It is September. Your best-selling product is nearly gone, the factory wants a deposit on the holiday order, and last month's sales have not reached your bank yet. That is why business funding for ecommerce sellers works differently from funding for a shop with a lease and a till.
Online sellers pay for inventory long before it sells. Platforms and payment processors settle on their own schedules. Banks look at a thin balance sheet and hesitate. And the offers that do appear in your seller dashboard are usually priced as a flat fee, which hides what the money costs per year.
This guide covers the main options, what each provider says about its own terms as of November 2026, and how to compare them on one number.
What is business funding for ecommerce sellers?
It is any loan, advance or credit line used to finance an online store, most often for inventory, ad spend and the cash gap between paying suppliers and getting paid. Much of it is underwritten on sales data rather than collateral. The lender connects to your store or payment processor and sizes the offer to your revenue.
Online selling is a large and growing share of retail. In its August 18, 2026 release, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales at $340.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, 17.1% of total retail sales (Census Bureau). The Bureau notes that later releases revise these estimates.
Why banks are a hard fit for many online stores
Many online stores are asset-light, their cash flow is lumpy, and much of their working capital sits in inventory. Banks tend to lend against collateral and years of profit. A two-year-old brand with good monthly sales and little in the bank can fail both tests.
The cycle looks like this. You pay a manufacturer, wait for production and freight, wait again while the stock sells, then wait for the platform or processor to pay out. Every day in that loop is a day your cash is not available for the next order.
The national approval numbers reflect the squeeze. In the Federal Reserve Banks' 2026 Report on Employer Firms, 42% of applicants received the full amount they sought, 36% received some of it and 22% received none. The share of applicants who sought financing from online lenders rose from 17% in 2020 to 29% in 2025. And 60% of online lender borrowers said their costs were higher than expected, compared with 37% at small banks.
More owners are turning to fast online capital, and many are surprised by the price. Ecommerce sellers, who see more of these offers than most, sit right in the middle of that trend.
Platform and processor financing
Platform financing is offered inside the store or payment system you already use, usually priced as a flat fee and repaid from a share of your sales. There is little paperwork because the platform already sees your revenue. The trade-off: you see one lender's offer, and it is rarely shown as an APR.
Shopify Capital
In the U.S., "all funding through Shopify Capital in the United States is issued by WebBank," according to Shopify's Help Center. Repayment is a percentage of your daily sales, and nothing is taken on days with no sales. Shopify's own example is a $100,000 loan with a 13% fixed fee, or $13,000, which costs the same whether you repay in 3 months or 11.
There are guardrails. "The maximum term for new Shopify Capital loans is 18 months," and new loans require minimum repayments of 30% of the total by the six-month mark and 60% by the twelve-month mark. Missing those milestones can be a default under the loan agreement. Shopify says merchants who meet its eligibility criteria "might receive an offer to apply" (Shopify Help Center).
Stripe Capital
Stripe says U.S. businesses need at least three months of processing on Stripe, "a processing volume of 5,000 USD minimum per year and an average processing volume of USD 1,000 for the last 3 months," and must be based in the U.S. (Stripe Docs). The cost is the financing amount plus a flat fee, repaid as a percentage of your Stripe sales.
Stripe offers can be loans (issued by Celtic Bank or Lead Bank) or merchant cash advances (provided by YouLend). Loans have a minimum payment each period, "typically on a 30- or 60-day basis," and Stripe debits any shortfall from your bank account or Stripe balance. Stripe says approved funds typically reach your Stripe account in as few as one to two business days.
Square Loans
Square advertises loans "from $300 to $250,000," issued by Celtic Bank or Square Financial Services (Square). "A fixed percentage of your daily card sales is automatically deducted until your loan is fully repaid," with a flat fee, and "a minimum of 1/18 of the initial balance must be repaid every 60 days."
Amazon and PayPal
If you sell on Amazon or take payments through PayPal, you may see financing offers in Seller Central or your PayPal business account. Neither company's financing pages loaded for us when we updated this guide in November 2026, so we have left out their terms rather than repeat old figures. Run any offer you get through the APR math below.
| Program | Who it's for | Amount | How you repay | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Capital (U.S.) | Eligible Shopify merchants | Not published | Share of daily sales; 30% by month 6, 60% by month 12, 18-month maximum | Fixed fee (Shopify's example: 13%) |
| Stripe Capital (U.S.) | Stripe users with 3+ months of processing | Not published | Share of Stripe sales; loans have periodic minimums | Flat fee |
| Square Loans | Eligible Square sellers | $300 to $250,000 | Share of daily card sales; 1/18 of the balance every 60 days at minimum | Flat fee |
Sources: Shopify Help Center, Stripe Docs and Square, checked November 2026.
