OnBuy vs Amazon UK: Fees, Joining Rules and Selling on Both
For UK sellers of new, barcoded goods deciding between OnBuy and Amazon, or how to run both.
7 days for £1, then from £9/month.
- OnBuy is for businesses: you pay to apply, then a monthly subscription. Amazon also lets you start on a pay-as-you-sell plan at 75p per item.
- Both charge a percentage of each sale that depends on the category, and both put your offer on a shared product page.
- Amazon’s Professional plan is £25 a month excluding VAT, and it beats the Individual plan once you sell about 34 items a month.
- FLUF Connect lists to both, but it does not see sales on either. If these are your only two channels, you mark each sale in FLUF and it ends the other listing.
- Try it with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month.
Who each marketplace is for
Both are UK marketplaces for new, branded goods that already have a barcode. A buyer searches for a product, lands on one page for it, and picks between the sellers offering it. Neither is a place for one-off second-hand items with your own photos.
The difference is who can join and how. OnBuy’s seller terms define a seller as a business, and joining means an application with a non-refundable fee. Amazon lets an individual open an account on the Individual plan and pay only when something sells, so it is the easier one to test with a few items.
If you already trade as a business with a steady range of stock, you can use both. If you are clearing a garage of new-in-box items, start on Amazon.
What each one charges
OnBuy. Under OnBuy’s terms you pay an application fee, which becomes your first month’s subscription if you are accepted. After that the subscription is taken in advance every month, whether or not you sell. Each order carries a sales fee, a percentage set by the product category, worked out on the listing price plus delivery. Listing is free. If you refund a buyer, OnBuy returns that share of the sales fee and charges a refund administration fee of 20% of it, at least 25p and at most £5 per line.
Amazon. Amazon UK’s Individual plan costs 75p per item sold and the Professional plan £25 a month, both excluding VAT. On top, every sale pays a referral fee by category. Toys and Games is 15%. Home products are 8% up to £20 and 15% above. Clothing and Accessories runs from 5% on items up to £15 to 15% above £20.
Here is the Amazon side on a £40 toy. The referral fee is 15%, so £6.00. On the Individual plan add 75p, making £6.75 for that sale. On Professional you pay the £25 monthly fee instead, which is cheaper once you pass about 34 sales a month. For the same toy on OnBuy, look up the toy category’s sales fee in your seller account, add your share of the monthly subscription, and compare.
Getting seen on a shared product page
On both marketplaces several sellers can offer the same product, so winning the sale is about your offer, not your photos. OnBuy’s terms describe a “Lead Listing”, the offer it judges strongest on price, delivery, customer reviews and other factors. Only a Lead Listing can be promoted with OnBuy Ads, which you pay for per click or per impression, excluding VAT. OnBuy also sells an optional Boost for extra visibility.
That ordering matters for your plan. Paying for ads does not help until your price and delivery promise already make you the lead offer. Get those right first, then decide whether a bid is worth it for your best sellers.
Rules that catch new sellers
OnBuy’s terms contain three that are easy to miss:
- Prohibited products cost money. If OnBuy identifies a listing as a prohibited product and you do not fix it within 30 days of being told, you pay an operational cost recovery fee of 7.5% a month of what buyers paid on that listing. Check OnBuy’s prohibited products list before you bring a whole catalogue across.
- No inserts. You may not put promotional material inside the parcel, and you may not try to persuade buyers to purchase through other means.
- Dispatch promises are binding. You set a handling time of up to 10 days and a delivery timeframe of 1 to 30 days. Priority orders placed before your cut-off must leave the same day. If you miss the delivery timeframe, OnBuy may refund the buyer from your sale money, and an order not marked dispatched within 30 days is cancelled and refunded automatically.
- Shared pages are not yours to edit. If another seller already uses a product page and you want its details changed, you send OnBuy a request, and OnBuy can refuse it.
Amazon’s seller code of conduct is stricter still on contact: marketing messages to buyers are banned, and you may use a buyer’s details only to fulfil their order. On either marketplace, the buyer belongs to the marketplace.
When the money arrives
OnBuy lets you request a withdrawal no later than 7 days after the end of the delivery timeframe, and starts the payout by the end of the next business day. So a long delivery timeframe on a listing also means a longer wait for that money. UK sales are paid in pounds, and if you choose to make a listing available for EU sales, those are paid in euros.
Selling on both with FLUF Connect
Listing the same stock on both doubles the buyers who see it, and doubles the chance of selling the last unit twice. FLUF lists to both and ends a listing when the item sells elsewhere, but it does not detect a sale on either OnBuy or Amazon.
| OnBuy | Amazon | |
|---|---|---|
| How you connect | Your OnBuy seller account details | Sign in with your Amazon seller account |
| Who can connect | UK sellers | Sellers on Amazon’s UK and other supported stores |
| FLUF lists here | Yes | Yes, merchant-fulfilled offers |
| FLUF sees a sale here | No, mark it sold in FLUF | No, mark it sold in FLUF |
| FLUF ends the listing here when the item sells elsewhere | Yes | Yes |
| Relisting and offer management | Not available | Not available |
In practice: when an order arrives on either marketplace, mark the item sold in FLUF while you pack it, and FLUF ends the other listing. Add a channel where FLUF does see sales, such as your own Shopify or WooCommerce shop or eBay, and a sale there ends both the OnBuy and Amazon listings with nothing to do.
How much FLUF Connect costs
Crosslisting and inventory sync are on every plan. Start with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month, then plans from £9/month.
| Plan | Monthly | Crosslisted products |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | £9/month | Unlimited |
| Seller | £29/month | Unlimited |
| Pro | £99/month | Unlimited |
| Super Seller | Custom pricing — tell us what you need | Unlimited |
Sources
- OnBuy: Seller Terms v3.0.0 (PDF)
- OnBuy: Prohibited products
- Amazon UK: selling plans and referral fees
- Amazon: Selling policies and seller code of conduct (PDF)
Sources checked September 2026.
Related guides
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your volume and category. OnBuy has an application fee and a monthly subscription plus a category sales fee. Amazon has a 75p-per-item Individual plan or a £25-a-month Professional plan, plus a category referral fee.
OnBuy's seller terms describe sellers as businesses and joining involves an application fee. Amazon's Individual plan is the easier start for a private seller.
At about 34 items a month. Below that, 75p per item on the Individual plan costs less than £25 a month, both excluding VAT.
You can request a withdrawal no later than 7 days after the end of the order's delivery timeframe, and OnBuy starts the payout by the end of the next business day.
No. Mark the item sold in FLUF and it ends the listing on your other channels. A sale on a channel where FLUF sees orders, such as Shopify or eBay, ends both listings for you.
Yes, if you opt in. OnBuy's terms let you mark each listing for UK sales, EU sales or both. EU orders are paid in euros through OnBuy's European company, separately from your sterling balance.
No. OnBuy's terms ban promotional material inside the packaging.
FLUF connects OnBuy for UK sellers only.