Mercato is a curated marketplace where every piece is either made to your order or ready to ship — and in both cases held to the same standard. We stay inside four adjacent categories on purpose, so buyers find specialists instead of an endless shelf.
A marketplace for small and mid-sized Chinese makers who work in a specific craft. Some customers want a piece personalized — a name embroidered, a size adjusted, a colour chosen from the maker's palette. Others want the same design as it is. Mercato carries both, side by side, and labels which is which. What we do not carry is breadth for its own sake: home decor, storage & organization, stationery and accessories are the only categories we list, each store works inside one of them, and every product passes a review before a buyer can see it.
Why buyers choose Mercato.
Order a piece made to your specifications — names, colours, sizes, monograms — or buy the same design ready to ship. Each listing says which one it is.
We sell in four adjacent categories only: home decor, storage & organization, stationery and accessories. Fewer categories, far better selection.
Every product is reviewed before it goes live — real product photos, accurate specifications and no drop-shipped lookalikes.
Your order leaves the maker's workshop and comes straight to you. No warehouse in between, so no warehousing markup.
Why Chinese makers open a store on Mercato. See exactly what it costs.
Each store sells inside a single category. Buyers browsing that category see a specialist, not a general store.
A low flat transaction fee on the item subtotal — no listing fees, no subscription, no surprises.
Upload product photos and Mercato drafts the title, description, variations and image order for you.
Make to order from your own workshop and ship direct. You never stock inventory in a foreign warehouse.
Most marketplaces optimise for how many products they can list. Mercato optimises for how narrow, personal and dependable the catalogue is. Here is how that compares.
| Feature | Amazon | Shopify | Etsy | TikTok Shop | Mercato |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personalized and ready-made in one catalogue | — | — | Partial | — | |
| Listings confined to a curated category set | — | — | — | — | |
| Every listing reviewed before it goes live | Partial | — | Partial | Partial | |
| Ships direct from the maker | — | — | Partial | — | |
| Free to open a store | — | — | Partial | ✓ | |
| AI-assisted listing | — | — | — | — |
Shop personalized and ready-made pieces in four carefully chosen categories — or open a store in your own craft and let AI draft the listing.