The UK marketplace guide: which channels suit your products?

A plain-English comparison of Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Temu, OnBuy and UK retailer marketplaces: who each suits, how the fees work and how orders get fulfilled.

There is no single best UK marketplace. The right mix depends on what you sell, your margins and how you want to fulfil orders. As a starting point: Amazon UK suits branded and replenishable products that shoppers search for; eBay UK suits broad catalogues, including used and refurbished goods; Etsy suits handmade, vintage and personalised items; TikTok Shop suits products that sell well on video and through creators; Temu suits value-led lines you can price sharply from UK stock; and OnBuy and retailer marketplaces such as B&Q, Debenhams, Tesco and Decathlon can add reach in specific categories. Most established sellers do better running two or three channels well than many channels badly.

Fee figures below come from each marketplace's official pages at the time of writing (November 2026). Fees change often and VAT treatment differs between platforms, so check the current fee page before you set prices.

Amazon UK and eBay UK: the generalists

Amazon UK is search-led: customers often arrive knowing what they want. It suits brands and resellers with products that have clear demand and enough margin to cover fees and advertising.

• Fee model: a selling plan plus a referral fee on each sale. At the time of writing (November 2026), the Individual plan costs £0.75 per item sold and the Professional plan £25 a month, both excluding VAT. Referral fees are a percentage of the total sale price including delivery, or a per-item minimum, and Amazon says most are between 8% and 15%.
• Fulfilment: ship orders yourself, or use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), which adds per-unit fulfilment fees and monthly storage fees. Amazon has said its FBA fuel and logistics surcharge rises from 1.5% to 2% from 2 November 2026.
• Category range: very broad, from clothing and home to electronics and grocery.

eBay UK suits sellers of new, used and refurbished goods, collectables and parts, and anyone with a wide or frequently changing catalogue.

• Fee model for business sellers: insertion fees once you exceed your free listing allowance (shop subscriptions start at £27 a month for a Basic shop), plus a final value fee on the total sale amount including postage. At the time of writing (November 2026), typical rates are 9.9% for categories such as computers, phones and video games, 10.9% for categories such as toys, garden and health and beauty, 11.9% for clothes, shoes and accessories and 12.9% for crafts, pet supplies and everything else. Add £0.30 per order for orders of £10 or less, £0.40 above £10, and a 0.35% regulatory operating fee. Fees exclude VAT, and sellers below eBay's performance standards pay a surcharge.
• Private sellers: no final value fees or regulatory operating fees on most sales, with exceptions such as vehicles.
• Fulfilment: you ship orders yourself or through your logistics partner.

Etsy and TikTok Shop: niche and social

Etsy is built for handmade, vintage, personalised and craft products, and buyers come looking for something distinctive.

• Fee model at the time of writing (November 2026): a listing fee of US$0.20 per item, a 6.5% transaction fee on the order total including delivery and gift wrap, and payment processing of 4% plus £0.20 per order for UK bank accounts. UK sellers also pay a regulatory operating fee. Orders attributed to Etsy's Offsite Ads carry a 15% fee, or 12% for shops with US$10,000 or more in sales over the previous year, capped at US$100 per order. A one-off shop set-up fee may apply.
• Fulfilment: you ship orders yourself.

TikTok Shop is discovery-led. Sales come from short videos, LIVE sessions and affiliate creators rather than from search, so it suits products that are easy to demonstrate and have broad appeal.

• Fee model: at the time of writing (November 2026), a 9% platform commission, inclusive of VAT, on the order total including customer-paid shipping. Some electronics and beauty categories, and new sellers completing missions, can get lower rates. Affiliate commission, shipping and advertising are extra.
• Fulfilment: Ship by TikTok (the default for UK orders), Ship by Seller, or Fulfilled by TikTok Shop. Orders must be packed within two working days.
• Requirements: a UK company or eligible sole trader, a UK bank account and stock held in the UK.

Temu and OnBuy: value and challenger channels

Temu's local seller programme lets UK businesses reach Temu's price-conscious shoppers while shipping from UK stock.

• Fee model: Temu describes onboarding as free, but we could not find a published standard commission rate for UK local sellers at the time of writing (November 2026). Fees are shown in Seller Center and your seller agreement.
• Fulfilment: you ship orders and handle UK returns. Royal Mail's Click & Drop can import Temu orders and send tracking back.
• Suits: value-led, bulky and everyday products where UK delivery speed and keen pricing matter.

OnBuy is a general marketplace that also offers selling in 21 locations, with stock, pricing and delivery managed separately for each.

• Fee model at the time of writing (November 2026): a monthly package starting at £25, plus a selling fee per sale. The standard selling fee is 15% for most products, with different rates in some categories, for example 7% for consumer electronic devices and large appliances, 8% for games consoles, 10% for beer, wine and spirits, 13% for tools and DIY, and 20% for jewellery. There is a minimum fee of £0.25 per product, and fees are subject to VAT where applicable.
• Requirements: OnBuy asks for a trading track record, including 50 reviews from the last 12 months with at least 90% rated four or five stars, plus GTINs for your products.
• Fulfilment: you ship orders yourself and need a returns solution.

Retailer marketplaces: B&Q, Debenhams, Tesco and Decathlon

Several UK retailers let third-party sellers list alongside their own ranges. These marketplaces tend to be selective, and fees and terms are usually agreed during onboarding rather than published in full, but they put your products in front of a retailer's existing customers.

• B&Q (diy.com): home improvement, DIY and outdoor products. B&Q says merchants pay a subscription fee plus commission when a product sells, and that merchants hold their own stock and ship orders themselves.
• Debenhams: Debenhams Group runs a marketplace-led model across Debenhams, boohoo and PrettyLittleThing and says it has more than 30,000 brand partners. It suits brands that want a department-store setting.
• Tesco Marketplace: launched in 2024 and moved to the Mirakl platform in late 2025, it offers products Tesco does not stock itself alongside its own range.
• Decathlon UK: sport and fitness, covering more than 70 sports, with third-party products listed alongside Decathlon's own. Decathlon selects its partners.

Before applying to a retailer marketplace, prepare clean product data, compliance documents and evidence that you can meet delivery and returns standards.

How to choose your first channels

• Start with margin: for each channel, calculate what is left after fees, fulfilment, returns, advertising and VAT.
• Match how customers buy: search-led on Amazon and eBay, discovery-led on TikTok Shop, gift and handmade on Etsy, price-led on Temu, and category-led on retailer marketplaces.
• Be honest about fulfilment: seller-fulfilled channels need reliable, fast dispatch. If you cannot offer that, look at FBA or TikTok's fulfilment options.
• Check compliance: category approvals, UK product safety rules and, if you sell to the EU or Northern Ireland, the GPSR.
• Launch in sequence: get one or two channels stable before adding more, and keep stock synced to avoid overselling.
• Review regularly: fees change often, so revisit your channel margins every quarter.

How Farioxa can help

Farioxa helps UK sellers choose and run the right mix of marketplaces, from research and account setup to listings, advertising, operations and customer service across Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Temu, OnBuy and more than 90 other marketplaces. We can model your margins channel by channel so your decisions rest on your own numbers.