Ecommerce Merchant Cash Advance & Business Funding
Ecommerce funding when platform payouts arrive net of everything.
Ecommerce funding is read from platform payouts, which arrive net of fees, returns, reserves and sometimes a platform loan. Funders often ask for your seller dashboard or payout reports alongside your bank statements to see gross sales and what was withheld.
Who should read this: online sellers on marketplaces or their own storefronts, and brokers placing ecommerce files.
Platform payouts need a closer read in ecommerce funding
Platform payouts need a closer read because they are already net of fees, returns and sometimes financing repayments.
A payout that looks small may reflect a platform loan taking its share. Funders often ask for the platform's seller dashboard or payout reports alongside the bank statements to see gross sales and what was withheld.
Sellers with a shop front read closer to Retail, and those selling to other businesses closer to Wholesale distribution.
What is a platform reserve?
A platform reserve is money a marketplace or processor holds back from payouts to cover refunds and chargebacks. It belongs to the seller but is now in the bank account. A new or growing reserve can squeeze cash even while sales grow, and funders note it.
We're not a funder.
We don't fund deals ourselves. We shop yours with funders who do, so you see more than one offer.
Only funders that fit.
Your file goes to funders that work with your industry and your deal size. Nobody else sees it.
You make the call.
Every offer comes to you in writing. Nothing happens until you pick one.
- What it costs to apply
- Nothing. Applying costs you nothing, and Afterfirst MCA charges you no fee.
- Credit
- Ask us how each funder checks credit before you agree to anything.
- Speed
- We call you back and talk with you before your file goes to any funder.
- Offers
- Every offer shows the total payback, the payment amount, how often it comes out, and the term.
How does platform financing affect an MCA?
Platform financing counts as an existing position because it collects from the same revenue a new funder would buy.
Some platforms take a percentage of every payout until the balance is repaid. List it on your file the same way you would list another funder.
Because platform financing counts as a position, a new advance is often a Second position, and the Stacking guide explains how funders count it.
Reports funders ask online sellers for
Funders commonly ask online sellers for payout reports or dashboard exports alongside the bank statements. The reports show gross sales, fees, refunds, reserves and any platform financing deductions.
Payout reports by sales period
Payout reports tie each deposit to a sales period and list what was withheld. They let a funder rebuild gross sales from net deposits.
Selling on several marketplaces at once
A seller on more than one marketplace gets payouts on different schedules. Funders read each platform's report and add them together.
Matching each payout to a deposit
Each payout in the reports should match a deposit on the bank statement. Gaps suggest another account or a missing report.
Reserves a platform holds back
Some platforms hold a reserve against returns and release it later. The released amount shows as a deposit without a sale behind it that month.
A marketplace that pays into another account
If one marketplace pays into a separate account, say so and send that account's statements. Otherwise the funder undercounts revenue.
Seller questions
Can an Amazon or Shopify seller get a merchant cash advance?
Sellers on major platforms do get advances, based on payouts to their business bank account. Funders may ask for platform reports as well. Existing platform financing is counted as a prior position.
Do funders count gross sales or payouts for online sellers?
Funders generally work from what reaches the bank account, which is the net payout. Gross sales from dashboards help explain the business. The deposit line decides the offer size.
How do refunds affect an ecommerce advance?
Refunds reduce the payouts funders count and can enlarge the platform's reserve. A season with heavy returns lowers the average. Mention unusual refund periods when you apply.
A payout hold worked through
Example: a seller's platform pays out $40,000 every two weeks, about $80,000 a month. A fixed debit of $400 each business day comes to $8,400 a month, or 10.5% of deposits. If the platform holds one payout for a reserve, the month brings in $60,000 and the same debits take 14.0%. Size the payment on a month with a hold, not a clean one.
Sources
- The U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales report estimated second-quarter U.S. retail e-commerce sales at $340.2 billion, seasonally adjusted, up 3.8 percent from the first quarter.
Afterfirst is not a funder; all offers are subject to funder underwriting.
Cost, credit, speed and stacking
Cost
Credit
Speed
Stacking
Which funding options fit ecommerce sellers?
Each page runs one option against this industry's slow months.
Revenue-based financing for ecommerce sellers
A remittance that moves with revenue, so a slow month sends less, and the months to reach the repayment cap.
Business line of credit for ecommerce sellers
A draw sized for a slow month, repaid in thirds, with the interest on the balance worked out.
MCA consolidation for ecommerce sellers
One payment in place of two, with the share of deposits before and after in a slow month.
Send one file.
See what fits.
Call 877-FUND-654 with questions.