We surveyed 181 marketplace sellers representing over $2 billion in combined annual revenue to understand how businesses are actually performing beneath the platform-level data. The results reveal four distinct seller cohorts — thriving, grinding, consolidating, and distressed — each facing different strategic realities on the same marketplaces.

Only 23% of marketplace sellers are thriving — simultaneously growing revenue and improving margins. Another 31% are grinding: revenue is up, but margins are flat or declining, putting them on a potentially unsustainable treadmill. And 38% are distressed, with, at best, no growth in sight. At worst, both revenue and margins are heading in the wrong direction.

The divergence matters because these cohorts are operating on the same platforms under the same conditions. Platform-level data shows aggregate growth, but the Seller Index reveals who’s capturing it and who’s getting squeezed.

The full report examines why profitability trajectories split, how platform power dynamics force different strategic responses, where AI adoption is actually happening, and what separates sellers building sustainable businesses from those fighting a losing battle.

Download the report today to see the breakdown of answers for all twenty-seven questions, accompanied by insights from eight and nine-figure sellers like GOJA, Outdoor Equipped, and GTSE, alongside analysis from leading agencies including Optimizon and VML.