Which platform is right for you? (30-second answer)
Ankorstore — the right pick if...
Ankorstore is the right pick if you run an independent European retail shop — boutique, lifestyle, gifts, speciality food, wellness — and want access to ~30,000 independent brands across 25 countries. 0% platform commission, retailer-friendly UX, strong brand depth in EU boutique wholesale. Expect a ~3% payment processing fee per order on top.
First FMCG — the right pick if...
First FMCG is the right pick if you trade FMCG — confectionery, beverages, snacks, personal care, household, baby care — at pallet and truckload volumes across borders. AI ranks offers by total landed cost (unit price plus MOQ plus road or sea freight). Identifying details stay hidden until both sides confirm interest. 0% platform commission on every plan with no payment processing fee today.
If you buy one case of candles for a gift shop, use Ankorstore. If you buy thirty pallets of Red Bull and need the cheapest real cost into Hamburg, use First FMCG.
Core differences at a glance
| Dimension | First FMCG | Ankorstore |
|---|---|---|
| Platform commission | 0% on every transaction, across every plan (Basic, Pro, VIP) | 0% platform commission |
| Payment processing fee | None today; future on-platform payments via a third-party provider such as Stripe at that provider's standard rates | ~3% payment processing per order |
| Vertical focus | FMCG — confectionery, beverages, snacks, personal care, household, baby care | Boutique / lifestyle — gifts, home, wellness, stationery, boutique food |
| AI offer ranking | Yes — built into search, ranks by total landed cost | No — faceted browse by category and brand |
| Landed-cost math (road + sea freight) | Yes — baked into every result before you enquire | No — shipping added per order, not used for ranking |
| Privacy model | Supplier identity and exact terms hidden until mutual interest is confirmed | Prices visible on open catalog after retailer verification |
| Pricelist upload | Pro tier: Excel / PDF / CSV up to 10 MB, AI-parsed. Basic: manual entry up to 20 offers | Manual / brand onboarding tools |
| Free tier (buyers) | Yes — Basic free forever, no card required | Yes — retailer access free, but retailers must be verified before seeing prices |
| Free tier (suppliers) | Yes — Basic: 20 offers, 1 user, 0% commission | No seller subscription; brands pay via payment processing on orders |
| Paid tiers | Pro + VIP (price TBD) unlock pricelist upload, unlimited offers, team seats, larger AI quota | None — no seller subscription model |
| Target buyer | International FMCG wholesalers, distributors, parallel-trade operators, HoReCa procurement | Independent retailers — boutiques, gift shops, speciality food stores |
| Target supplier | FMCG brand owners, manufacturers, distributors moving pallets | Independent brands, makers, boutique producers |
| Geographic focus | Global; EUR, GBP, USD listing currencies; no regional gating | 25 European countries, strongest in France and Germany |
| Reported network | Earlier-stage; smaller catalog today | ~30,000 brands, ~300,000 retailers |
When Ankorstore is the right pick
Ankorstore is a genuinely well-built platform for what it is. The following conditions make it the right choice.
European boutique retail
The platform is the dominant name in European independent retail wholesale. If you are a shop buyer, that is where the liquidity is.
Boutique / lifestyle product range
Gifts, home, wellness, stationery, boutique food, candles, apparel, kids. Ankorstore's curation and retailer expectations are tuned for this range.
Brand discovery for small retailers
The recommendation engine and category browse work well for "show me brands like the ones I already carry."
Commission-free headline
If you are coming from Faire's ~15%, Ankorstore's 0% commission (even with ~3% payment processing) is a clear saving.
If that fits your business, stop here. Use Ankorstore.
When First FMCG is the right pick
First FMCG is built for a different trade. The following conditions flip the answer.
You buy or sell FMCG at pallet and truckload volumes
Boutique marketplaces are not tuned for pallet MOQs, case configurations, or the margin thinness of FMCG wholesale.
Your decision is landed cost, not unit price
A €3.20 EXW offer from Poland and a €3.45 EXW offer from Germany are not comparable until freight is added. First FMCG does that math before ranking; Ankorstore does not.
You trade across borders at scale
Cross-border EU, EU-to-UK, EU-to-third-country. Road and sea freight estimates are folded into ranking, not quoted per order at checkout.
You need privacy on pricing and supplier identity
Parallel-trade operators and grey-import wholesalers cannot list prices on an open catalog. First FMCG hides identity and exact terms until both sides confirm interest.
You want 0% end-to-end, not 0% plus a processing fee
On a €10,000 Ankorstore order, ~€300 goes to payment processing. On First FMCG, that €300 stays with the supplier today — and future on-platform payments are expected to run through a third-party provider such as Stripe at that provider's standard rates without a First FMCG cut on top.
You want to test before you verify
Ankorstore gates price visibility until retailers are verified. First FMCG's Basic plan lets you register and start searching / posting immediately, free.
Commission and fees — the real numbers
Ankorstore is the most honest 0%-commission competitor in B2B wholesale, and most of the math lines up with First FMCG. The wedges are payment processing and what the platform is built to rank.
Ankorstore: 0% platform commission, ~3% payment processing per order.
First FMCG:0% platform commission on every transaction, across every plan. No payment processing fee today. When on-platform payment processing ships, it will likely run through a third-party provider such as Stripe at that provider's standard published rates — First FMCG does not add a commission on top.
