Latest Update: 25.08.2025 | 07.10.2021 | by Lili
Popular niche online marketplaces from around the globe
Table of contents
When planning our three-part series on interesting marketplaces around the world, we decided to put each marketplace in the country it’s headquartered in, or where it’s a very dominant force.
However, this made us realize that there are a bunch of marketplaces that can’t really be tied to any country. Or rather, their influence on a niche market surpasses their geographical significance. Hence, the fourth part of our series was born: interesting niche marketplaces categorized thematically, rather than according to their geographical location.
Luxury and fashion
choosethemoon.com
Advertising itself as "The Largest Luxury Marketplace," choosethemoon.com has been in business since 2012 and offers high-priced items, including cars, watches, yachts, real estate, and even spa holidays.
Screenshot of a yacht that was available for sale on choosethemoon.com
The site works as a platform to provide sellers of luxury items with ad space and exposure to potential clients. This business model, along with the fact that the marketplace caters to luxury tastes, creates a danger for grey market products to appear on the platform, which seriously harms brands’ IP rights - and their bottom line.
Chrono24.com
Specializing in luxury watches since 2003, Chrono24.com offers its customers safe buying options and vetted, original products. Thanks to an escrow account, the marketplace holds onto the payment until the buyer receives the product, thus protecting both parties from loss.
Although the marketplace checks the originality of products, our experience suggests that grey market sellers may still slip through the cracks and infringe on your brand’s IP rights.
Zalando
Available in many countries, Zalando is a marketplace geared towards fashion and accessories. Similar to Amazon, Zalando sells products itself and also allows third-party sellers to access the platform. This increases the chances of IP infringements like counterfeits as well as grey market products appearing on the marketplace.
Discover more about Zalando here
IT and gaming
Gamivo
As its name suggests, Gamivo specializes in gaming software. But other digital goods are also available here. Unfortunately, the same problems of cracked or fake software plague this marketplace as well.
Interestingly, the marketplace employs a selling method not unlike Amazon’s Buy Box: the listing by the seller who won the top spot based on various criteria set by the marketplace is automatically displayed in front of customers, making it harder for other sellers to be visible.
Although most sellers on Gamivo don’t provide a lot of information about themselves, we have a good cooperation with this marketplace, and enforcing our clients’ IP rights has never been a problem for us.
G2A.com
With a similar profile to Gamivo, G2A.com specializes in digital products and gaming hardware. Our test purchases have revealed cracked software on this marketplace as well.
Not a lot of information is available about the marketplace’s sellers, though their user ratings are visible and can help customers decide if a seller is legit - unless those reviews are, of course, fake.
Sythe.org
Although not a marketplace in the classic sense of the word, Sythe.org facilitates interaction between buyers and sellers in the gaming community. It operates as a forum, with several users selling goods either via direct messaging or through a link to their webshop. Many visitors seek in-game items and keys from sellers and other community members.
Unfortunately, as our test purchases have proved, fake and cracked software is also on offer here, which is why online brand protection experts can’t ignore internet forums like this.
DIY, Print on demand
Turbosquid
Turbosquid offers 3D-printed models of various items. Customers can choose models or texture maps of cars, animals, dolls, architecture, furniture, and much more. Unfortunately, dishonest customers can use this service to create counterfeit versions of brand products.
Another concern is safety: customers can come to serious harm if Turbosquid-printed items are mistaken for (or deliberately chosen to use instead of) originals.
Screenshot of a 3D printed steering wheel model on turbosquid.com
Thingiverse
Similar to Turbosquid, the adequately named Thingiverse offers 3D-printed models based on designs available on the marketplace or uploaded by a user. This means that anything and everything can be uploaded and printed on the platform, including fake branded models.
Since users can upload their designs without any hindrance, we’ve encountered many IP-infringing listings on the platform. Luckily, thanks to our excellent cooperation with the marketplace, we never face any trouble when requesting takedowns.
Redbubble
Featured in our article about print-on-demand services, Redbubble is one of the many marketplaces offering to print and sell users’ designs on various items like T-shirts, mugs, stationery, and stickers.
While this business model is great for budding artists, it’s also a fertile breeding ground for IP infringements. Many users aren’t even aware that they’re hurting a brand’s IP rights when incorporating imagery or pictures into their designs.
Because of the immense number of small IP-infringements, we established a fruitful cooperation with Redbubble and installed proactive takedowns, which enable us to eliminate many IP-infringing listings quickly and effectively.
Etsy
Etsy started as a platform for handcrafted and vintage items listed by individuals. Nowadays, the marketplace is bigger and features professional third-party sellers as well. This resulted in a larger number of IP-infringing products appearing on the platform. Earlier, as in the case of Redbubble, we mostly had to deal with hobby craftspeople who were sometimes not even aware that they were infringing on a brand’s IP rights.
Some of the newer products are, in fact, quite surprising. For example, who would have thought a few years ago that we’d find and remove cracked software from this platform?
We have conducted several successful test purchases and ensuing takedowns on Etsy.
Home decor and furniture
Maisons du Monde
Founded in 1996, Maisons du Monde is a French hybrid retailer of furniture and home decor products. The marketplace is available both online and in over 340 physical stores across Europe. Besides products, Maisons du Monde offers design ideas, style guides, and even a second-hand marketplace for gently used items previously purchased on the marketplace.
Screenshot of the homepage of www.maisonsdumonde.com/FR/fr
As the platform works with third-party sellers, there’s a chance of encountering counterfeits and especially grey market products on the marketplace.
