Storefold - Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce documentation

Storefold turns your WooCommerce shop into a marketplace. Sellers apply to open a store and wait for your approval. Once approved, they manage their own products and orders from a vendor dashboard on your site. Customers check out once, each seller receives only their part of the order, and you keep a commission.

Storefold Pro is a standalone plugin. It includes the complete free edition, so you don't need both. When you activate Pro while the free edition is active, the free edition is switched off automatically. Both editions use the same data, so your vendors, orders, commissions and settings carry over.

On top of the free edition, Pro adds commission rules per product, vendor and category. It also adds seller membership plans, Stripe Connect payouts, an earning hold period and several sellers per product. You also get staff accounts, identity verification, per-vendor shipping, customer disputes, an activity log, signed webhooks, CSV vendor import and an installable vendor dashboard with new order alerts.

Storefold Pro needs WooCommerce, so install and activate WooCommerce first. You don't need the free edition of Storefold. If the free edition is already active, Pro deactivates it automatically when you activate Pro, and all your data is kept.

Storefold works fully as soon as it is activated. The license key turns on automatic updates, so new versions arrive in WordPress like any other plugin update. Pro features never depend on it.

Once the license is active, new versions of Storefold show up under Dashboard > Updates and on the Plugins screen. Click Update now, or click Enable auto-updates in the Storefold row on the Plugins screen and WordPress installs every future release for you.

• Keys are checked once a day in the background, so your site never waits for the license server. If the server is briefly unreachable, the plugin keeps its last known status.
• An expired key or a key that is not accepted only stops updates. Storefold keeps working. After renewing, click Check now in its row.
• Moving to a new domain: click Deactivate on the old site first, then activate the key on the new one. The status shows Site address changed, checking until the new address is confirmed.
• On the command line: wp ppl-license list, wp ppl-license activate <plugin> <key>, wp ppl-license check and wp ppl-license deactivate <plugin>.

Storefold > Overview is your marketplace home screen.

• Summary cards at the top: marketplace sales this month, what you earned in commission this month, what vendors earned after commission, and the number of active vendors (stores currently able to sell).
• Needs your attention lists everything waiting on you, such as vendor applications and products waiting for review. When nothing is waiting, you see an "All clear" message.
• Marketplace health runs checks on your setup and marks each one OK or Check. It covers the marketplace pages, pretty permalinks for store pages, vendor payout methods, marketplace emails, vendor accounts and vendor shipping. Every Check item comes with a short fix.
• Quick links take you to the Become a Vendor page, the store directory, the vendor dashboard, the marketplace emails and the help pages.

Storefold > Vendors lists every store on your marketplace.

• Filter the list by All, Pending, Approved, Suspended, Rejected or Verification pending, or type a name and click Search stores.
• The table shows each store's Owner, Status, Balance, Verification, Commission and Joined date. Click View store to open the public store page.
• Use the row buttons (Suspend, Reject, Delete), or tick several stores, choose a bulk action (Approve, Suspend, Reject or Delete) and click Apply.
• Click a store name to see its balance, lifetime earnings, application answers and full money ledger. You can also rename the store there, or adjust the balance with a reason (for example a bonus or a fee charged outside the store).

Statuses: Pending means the seller applied and is waiting for you. Approved means they can sell. Suspended means their products can no longer be bought and their dashboard shows a notice, so use it for temporary problems. Rejected means the application was declined.

Add a vendor: open the Add a vendor panel and enter a Store name and Owner email. If an account with that email exists, it becomes the owner. Otherwise a new account is created and emailed a link to set a password. Administrators and shop managers can't be vendors, so use a separate account to test the vendor side.

Deleting a vendor removes the store and the vendor role and cancels open withdrawal requests. The user account, their products and all commission and ledger history are kept, because they are financial records.

Storefold > Commissions shows one row per sold item: the Item total the customer paid, what the Vendor keeps and what You keep.

• Filter by vendor, by status (Pending, Earned or Reversed) and by a From and To date, then click Filter.
• Click Export CSV to download the commission records.

Commission is calculated per sold item, on the item total after coupons, when the order is placed. The rule used is saved with each row, so later settings changes never rewrite history. Rows start as Pending and become Earned when the order reaches the status you chose under Vendors earn their money when in the settings. Refunds automatically take the matching amount back.

With Pro you can also set commission rules per product, per vendor and per product category.

Vendors ask to be paid on Storefold > Withdrawals. Send the money with the vendor's chosen method, then record the request as paid with a reference so everyone has a receipt.

• Switch between Pending, Paid, Rejected and All requests.
• Each row shows the Vendor, Amount, Method, Payout details, Requested date and Status.
• To handle several requests at once, tick them, choose Mark as paid or Reject and click Apply to selected.

For PayPal, the vendor enters their PayPal email. For bank transfer, they enter the account holder, bank name, account number and routing number or IBAN. When Stripe payouts are enabled, marking a withdrawal as paid creates the transfer through Stripe.

Use Storefold > Announcements to post a message to every vendor. Vendors see it on their dashboard.

1. Enter a Title.
2. Type your message in Write your message to vendors.
3. Click Publish announcement.

Published announcements are listed under Published, with their date and an action to manage them.

Storefold > Disputes collects problem reports from customers. Vendors can reply to each one.

Read both sides, then decide. You can refund the customer (the vendor earnings are reversed automatically) or side with the vendor. Filter the list by All, Open, Vendor replied, Refunded or Rejected.

Storefold > Activity is a log of everything that happens on the marketplace, newest first. It covers applications, approvals, products, orders, money, disputes and settings changes.

