Selling on the Tmall online marketplace

Tmall.com is the largest business-to-consumer (B2C) online marketplace in China. They are owned by Chinese conglomerate Alibaba and operate as a premium B2C site.

As an overseas seller, the Tmall global programme allows you to list your products on the marketplace and set up a virtual store.

There is a selection and approval process when applying to be a Tmall seller. Standards are high for Tmall to maintain their ethos of being a premium ecommerce platform.

There are minimum criteria to sell on Tmall. You must:

• be the brand owner (trademark) or have a license to sell the brand
• have a logistics plan in place for getting goods to China
• have documentation that prove products comply with Chinese product regulations

Once seller approval is granted, sellers can be paid directly by Tmall in either USD or Euros.
Fees can be expensive and Tmall require a security deposit, yearly fees and final order percentage commission.

Tmall is a business-to-consumer (B2C) market place, selling to customers in China.

You can sell on Tmall if your business is in one or more of the following sectors:

• Textiles
• Apparel
• Technology
• Food and drink
• Sports
• Electronics
• Health and Beauty
• Children’s items
• A place to buy everything

As a seller on Tmall, you must pay a security deposit of 25,000 USD.

There is also an annual subscription fee of 5,000-10,000 USD per year and commission fees of 2-4%.

Fees apply to other payment methods (including Alipay) of 1% commission.