Home24
Home24 is an all-around interior design marketplace that offers a curated selection of home, living, and garden products. The platform is based in Germany and ships products to several major European markets. Similar to Maisons du Monde, Home24 also uses a hybrid business approach where physical stores showcase a selection of the products available on the extensive online marketplace.
Home24 sells both third-party products and its own designs under the brand names KINX and Smood.
BUT
BUT is a French marketplace offering furniture and household equipment like refrigerators and washing machines. Similar to Maisons du Monde and Home24, BUT runs both an online marketplace and physical stores.
BUT offers several perks to its customers, including an online kitchen design tool and a second-hand marketplace for used products previously bought on the platform.
Yatego
An all-around marketplace with a strong home category trying to compete with Amazon and eBay, Yatego is a German marketplace offering several product categories like fashion, lifestyle, furniture, electronics, and toys.
Third-party sellers on the marketplace disclose their location, which is very helpful if customers want to avoid surprisingly long delivery times and, quite often, fake products arriving from countries known for counterfeiting.
We’ve encountered a small number of IP-infringing products on this marketplace. Thanks to our good cooperation, takedowns are easy to achieve.
Wayfair
Wayfair is a popular marketplace offering furniture and other household items like curtains, mattresses, and kitchenware. Wayfair was originally also available in Germany and Austria, but has not been accepting new orders from these countries since the beginning of 2025. The former websites are also no longer accessible.
As the platform doesn’t disclose information about its sellers, customers don’t know who they’re ordering from. This certainly increases the chances of IP-infringing products appearing on the marketplace, like goods that copy others’ designs. Grey marketing is also a tangible threat on this platform.
Screenshot of a former listing on wayfair.de
Pets and animal supplies
Chewy
US-based marketplace Chewy caters to every need of pets, from food to litter to toys and even pharma products. But not only can cat and dog owners find products for their pets here. Indeed, Chewy stocks items for livestock like chickens, horses, and goats, small birds (both wild and domesticated), as well as reptiles and amphibians.
In addition, Chewy offers comprehensive veterinarian care, including a free live chat with vets and even health insurance for pets.#
Zooplus
Headquartered in Germany, Zooplus ships pet supplies like kennels, food, litter, carry cages, etc. across Europe. The platform stocks over 8,000 products, including specialized food for various medical conditions, from top brands in the industry like Royal Canin and Hill’s. Customer service teams in five major European cities, like Munich, London, and Strasbourg, ensure fast and secure service six days a week.
Screenshot of zooplus.com displaying products for aquatic animals
Petco
Another US-based marketplace, Petco, is also available in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Catering to every possible need of pet owners, Petco sells food, treats, habitat, toys, and much more for cats, dogs, fish, small rodents, and reptiles.
Besides the online marketplace, Petco also runs over 1,500 physical stores in all of its markets. In addition to actual products, the company offers various services like pet grooming, veterinary advice, pet insurance, and dog training.
Health, wellness, and fitness
Alo Yoga
Based in Los Angeles, Alo Yoga offers high-end fitness clothing for yoga, pilates, and outdoor sports like tennis and running. The term Alo is short for air, land, and ocean. Besides selling products online, Alo Yoga also runs physical stores and offers lifestyle advice about training and mindfulness. In addition, the company hosts community events.
Alo Yoga’s online marketplace is available all over the globe, as the company offers worldwide shipping to customers located outside of the US. Interestingly, Alo Yoga runs its online store on Shopify.
Muscle and Strength
Another US-based shop, Muscle and Strength, sells fitness dietary supplements like protein powder and fat loss products. Shoppers can filter products by type, brand, or goal (build muscle, lose fat, etc.)
The platform also offers lifestyle advice, diet and training plans, healthy recipes, and an extensive blog on all things fitness. Muscle and Strength ships its products to over 140 countries across the world.
Screenshot of muscleandstrength.com displaying the platform’s homepage
Thrive Market
Thrive Market is a US-based online grocery store offering organic and healthy products in categories like meat, snacks, beverages, and frozen food. In addition to everyday groceries, Thrive Market also sells vitamins, food supplements, cleaning products, and even pet food.
The marketplace works on a membership basis where members pay an annual fee for the chance to get home-delivered products from Thrive Market. The platform offers personalized recommendations, savings, and pledges to work with healthy, organic, and non-GMO ingredients.
iHerb
Founded in 1996, iHerb is an international marketplace of over 50,000 health supplements, beauty products, groceries, as well as baby and pet care products.
The platform is available in over 180 countries worldwide, and prides itself on being the sole seller of its products. This means that iHerb doesn’t work with third-party sellers, which greatly reduces the risk of running into counterfeits or grey market products on the platform.
Other
Facebook groups
Although we can’t call them a marketplace (unlike real marketplaces of the social media giant like Shops and, well, Marketplace), Facebook buying groups are certainly places of interest for online brand protection experts.
Some of these special interest groups can have millions of members, and quite a few sellers have found this to be a great business opportunity. Some groups even have over a hundred thousand active sellers offering products to a target audience that has already displayed an interest in the subject. This can quickly become a breeding ground for counterfeits and grey market products.
Luckily, our social media monitoring service includes these groups, and thanks to our excellent cooperation with Facebook, we have conducted several test purchases and takedowns for our clients.
Conclusion
Niche marketplaces provide immense opportunities for brands to find a specific audience. However, if they remain unchecked, these marketplaces can also do a lot of harm to brands, e.g., IP infringements, or the loss of revenue and reputation. Especially since some dishonest sellers, after having been kicked out of major marketplaces, regard these lesser-known platforms as a last resort to reach clients.
A comprehensive online brand protection program ensures that infringing listings on these marketplaces can be found and dealt with quickly and effectively.