Frequently Asked Questions

SmallRun is an online marketplace for independent makers - primarily electronics projects, open-source hardware, and DIY kits, alongside tabletop gaming accessories, fandom art, miniatures, and other small-batch geeky goods. Buyers discover unique things directly from the creators who make them.

SmallRun specializes in electronics and maker goods:

• Electronics projects, DIY kits, and open-source hardware (PCBs, sensor modules, dev boards)
• Tabletop gaming accessories and miniatures
• RPG supplements, handmade dice, and game components
• Fandom art and prints, enamel pins, stickers
• 3D-printed parts, handmade crafts, and other small-batch maker goods

Anyone can browse and buy on SmallRun. Sellers set their own shipping destinations and rates, so availability varies by shop. At checkout, prices are shown in your local currency - SmallRun uses Stripe Adaptive Pricing so you'll see and pay in a familiar currency regardless of where the seller is based.

Any independent maker or small creator can open a shop. SmallRun is focused on handmade, small-batch, and creator-owned products. Sellers connect a Stripe Express account for payouts and provide a ship-from address. At this time, sellers must reside in a country supported by Stripe Express - see Stripe's global page for details. We welcome makers worldwide and are actively working to expand support to more countries.

Browse or search for products, add items to your cart, and check out with Stripe. You'll need to create an account or log in. After checkout, the seller is notified and prepares your shipment.

SmallRun uses Stripe for all payments. Buyers can pay with most major credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other payment methods Stripe makes available in your country.

No. SmallRun never sees or stores your card number, expiry date, CVV, or any other payment credentials. All payment data is entered directly into Stripe's PCI-compliant hosted checkout and stays entirely within Stripe's systems. SmallRun only receives a transaction reference ID from Stripe, which is used solely to process refunds if needed. See Stripe's privacy policy for details on how they handle payment data.

Once the seller ships your order and generates a tracking label, you'll receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking link. You can also view your order status and tracking from your Orders page when logged in.

Contact the seller first using the messaging system - most issues are resolved quickly. If you need to escalate, use the Report option on your order. You are encouraged to reach a resolution with the seller, or SmallRun directly - before opening a dispute with your card issuer.

Each seller sets their own return policy, which is shown on their shop and product pages. If a seller agrees to a return, they'll coordinate with you directly. For orders that arrive significantly not as described, you can open a dispute through your payment card.

After signing up for an account, go to the Start Selling section, and complete the shop setup. You'll need to connect a Stripe Express account (which handles your payouts) and provide a ship-from address. Once your shop is set up, you can start listing products immediately.

SmallRun is for independent makers selling their own handmade, small-batch, or creator-owned goods. Reselling mass-market products is not permitted. Focus areas include electronics projects, tabletop gaming, hobby crafts, fandom art, miniatures, and similar maker-oriented items.

Yes. SmallRun supports international sellers. You'll need a Stripe Express account in your country, and your payouts follow Stripe's availability for your location. Some carrier options for calculated shipping may differ based on your ship-from country.

Build logs are project journals posted by sellers documenting how they designed and built their products. They're especially common for electronics and open-source hardware projects - design decisions, prototyping notes, schematic walkthroughs, assembly guides, and lessons learned. Think of them as a dev log attached directly to the creator's shop.

Primarily sellers can publish build logs from their shop dashboard. Posts support rich text and images. Build logs are a great way to document your process, attract followers interested in your work, and give buyers more confidence in your products. However, you don't have to sell things to post build logs. If you just want a place to share your hobby, then create an account and shop - but just keep the shop marked as unpublished. You can still create and publish build logs.

SmallRun charges a 8% total fees (includes the platform fee an payment processing) on the product subtotal plus a flat $0.40 per-order platform fee. When you use calculated shipping, the buyer's shipping payment is passed through at cost to cover the actual carrier label - SmallRun does not mark up shipping. Free and flat-rate shipping (see the Shipping section below) work differently: with free, you absorb the postage; with flat rate, the full amount goes to you to cover your own postage. Stripe's fees are baked into this structure.

Payouts go directly to your Stripe Express account on Stripe's standard payout schedule (typically 2 business days after a sale for US sellers, longer for some other countries). You control your payout settings from your Stripe dashboard.

If your Stripe Express account's payout currency differs from your listing currency - for example, you list in USD but your bank account settles in EUR - Stripe charges a 1% cross-currency transfer fee when sending your payout. This is deducted by Stripe before your funds arrive; SmallRun does not add any additional markup.

Buyers can choose a display currency on SmallRun, but the actual charge at checkout is always in the seller's listing currency. If a buyer's card is in a different currency, their bank or card network may apply their own foreign transaction fee - this is entirely separate from SmallRun and Stripe.

