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Chronicles

The story behind the story

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Indiegogo announces Marketplace for selling products that were successfully crowdfunded on site or elsewhere; Indiegogo will take around 10% or 15% cut on sales

And the products don't have to be originally funded through the site, either.  —  In the past, entrepreneurs …

Recode Theodore Schleifer

Context & Ripple Effects

Marketplace is the next step in Indiegogo's push past the funding moment itself. It already extended campaigns into ongoing pre-orders with InDemand, added equity offerings for backers, and opened Enterprise Crowdfunding to big brands testing products — so a storefront for finished goods, including ones funded off-site, completes the shift from campaign platform to commerce platform.

The economics are the story: a 10–15% cut on Marketplace sales is a much heavier take than the platform's campaign fees, and it lands just weeks before GoFundMe moved the opposite direction by dropping its 5% platform fee for personal campaigns in favor of optional tips.

First-order effects

  • Entrepreneurs with successfully funded products — whether raised on Indiegogo or elsewhere — gain a ready-made storefront, while Indiegogo gains a recurring revenue line at a 10–15% take rate rather than one-time campaign fees.

Second-order effects

  • High take rates invite undercutting: GoFundMe's move to a tip-based model weeks later shows rivals competing on price, and the pressure ultimately shows up in Gamefound's acquisition of Indiegogo, which resets pricing to a flat 5% fee.

Third-order effects

  • If the pattern holds, crowdfunding platforms consolidate around lower, flatter fees and compete instead on post-campaign services — fulfillment, storefronts, backer tools — meaning the durable business is commerce infrastructure, not the fundraising cut itself.

The trend: Crowdfunding platforms are evolving from fee-on-funds-raised businesses into full product-commerce platforms, with take-rate competition and consolidation deciding who survives.