Worked example: a €10,000 order
| Ankorstore | First FMCG | |
|---|---|---|
| Deal value | €10,000 | €10,000 |
| Platform commission | €0 | €0 |
| Payment processing | ~€300 (at ~3%) | €0 today; future Stripe-style processing at that provider's standard rates if used |
| Supplier receives | ~€9,700 | ~€10,000 minus any off-platform processor cost they already pay |
On a thin-margin FMCG deal, 3% is material. On a pallet-level €10,000 transaction, that is approximately €300 per order that stays with the supplier on First FMCG.
Features side-by-side
AI offer ranking
First FMCG: First FMCG ranks every candidate offer by total landed cost — unit price plus MOQ fit plus road or sea freight from origin to destination. This surfaces deals that flat-list search hides, because a closer supplier with a higher EXW price often beats a cheaper one once transport is added.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore uses faceted category browse and recommendation models. Prices are shown openly; landed cost is calculated at checkout, not used in ranking.
Transport calculator
First FMCG: First FMCG has a road and sea freight calculator built into search. HGV routing for road, container rates for sea. Every result is already landed-cost-adjusted before you send an enquiry.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore adds shipping on the order line, configured by each brand. It is an order-level cost, not a ranking input.
Privacy model
First FMCG: First FMCG is privacy-first by default. Supplier identity, exact prices, and buyer context stay hidden until both sides confirm mutual interest. No competitor sees your sourcing pattern.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore requires retailer verification (registered business, resale credentials), and prices become visible afterwards — openly, like most B2B catalogs. This works for boutique retail where the retailer's shop is public anyway. It is not a fit for parallel-trade FMCG, where the operator's edge is the route itself.
Pricelist tools
First FMCG: First FMCG parses Excel (.xlsx/.xls), PDF, and CSV pricelists up to 10 MB on Pro — products, EAN, price per piece or per case, MOQ, units per pallet, stock. Manual entry on Basic up to 20 offers.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore uses its own brand onboarding flow with curated catalogs, product photography standards, and wholesale pricing entered per SKU — tuned for retail-grade listings rather than bulk pricelist imports.
Team seats
First FMCG: First FMCG Basic: 1 user. Pro: up to 3 users. VIP: up to 15 users per company.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore offers brand-account team access tuned around each brand's structure.
Buyer onboarding
First FMCG: First FMCG Basic is free forever with no card required — register and start searching. No retailer verification gate before prices are visible, because prices are only visible to the searching buyer in the context of their own enquiry.
Ankorstore: Ankorstore requires retailer verification before showing prices, because prices are openly visible across the catalog.
FAQ
Is Ankorstore really 0% commission?
On platform commission, yes — Ankorstore does not take a cut on the transaction. However, payment processing adds roughly 3% per order. First FMCG is also 0% platform commission and charges no payment processing fee today. When on-platform payment processing ships, it is expected to run through a third-party provider such as Stripe at that provider's standard published rates, not as a First FMCG cut. Both are meaningfully cheaper than Faire's ~15%, but First FMCG is closer to a true end-to-end 0%.
Is First FMCG an Ankorstore alternative for FMCG?
Yes. Ankorstore is built for European boutique and lifestyle retail. First FMCG is built for FMCG pallet-level cross-border wholesale and adds AI landed-cost ranking, privacy-first trading, and 0% processing-free pricing. If your trade is FMCG, First FMCG is the functional alternative.
Which is better for European wholesalers, Ankorstore or First FMCG?
For European boutique wholesalers (gift shops, lifestyle retailers, speciality food boutiques), Ankorstore. For European FMCG wholesalers (pallets, truckloads, cross-border), First FMCG. Wholesalers who occupy both trades can and do run on both platforms simultaneously.
Does First FMCG have the brand depth of Ankorstore?
Not today. Ankorstore has ~30,000 brands and ~300,000 retailers across 25 countries; First FMCG is earlier and carries fewer listings. The trade-off is vertical depth and economics — First FMCG is FMCG-specific, ranks by total landed cost, and is 0% end-to-end.
Can I use both Ankorstore and First FMCG?
Yes. Listing and buying are not exclusive on either platform. A brand with both a boutique SKU line and a bulk wholesale line commonly uses Ankorstore for retail distribution and First FMCG for cross-border pallet wholesale at 0% end-to-end.
What formats can I upload my pricelist in on First FMCG compared to Ankorstore?
First FMCG's Pro tier parses Excel (.xlsx/.xls), PDF, and CSV pricelists up to 10 MB — products, EAN, price per piece or per case, MOQ, units per pallet, and stock. Ankorstore uses its own brand onboarding flow for curated retail-grade catalogs rather than bulk pricelist imports.
Is the privacy model really different?
Yes. Ankorstore is an open catalog — once a retailer is verified, prices and brands are visible openly. First FMCG hides supplier identity, exact prices, and buyer context until both parties confirm mutual interest on a specific deal. This is material for parallel-trade FMCG wholesalers whose edge is the sourcing route itself.
Who is behind First FMCG?
Founder and legal entity details are being finalised and will be published alongside Pro and VIP pricing. The platform publishes through its LinkedIn company page (id 115792557) and distributes content daily to the FMCG HUB community. Company-level diligence information is available on request during the pre-launch period.
Start on First FMCG Basic — free forever
Register on Basic, post up to 20 offers manually, run AI searches at the standard quota, trade at 0% commission with no payment processing fee today. When you outgrow Basic, Pro and VIP unlock pricelist upload, unlimited offers, and team access. Or see how First FMCG works first. Comparing more platforms? See all Ankorstore alternatives or First FMCG vs Faire.