Sellers choose one of three shipping methods per product:

• Calculated - real-time rates from USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and Canada Post via Shippo, based on parcel weight and dimensions and the buyer's destination. The buyer picks from the available rates at checkout and the cost is passed through to fund the label - SmallRun does not mark it up.
• Free - the buyer pays $0 shipping. The seller bakes postage into the product price and ships it themselves.
• Flat rate - a fixed amount the seller sets per product (useful for stickers and other items that ship with a regular postage stamp, which Shippo can't generate a label for). The buyer pays the flat amount and the seller handles postage.

When an order mixes items with different methods, any item using calculated shipping pulls the whole shop's box through Shippo - free and flat-rate items ride along at no extra charge. An order of only flat-rate items charges the highest flat rate among them, once per order (one envelope ships them all).

Available carriers depend on the seller's ship-from country. SmallRun uses Shippo to generate labels, and sellers can restrict which carriers they offer in their shop settings.

• United States: USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL Express
• Canada: Canada Post, UPS, DHL Express
• United Kingdom: DPD UK, Evri, DHL Express, UPS
• France: Colissimo, Chronopost, Mondial Relay, DHL Express, UPS
• Germany: Deutsche Post, DPD DE, DHL Express, UPS
• Spain: Correos, DHL Express, UPS
• Italy: Poste Italiane, DHL Express, UPS
• Other countries: DHL Express and UPS are available in most supported regions. Local carrier availability varies.

If adequate calculated shipping are not available for your reqion, sellers can choose to set flat rates based on the buyers ship-to country and use their own carriers/label provider.Rates and available services depend on the seller's ship-from address and the buyer's destination. For products using flat-rate or free shipping, sellers handle postage themselves - SmallRun does not generate a label for those.

It depends on the shipping method:

• Calculated: SmallRun retains the shipping payment and uses it to buy the label when you fulfill. If the actual label is cheaper than the rate the buyer was quoted, the difference is automatically refunded to the buyer.
• Free: No shipping money changes hands - the seller absorbs the postage.
• Flat rate: The full flat amount is paid through to the seller in their payout to cover their own postage. Commission still applies to the full order including shipping.

SmallRun uses Stripe Tax to automatically calculate and collect the correct sales tax or VAT on every order based on the buyer's location. The tax amount is shown at checkout and charged on top of the order total. SmallRun remits the collected tax to the relevant authority - sellers do not need to handle this themselves.

Yes, on intra-EU orders. If both you and the seller are in the EU, the applicable VAT rate for your country is calculated automatically at checkout and added to your order total - the price you see at checkout is the full price.

Important: for orders shipped into the EU from outside, SmallRun's IOSS registration is still in progress. Until it is live, those packages ship DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) - your carrier will collect import VAT and any handling fee from you on delivery. Enabling IOSS-based VAT collection at checkout is a top priority for us.

No. SmallRun acts as the marketplace facilitator for VAT purposes. Stripe Tax calculates and collects VAT on every sale, and SmallRun remits it on your behalf. You do not need your own VAT registration to sell on SmallRun.

Note: this covers platform-collected VAT only. If you have separate VAT obligations in your own country from other business activities, those remain your responsibility.

IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) is an EU scheme that lets marketplaces collect VAT at the point of sale on goods worth €150 or less shipped into the EU, so buyers don't pay import VAT again on delivery.

SmallRun's IOSS registration is in progress. Until it is live, shipments into the EU from outside go out DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) - the buyer pays import VAT and any carrier handling fee on delivery. Getting IOSS-based VAT collection enabled at checkout is a top priority and we are working to have it in place as soon as possible.

No - once SmallRun's IOSS registration is live, the platform IOSS number will cover all eligible orders (goods valued at €150 or less) shipped through SmallRun, and will be automatically included on Shippo customs declarations so the carrier knows VAT has been collected at checkout.

For goods over €150, IOSS does not apply regardless. The buyer is responsible for any import duties and VAT on delivery for those orders.

EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is a number issued by a customs authority that identifies a business in customs declarations. It is separate from IOSS - IOSS covers VAT, EORI identifies you as an exporter or importer in the customs system.

Most sellers do not need one. For small-volume international shipments, your carrier (USPS, UPS, etc.) files customs declarations on your behalf and EORI is not required. Higher-volume sellers who regularly ship to or from EU countries and file their own customs declarations may need to register with their country's customs authority. If that applies to you, you can add your EORI number in your shop settings and SmallRun will include it automatically on Shippo customs declarations for EU shipments.

IOSS only covers goods valued at €150 or less. For orders above this threshold, VAT and import duties are not collected at checkout - the buyer will pay them to their country's customs authority on delivery (known as DDU, Delivered Duty Unpaid). Buyers should be aware of this before placing a large order from outside the EU.