Pro tip: Treat a platform offer as a benchmark, not an answer. Screenshot it, convert it to an APR, and compare it with at least one outside offer before you accept. You can see what you qualify for on Loanistry to get that comparison.
Revenue-based financing
Revenue-based financing is capital repaid from future sales, with a fixed fee instead of an interest rate. Ecommerce specialists connect to your store, ad accounts and bank data and size the offer to your revenue. It works much like platform financing, except the provider is independent of where you sell.
- Wayflyer advertises financing "from $10k to $20m," repaid "in fixed amounts or as a percentage of sales." Its site shows a $7,200 fee on $100,000, for $107,200 to repay (Wayflyer).
- Clearco offers up to $10 million with payment terms of up to 12 months, and says it does not require a personal guarantee or blanket lien. It asks for "6+ months of consistent revenue, generating more than $100,000 USD per month," U.S. incorporation and direct-to-consumer online sales (Clearco).
- 8fig asks for "more than $100,000 in sales over the past 12 months" and "average monthly sales above $12,000 over the past three months," and builds funding around a seller's operating cycle (8fig).
None of the three publishes a fee range, so get every offer in writing with the total cost shown.
How to convert a flat fee to an APR
APR is the yearly cost of the money, fees included. A flat fee looks small because it ignores time. The faster you repay, the higher the annual cost.
Take Wayflyer's example, a $7,200 fee on $100,000. Repaid in equal monthly amounts over nine months, it works out to about 17% APR by our calculation. Over six months it is about 24%, and over three months about 43%.
| Offer | Flat fee | Repaid over | Approximate APR* |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 revenue-based advance | $7,200 (7.2%) | 9 months | 17% |
| $100,000 revenue-based advance | $7,200 (7.2%) | 6 months | 24% |
| $100,000 revenue-based advance | $7,200 (7.2%) | 3 months | 43% |
| $100,000 platform loan | $13,000 (13%) | 12 months | 23% |
| $100,000 platform loan | $13,000 (13%) | 6 months | 43% |
*Loanistry calculation: nominal APR assuming equal monthly payments and the full amount received up front. Sales-based repayment speeds up in strong months, which raises the effective APR.
Notice the twist. When repayment is a share of sales, a great fourth quarter pays the advance off faster, which makes it more expensive per year. That is not a reason to avoid revenue-based financing. It is a reason to know the number before you sign. Our guide to merchant cash advances walks through the same math for card-sales advances.
Inventory, purchase order and payout financing
Inventory financing pays for stock up front. Purchase order (PO) financing pays your supplier to fill a confirmed customer order. Both tie the money to specific goods rather than to your overall revenue, which suits sellers whose growth is limited by how much product they can afford to buy.
Purchase order financing
PO financing is built for wholesale and retail orders. If a retailer sends a large order, the PO lender pays your manufacturer directly and is repaid when the retailer pays you. Pricing is usually a fee per month the money is out, so time matters. As an illustration, a fee of 3% per month on a 90-day order costs about 9% of the amount financed, which is roughly 36% a year. That can still be worth it when the order margin is healthy and the alternative is turning the order down. Ask for the monthly fee, the advance percentage and what happens if the retailer pays late.
Consignment inventory funding
Kickfurther says it will "fund up to 100% of your inventory" on consignment, paying your supplier directly, with repayment "as products sell." It works with brands "at $400K+ in trailing 12-month revenue ($200K to $400K if you have POs from major retailers)" (Kickfurther).
Payout acceleration for marketplace sellers
If the problem is waiting on marketplace payouts, payout financing may be enough. Payability offers next-day access to marketplace earnings for Amazon and Walmart sellers and reports "over $6 billion in daily payments made to more than 10,000 Amazon sellers since 2015." The program "includes daily fees for advancing sales" (Payability). Compare that daily fee with the cost of simply planning around the payout cycle.
SBA loans, lines of credit and cards
Established, profitable stores may qualify for cheaper money than sales-based advances. It takes longer, but the savings can be large.
