something they mentioned last time -- makes a real impression.
The chain-link method is also one-by-one, but built into your workflow. When you complete a task for a stockist (starting with that first order check-in), you immediately schedule the next one -- deciding what they'll need next, the ideal timing, and getting it on your calendar. Complete that task, and add the next one. It's a rhythm that builds on itself without requiring you to set aside a dedicated block of time.
You can mix and match any of these approaches, but the goal is at least one touchpoint per quarter. It's a good idea to have a template or two to work from so you're not starting from scratch each time -- but always leave room for a personal detail.
And don't underestimate the physical stuff. A postcard with a new collection announcement, a small sample tucked into a reorder, a handwritten note at the holidays -- none of this needs to be elaborate or expensive to be effective.
Use Faire's Tools, Too
While off-platform communication is where the deepest relationships get built, Faire does offer tools that are worth using alongside your direct outreach.
Faire Messenger is your in-platform inbox. Faire counts your responsiveness as part of their visibility algorithm, so replying within 2 business days matters -- both for your standing on the platform and because retailers who get a fast reply are more likely to place a first order.
The Faire CRM (under "Customers" in your dashboard) includes customer tagging, campaign emails, and automations. Automations are particularly useful -- set up a reorder reminder or a milestone email once, and they run without you thinking about them. Campaigns work best around Faire's big market events in January and July, when buyer activity spikes.
That said, there's a ceiling on what in-platform tools can do relationally. A retailer receiving a Faire campaign knows they're receiving a Faire campaign. These tools keep you visible and prompt reorders, and they do that job well -- but the real relationship gets built in a personal email, a handwritten note, or a check-in that has nothing to do with selling anything.
The Bottom Line
Faire may be one ingredient in your recipe for wholesale success. It can be a powerful tool, inspiring momentum and hope for wholesale growth. But there are some real downsides to using Faire in ways that aren't wise -- and I want to help makers navigate towards clarity, towards sustainability, and away from approaches that could backfire in the long run.
Ultimately, wholesale is about relationships, and those relationships are in your hands.
Looking for even more resources about Faire and the other wholesale marketplaces available for makers? Here are some that might be helpful: