Fast Aquatics

Short answer

Fast Aquatics offers the lowest combined cost of any aquatic marketplace - $30/month Founder tier (free for first 100 vendors) + 12% take rate, dropping to 7% at the Enterprise tier. Wholesale orders are 6% across all tiers.

In depth

Most aquatic vendors selling online get hit by three cost layers: marketplace listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processor fees. Fast Aquatics charges only the first two and structures both to scale down as your volume grows.

The Fast Aquatics pricing model:

  • Founder tier: $30/month + 12% take rate. Free for the first 100 vendors. 25 active listings, Trust Score badge, full Buyer Protection coverage, climate hold automation.
  • Professional tier: $99/month + 9% take rate. 250 active listings, 3 featured slots/week, priority claim mediation, wholesale-buying access included.
  • Enterprise tier: $299/month + 7% take rate. Unlimited listings, 10 featured slots/week, API access, dedicated account manager.
  • Wholesale orders: 6% take rate across ALL tiers (lowest on the platform).

Compare to alternatives at the same shipping cost:

  • eBay: ~12.9% final value fee + $0.30 per order + 5% PayPal stack ≈ 18% all-in
  • MorphMarket: 9% take rate (similar to Fast Aquatics Pro)
  • Etsy: 6.5% transaction fee + listing fees + ad fees
  • Reverb (musical instruments parallel): 5% (no listing fees, but no live-animal infrastructure)

Fast Aquatics also negotiates aggregated FedEx + UPS rates for vendors via the marketplace shipping network. At 1,000+ packages/month aggregate volume across the platform (reached month 6-12), vendors get 25-35% off retail rates - a meaningful margin add on top of the lower take rate.

More questions

Is the Founder tier really free?

Yes - first 100 vendors pay $0 monthly subscription, with the 12% take rate kicking in only on completed sales. Free trial is 30 days for any tier you pick.

How does Fast Aquatics's commission compare to eBay?

eBay's all-in cost on a $100 sale is ~18% ($12.90 final value fee + $0.30 + ~5% PayPal). Fast Aquatics' Founder tier is 12% for that same $100 - $6 cheaper before factoring in the $30/month subscription. Above ~$2,500 monthly GMV, the Pro tier (9%) becomes cheapest.