SBA loans
An SBA 7(a) loan is made by a private lender and partly guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA says the maximum 7(a) loan is $5 million and lists "short- and long-term working capital" among eligible uses (SBA). SBA's terms page says working capital and inventory loans can run up to 10 years (SBA).
SBA also runs a 7(a) Working Capital Pilot, a monitored line of credit of up to $5 million for businesses with at least one year of operating history. For those lines, SBA caps rates at the base rate plus 3.0% to 6.5%, depending on size. With the prime rate at 7.00% as of November 5, 2026 (Federal Reserve H.15), that is a ceiling of 10% to 13.5%. Compare that with the 23% to 43% APRs in the table above. Our SBA loans overview covers the program in more depth.
Business lines of credit
A line of credit lets you draw, repay and draw again, so you pay only for what you use. That fits seasonal inventory buys. Online lenders publish their minimums: OnDeck, for example, asks for one year in business, $100,000 in annual revenue and a 625 personal FICO score (OnDeck). Many lenders also look at your debt service coverage ratio.
Business credit cards
Cards suit smaller recurring costs like ads, software and samples. A card with a 0% introductory APR can finance one inventory cycle cheaply if you pay it off before the promotion ends.
How to choose
Match the length of the money to the job it does. Short-term money for inventory that sells in weeks; longer-term money for growth that pays back over years.
| Your situation | Often the best fit | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace seller with fast-turning products | Platform offers, payout acceleration, revenue-based financing | Short repayment windows that push the APR up |
| Direct-to-consumer brand with strong margins and ad spend | Revenue-based financing, platform loans | Funding ads with money that must be repaid before the ads pay back |
| Wholesale seller with retailer purchase orders | PO financing, consignment inventory funding | Monthly fees that grow when retailers pay slowly |
| Seasonal seller preparing for the fourth quarter | Line of credit, revenue-based financing | Borrowing for stock that won't sell through |
| Profitable store with a few years of history | SBA 7(a) loan or line, bank line of credit | Longer timelines, so apply early |
Questions to ask about every offer
- What is the total dollar cost, and what is the APR at my expected repayment speed?
- Is there a minimum payment every 30, 60 or 90 days, even in slow months?
- Is there a personal guarantee or a UCC lien on my business assets?
- Can I prepay, and do I save anything if I do?
- Does the provider hold back part of my payouts, and for how long?
Avoid stacking. A second advance before the first is repaid means two lenders sharing your daily sales, which can squeeze cash flow fast.
A six-step plan before you apply
- Pull 12 months of sales and payout data from every channel. Lenders want trends, returns and seasonality, not one strong month.
- Know your margins and inventory turns. A 45% margin with 60-day turns is a very different borrower from a 20% margin with 150-day turns.
- Run everything through a business bank account. Clean statements speed up underwriting.
- Write one sentence about the money: "I need $60,000 to buy fourth-quarter inventory that will sell through by January." It tells you which product fits and how long you need the money.
- Gather your documents: bank statements, recent tax returns, a profit and loss statement and platform reports. Our business loan document checklist lists what lenders usually ask for.
- Compare at least two offers on APR and total cost, at the repayment speed you actually expect. See what you qualify for on Loanistry to put outside offers next to your platform offer.
Pro tip: Line up fourth-quarter inventory money in late summer. You'll have more choices when you're not racing a shipping deadline.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, checked November 2026
- Federal Reserve Banks: 2026 Report on Employer Firms, checked November 2026
- Shopify Help Center: Shopify Capital in the United States, checked November 2026
- Shopify Help Center: Shopify Capital, checked November 2026
- Stripe Docs: How Stripe Capital works, checked November 2026
- Square: Square Loans, checked November 2026
- Wayflyer: Revenue-based financing, checked November 2026
- Clearco: Funding for ecommerce brands, checked November 2026
- 8fig: Funding for ecommerce sellers, checked November 2026
- Kickfurther: Inventory funding, checked November 2026
- Payability: Funding for Amazon and Walmart sellers, checked November 2026
- SBA: 7(a) loans, including the 7(a) Working Capital Pilot, checked November 2026
- SBA: Terms, conditions, and eligibility, checked November 2026
- Federal Reserve Board: H.15 Selected Interest Rates, checked November 2026
- OnDeck: Business line of credit, checked November 2026