{"id":1593,"date":"2026-02-26T23:25:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newcraft.dev\/posts\/\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T00:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:09:16","slug":"onbuy-vs-amazon-uk-why-shopify-sellers-are-expanding-to-onbuy","status":"publish","type":"marketing-post","link":"https:\/\/newcraft.dev\/nl\/posts\/onbuy-vs-amazon-uk-why-shopify-sellers-are-expanding-to-onbuy\/","title":{"rendered":"OnBuy vs Amazon UK: Why Shopify Sellers Are Expanding to OnBuy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OnBuy vs Amazon UK is a comparison worth making before you decide where to sell next. OnBuy charges lower fees, doesn’t sell its own competing products, and has significantly less seller competition right now. Amazon has far more traffic. Which one wins depends entirely on what you’re selling and how you’re set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTL;DR:<\/strong> OnBuy charges lower commissions, doesn’t compete with its own sellers, and skips the pay-per-click ad model entirely. For Shopify sellers already managing their own fulfillment, it’s a compelling second channel. Here’s how it compares to Amazon UK, with real numbers. Connect your store with our Shopify OnBuy integration<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fee Comparison That Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let’s start with the numbers, because everything else is just marketing unless the economics work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fee Type<\/th>OnBuy<\/th>Amazon UK<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Monthly subscription<\/td>From 25 pounds\/month + VAT<\/td>25 pounds\/month (excl. VAT)<\/td><\/tr>
Sales commission<\/td>5-15% (category-dependent)<\/td>8-15% (category-dependent)<\/td><\/tr>
Listing fees<\/td>None<\/td>None (Professional plan)<\/td><\/tr>
Fulfillment fees (FBA)<\/td>N\/A (seller-fulfilled only)<\/td>Varies by size and weight<\/td><\/tr>
Storage fees<\/td>N\/A<\/td>Monthly + long-term surcharges<\/td><\/tr>
Advertising<\/td>None available<\/td>PPC campaigns (effectively required)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, the subscription costs look similar. But the total cost of selling diverges fast once you factor in what Amazon charges beyond the referral fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commission Rates: Where OnBuy Pulls Ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most OnBuy categories charge between 5% and 9% commission. Consumer electronics sits around 7%. Fashion and books are higher at around 15%. Amazon’s referral fees range from 8% to 15% across most categories, with a minimum of 25p per item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 2026, Amazon announced fee reductions averaging 15p per unit across European stores, plus referral cuts for clothing (down to 5% on items under 15 pounds, and 10% for items between 15 and 20 pounds). So the gap is narrowing in some categories, but OnBuy still comes in lower for many product types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real difference isn’t in the commission percentages alone. It’s in everything else Amazon charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hidden Costs of Amazon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you pay pick-and-pack fees per unit, monthly storage fees per cubic foot, and long-term storage surcharges for inventory that sits longer than 180 days. These costs add up fast, especially for bulky or slow-moving products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there’s advertising. Amazon’s search results heavily favor sponsored products. Most sellers report that advertising spend of 10-25% of revenue is needed to maintain visibility. That’s not a fee Amazon labels as “required,” but in practice, it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OnBuy has no advertising platform. Products rank organically based on price, seller rating, and delivery speed. You either compete on those metrics or you don’t. There’s no option to buy your way to the top of search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competing Against the Marketplace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the structural difference that matters most. Amazon sells its own products. Amazon Basics, Amazon Essentials, and dozens of private-label brands compete directly with third-party sellers on the same search results pages. Amazon controls the Buy Box algorithm, the search rankings, and the product recommendations. And Amazon’s own products benefit from all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OnBuy doesn’t sell anything. It’s a pure marketplace. The company makes money from seller subscriptions and commissions, period. There’s no incentive for OnBuy to disadvantage third-party sellers, because third-party sellers are the only sellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Shopify merchants who’ve built their own brands, this matters. You’re not training a competitor by sharing your sales data with the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulfillment: The One Area Amazon Wins Clearly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FBA is genuinely excellent infrastructure. Send your inventory to Amazon’s warehouses, and they handle storage, picking, packing, shipping, and returns. It’s expensive, but it works. Customers get Prime delivery speeds, and your seller rating benefits from Amazon’s logistics network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OnBuy doesn’t offer anything equivalent. Sellers handle their own fulfillment or use third-party logistics providers. If you already fulfill your own Shopify orders, this isn’t a problem. You’re already doing it. But if your entire business is built around FBA, switching to OnBuy means rebuilding your fulfillment setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Shopify sellers who ship their own orders, this is actually neutral. You’re already managing fulfillment. Adding OnBuy just means more orders to ship, handled the same way. With an OnBuy Shopify integration<\/a>, those orders appear in your Shopify admin alongside your direct-to-consumer orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audience Size: The Honest Trade-Off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Amazon UK dominates online retail. Its traffic dwarfs OnBuy’s 3.5 million monthly visits. If reach is your only concern, Amazon wins. It’s not close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But reach isn’t everything. OnBuy’s customer base is growing at 50% year-over-year, they’ve reported 224% annual revenue growth, and more than half of UK customers make repeat purchases. The audience is smaller but engaged and expanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OnBuy is also pushing into Europe. They’ve launched in 12 EU countries with 308% sales growth during the beta phase. We cover this in detail in our article on OnBuy’s European expansion<\/a>. For sellers already thinking about cross-border sales, that’s a runway worth watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Sellers Benefit Most from OnBuy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

OnBuy makes the most sense for Shopify sellers who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n