Each entry shows When, Who, the Event code (for example vendor.registered or order.split) and Details. To narrow the list, choose an event type (Vendors, Products, Offers, Orders, Withdrawals, Commissions, Disputes, Verification, Plans, Slot packs, Staff, Stripe or Settings) and click Filter.

Storefold > Import vendors creates stores from a CSV file. It's useful when you move from another marketplace plugin (such as Dokan, WCFM, WC Vendors or MultiVendorX) or from a spreadsheet. Export your sellers to CSV and import them here.

• Required columns: email, store_name.
• Optional columns: phone, address, bio, website, paypal_email, status (approved or pending).
• Click Download the sample CSV for a template.

To import:

1. Click Choose File and select your CSV.
2. Leave Email new accounts a password setup link ticked if new vendors should get a link to set their password.
3. Click Preview only (no changes) for a dry run, and check the result.
4. Click Import now.

Existing vendors are skipped, so you can safely run the same file twice. No financial data is touched.

Storefold > Settings holds every marketplace option on one page. Each option has a short explanation and a Learn more link to the matching topic in Help and docs. Click Save settings at the bottom when you are done.

• Vendor rules: choose whether you approve each new vendor application yourself or anyone who signs up can sell right away. You can also choose whether new vendor products go live immediately or wait for your review. Optionally, applicants must accept your seller terms page.
• Commission: choose how you take your cut (a percentage, a fixed amount per item or both) and enter the numbers. A Live example shows what you and the vendor get on a sample sale. You also decide who receives shipping charges and taxes, and when vendors earn their money.
• Payouts: tick the methods vendors can use (PayPal, Bank transfer, Stripe (automatic transfer)) and set the Minimum withdrawal amount. You approve every withdrawal.
• Earning hold and Stripe payouts: hold new earnings for a number of days to cover your refund window, and enter your Stripe secret key for automatic transfers.
• What vendors can sell: let vendors sell products that already exist in the catalog with their own price and stock. Under Categories open to vendors, tick categories to limit where vendors can list. Tick nothing to allow every category.
• Vendor application form: the form already asks for store name, description, what they sell, contact details and address. Click Add a question to add your own questions. For each one, set the answer type, the choices for dropdowns (comma separated) and whether it's required. Answers appear on each application.
• Seller plans: click Add a plan to create membership plans. Each plan has a name, price, billing, product limit, existing-product limit (0 means unlimited), your commission percentage and optional category restrictions. Under Extra product slots, you can let vendors on a limited plan buy packs of extra product slots.
• Vendor shipping: click Add vendor shipping to all zones so vendor shipping rates are charged in your WooCommerce shipping zones.
• Verification and vendor app: require verified vendors before their products can be bought, and let vendors install the dashboard on their phone with new order alerts.
• Integrations: send marketplace events to a webhook URL, signed with a secret.
• Storefront: show the store name across your shop, and limit store reviews to customers who bought from that store.
• Marketplace pages: choose the page that holds each marketplace shortcode.
• Data: decide whether marketplace data is deleted when you delete the plugin.

Storefold > Setup wizard gets you live with four quick questions: the kind of marketplace, your commission, how vendors get paid and how much you want to review.

The first step asks what kind of marketplace you are building:

• Physical products: makers and resellers shipping goods.
• Digital downloads: files, templates and software. Earnings release as soon as payment clears.
• Services and bookings: local pros and freelancers selling their time.
• Local multi-store: a city marketplace with pickup and delivery.
• Wholesale or B2B: businesses selling to businesses in bulk.

Pick one and click Continue. You can change every answer later under Storefold > Settings.

Storefold > Help and docs explains every option in plain language, right inside WordPress. Use the Contents list to jump to a topic. The Learn more links on the settings screen take you straight to the matching entry.

Topics include getting started, each settings group, managing vendors, orders, commissions and refunds, withdrawals, the vendor dashboard, emails, shortcodes and store pages, security and privacy, and notes for developers. There are also sections for each Pro feature and a troubleshooting section.

Storefold sends its notifications as WooCommerce emails. You manage them under WooCommerce > Settings > Emails, next to the standard WooCommerce emails. Their names start with Marketplace:.

• Marketplace: new vendor application goes to the marketplace team when someone applies to become a vendor. It lists the application details and links to the full application, where you approve or reject it. Set who receives it under Recipient(s).
• Marketplace: store approved goes to the vendor when you approve their store application. It links to their vendor dashboard and their public storefront.

Each email has the usual WooCommerce options: Enable/Disable, Subject, Email heading, Additional content, Email type, Cc(s) and Bcc(s). Use the Email preview to check the result, and click Send a test email to send yourself a copy. Click Save changes to keep your edits.

Storefold adds a few things shoppers and sellers see on your site.

• Stores page: the store directory lists every store as a card, with a Search stores box. Clicking a store opens its store page. Individual stores live at /store/store-name/ on your site, which needs pretty permalinks.
• Become a Vendor page: the application form where sellers apply to open a store. If you enabled seller terms or added your own questions, they appear here.
• Vendor Dashboard page: where approved sellers manage their store, products and orders, see your announcements and request withdrawals.
• "Sold by" labels: when enabled, "Sold by Store name" appears under the product title. Shop listings show a small "by Store name", and the cart, checkout, account area and emails show a "Sold by" line on order lines.
• Store reviews: customers can rate a store from its store page.
• More sellers box: when vendors may sell products that already exist in the catalog, product pages show a "More sellers" box so customers can pick a seller.