We tell you how to choose a niche, what mistakes will cost novice sellers dearly, and what to write in a product card on WB .
What can you sell on Wildberries
Pros and cons of selling on Wildberries
How to become a seller on Wildberries
Marketplace commissions
Why Wildberries sellers are fined
How to create and fill out a product card
Expert advice
What can you sell on Wildberries
Table of Contents
● Clothing
Initially, the platform developed in the fashion direction, this category is still growing rapidly: small clothing brands and large manufacturers are starting to sell on Wildberries. According to a study by Data Insight , in December 2023, 56% of active sellers on Wildberries sold goods in the category “Clothing, footwear and accessories”.
● Sports and hobby goods, goods for children, pet supplies, electronics, food products
On average, these categories grow by 30-100% per year. For example, the best-selling products on Wildberries are snacks – dried fruits, bars, nuts.
● Cabinet furniture
A few years ago, it was hard to imagine that the marketplace would become the main sales channel instead of showrooms. Sellers who have been working on Wildberries for the last two or three years have seen sales grow even in non-obvious directions.
● Products in the “Cultural Code” category
Appeared on Wildberries in May 2024. These are unique products from regional manufacturers that combine the cultural values and traditions of different regions of Russia.
Tracking new and finding popular niches is not the only task of a marketplace manager. The specialist must be able to create sales cards, analyze metrics and work with financial reports. You can get quality knowledge and get an internship at Yandex Market on the course “Marketplace Manager” .
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Pros and cons of selling on Wildberries
Pros
✅ The largest network of order pick-up points – 30,000 in the Russian Federation and the CIS. All other things being equal, the buyer chooses a product that can be picked up near home or work.
✅ Flexible marketplace policy for promoting developing niches, including reduced commissions, etc.
✅ Fast delivery thanks to a developed network of warehouses and well-established logistics – more than 80% of orders are delivered the next day.
✅ Trading individual product categories with low commission on Wildberries can be more efficient than on other marketplaces.
✅ Large audience of buyers.
Cons
❌ High commission in popular categories. For example, in clothing – 25%, accessories – 23%.
❌ Lots of expensive fines: can reach up to 200,000 rubles for one violation.
❌ To register as a seller, you need to pay a registration fee – 10,000 rubles for citizens of the Russian Federation.
❌ High competition in leading niches.
How to become a seller on Wildberries
To become a seller on Wildberries and start earning , it is enough to have a current account, for example, an individual entrepreneur, a legal entity or a self-employed person. According to a study by Data Insight , individual entrepreneurs accounted for 82.5% of sellers on Wildberries in December 2023, and the self-employed accounted for 19.8%. The number of sellers increased by 6% from October to December alone and is 293,000.
To become a seller on Wildberries, you need to:
1. Complete basic training or hire a knowledgeable marketplace manager — optional.
2. Register online using your phone number, fill out a short form and specify a bank account. The registration process takes a few minutes.
3. Pay a guarantee fee of 10,000 rubles, which can later be spent on advertising. You can only pay from the seller’s account, which is linked to the TIN.
4. Wait for confirmation of the offer, which usually takes three days.
5. Add products, fill out cards and send them for moderation.
Marketplace commissions
For sales on the Wildberries platform, it takes a commission from 2 to 25% depending on the product category, for example:
● Clothing — 25%
● Accessories — 23%
● Automotive goods — 17%
● Stationery — 15%
● Kitchen goods — 10%
Commission rates are not constant, Wildberries regularly revises them. The logic is as follows: if the category is popular, the commission for it will be higher. If the category is not so popular on Wildberries itself, the commission will be lower to attract sellers. Conventionally, to increase the share of goods in segment X, the marketplace sets the commission at 7-10%, while on other platforms it reaches 12-15%.
Why Wildberries sellers are fined
Another item with high expenses for sellers on VB is fines. The cost for one violation can reach 200,000 rubles. What you can get a fine for:
● Incorrect labeling of goods
Since April 1, 2023, mandatory labeling “Honest Sign” has been added – it allows you to track when and by whom the goods were produced or imported into the country. If the seller sells goods without this labeling – and it must be done – he will receive a fine. At the same time, the withdrawal of goods without mandatory labeling from the marketplace warehouse will also be paid.
● Violations during shipment
The most significant fines when working on VB are for errors in the execution of deliveries. For example, Wildberries has a standard for palletizing deliveries, that is, how the pallet should be wrapped with film. Conventionally, if the film on the boxes is made too low, the seller will receive a fine. You can also get a fine if you incorrectly indicate the dimensions of the boxes being handed over.
● Incorrect indication of stock balances
It is necessary to adjust and update information on stock balances in a timely manner. For example, a seller had 100 units of a product in an offline store, 30 were bought during the week. Over the weekend, no one adjusted the balances, and 80 units were ordered from the marketplace. On Monday, the seller was able to send the product to only seventy buyers, and could not send another ten because the product was out of stock. The seller will receive a fine for not sending these 10 units.
● Self-buyouts
This is a scheme in which a product is bought not for individual use, but with the purpose of buying the product and leaving a positive review. This is how sellers promote their products: the marketplace sees that there are a lot of sales, good reviews, and automatically raises the card in SEO results. Organic traffic starts working: the card ends up on the first page, and real buyers start actively ordering the product. Wildberries monitors and suppresses this strategy: fines for self-buyouts for sellers can reach several million rubles. Motivating a buyer to leave a positive review for a discount, bonus, or other benefit is also prohibited.
It will be useful for beginning managers to make a separate table with fines and literally learn it by heart so as not to break the rules and not get fines. All information on fines is available in the offer. It is also important to constantly follow the latest Wildberries news, for example, in thematic Telegram channels. In 2023 alone, Wildberries collected fines and penalties from sellers for almost 15 billion rubles.
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How to create and fill out a product card
The process, standards and rules for designing cards on all marketplaces are approximately the same. Now there is a noticeable trend towards texts for people in descriptions. Previously, cards had long texts, which often ended with just a list of keywords on several lines. Now more human texts are interesting – they work better.
For example, if a seller has a product that can be used as a gift, there is no need to write in the description “a great gift for February 14, February 23, March 8, New Year, birthday, universal gift, gift for a friend, gift for a girlfriend.” It is better to make a relevant description – if March 8 is approaching, then indicate that this is a good gift and describe why. By February 23, change the text again, and so on.
Wildberries primarily shows reviews with photos and videos, but not with text. As for the visual, infographics are still at the top and work better than standard photos, but, of course, it is advisable to conduct A/B tests .