Selling online
Do you need an online shop? How to take card payments? Which platform won't turn into a money pit? The UK founder's guide to selling online.
Last verified January 2025
Not every founder needs an online shop. If you’re a consultant, a freelancer, or a local service business, you need a way to take payments, not necessarily a full e-commerce platform. Getting this distinction right saves you thousands in platform fees.
Do you actually need e-commerce?
Answer this question honestly: are you selling products that customers browse and add to a cart? Or are you invoicing clients, taking deposits, or selling a single service?
If it’s the latter: skip e-commerce platforms entirely. Use Stripe directly, or send invoices through your accounting software (FreeAgent and Xero both include payment links). Far simpler, far cheaper.
If you’re selling physical products, digital downloads, or subscription boxes: yes, you need a proper e-commerce platform.
The e-commerce decision for UK founders
Shopify is the default for a reason. It handles payments (including UK card fees, typically 1.7% for their own payment gateway, or external processors for slightly less), tax calculations, delivery zones, inventory, and has thousands of integrations. The downside is cost: £25/month on the basic plan, and you’ll likely add one or two apps that each charge separately.
WooCommerce (WordPress plugin) is free to install but requires hosting (£5–10/month), and the total cost of ownership creeps up with paid plugins. Better if you have some technical ability and want more control.
Squarespace/Wix commerce is fine for very simple shops: a handful of products, no complex variants. Falls apart quickly when you need real inventory management.
Etsy if you’re making handmade or vintage items: the marketplace demand is already there. The downside is 6.5% transaction fees and zero control over your customer relationship.
🇬🇧 UK distance selling and consumer rights
Selling online to UK consumers means you must comply with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013: 14-day return window, clear pre-contract information (product description, total price including VAT, your business details), and confirmation of the contract by email. HMRC also expects you to apply the correct VAT rate per product category; Shopify can handle this automatically for UK VAT-registered sellers.
Payment processing outside of Shopify
If you’re not using Shopify, you need a payment processor:
Stripe: highly flexible, 1.5% + 20p per UK card transaction, excellent documentation, supports subscriptions, invoices, and payment links. Works with any website or even a simple link.
SumUp and Square are better if you need a physical card reader too; the same account works for in-person and online payments.
PayPal is widely trusted by consumers and worth enabling as an additional option, but at 3.4% + 30p for standard transactions it’s expensive as your primary processor.
Start your Shopify free trial
From £25/month - 3-day free trial
Start simple
My strong advice: start simpler than you think you need to. If you’re testing a product idea, sell the first 20 units through a Stripe payment link and a spreadsheet for orders. This tells you whether your product actually sells before you invest in a full platform.
When you’ve validated demand and you’re processing more than 20–30 orders a month, that’s when Shopify’s inventory management and integration ecosystem starts to justify the cost.