Starting
Ecommerce,
written plainly.
Plain answers on running a UK shop: tax, postage, platforms and selling channels, from the team building Orbit. Where a post quotes a price or a rule, it says when we checked it.
- 71 articles
- Written for UK shops
- Prices and rules dated when checked
- RSS feed for new posts
Three reads for three decisions.
Starting a shop, switching platform, or getting the tax right: the post to open first for each.
Switching
How to change ecommerce platform without losing your search rankings
The full replatforming process: redirect maps, what to copy exactly, what breaks silently. Checked against Google Search Central on 15 September 2026.15 Sept 2026, 10 min
Tax
UK VAT for online sellers, without the panic
The rolling threshold test everyone gets wrong, what actually changes when you register, and the flat-rate trap, checked against gov.uk, written plainly.10 Jun 2026, 11 minFiled where you would look for it.
Four topics, newest first. Pick a chip in the search bar to see just one.
Getting started
22 posts
Choosing what to sell, registering, budgeting and the first ten orders.
- How much does it cost to start dropshipping in the UK? 2026 figures
Incorporating a company is £100 now, not £12. Every startup cost itemised in pounds with its source, plus three 90-day budgets, all checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- Moving your shop off EKM, ShopWired or Bluepark: a UK runbook
What each platform lets you export, what never transfers, and the redirect work that protects your rankings. Prices and export docs checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Dropshipping, print on demand or wholesale: which suits a UK start
Dropshipping, print on demand, wholesale or marketplace only: who holds the risk, what each costs to start, the margin after UK fees and VAT (checked 15 September 2026).
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Selling digital products, subscriptions, services and gift cards (UK)
Downloads, subscriptions, bookings and gift cards from one UK shop: the VAT rules, the cancellation right and a three-app cost stack, checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- 50 small business ideas you can start in the UK (with startup costs in £)
50 small business ideas for the UK, grouped by theme, each with an honest startup cost band in £. Registration rules and fees checked 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 11 min
- 30 online business ideas you can run from home in the UK
30 online business ideas that run from a UK home: honest £ startup bands (key costs checked 7 August 2026), why each works, and the first step for each.
07 Aug 2026, 10 min
Try it
Fourteen days free, no card
Build the shop on a trial before you decide. Solo is £25 a month, £19 billed yearly.
Pricing
Every plan, in pounds
Solo, Team, Pro and Enterprise, side by side, each with its card rate.
Growth
27 posts
Google Shopping, feeds, marketplaces, platforms and where the next customers come from.
- Run your online shop from ChatGPT or Claude: what it can and can’t do
ChatGPT and Claude can both work your shop’s admin through MCP. We’d let one draft products but never refund an order. Sources checked 15 September 2026.
22 Sept 2026, 9 min
- How to dropship in the UK without Shopify: a requirements checklist
Seven things a shop has to do before it can dropship, then three platforms scored against them. Shopify UK plan prices checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Is dropshipping worth it in the UK? An honest answer with the numbers
The famous 90% failure rate has no traceable source. Here’s a break-even model instead, with platform and marketplace fees checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- Microsoft Shopping: the channel your competitors forgot, running on a feed you already have
Microsoft Merchant Center takes Google’s feed format directly, and will import your Google catalogue for you. Less competition, an older and wealthier audience, and about an hour of setup. Checked 21 August 2026.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- Selling on Pinterest: the channel where people are already planning to buy
Pinterest is a search engine people use while planning a wedding, a kitchen or Christmas. A product catalogue puts your items into those plans. What it suits, what it does not, and how to set it up.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- What a product feed actually is, and why GTIN, MPN and brand decide whether you get seen
Every shopping channel runs on the same thing: a machine-readable list of your products. Understand the file and its handful of important fields once, and every channel gets easier. Checked 21 August 2026.
21 Aug 2026, 9 min
Channels
Amazon, eBay and shopping feeds
The marketplace plugins have a free tier, with paid plans for bigger catalogues.
Nebula
The assistant inside the dashboard
Ask it to add a product and write the description, or to work out what to restock next.
Operations
17 posts
VAT, postage, returns, stock, bookkeeping and selling abroad.
- Best payment gateway for a UK small business: what it really costs
Stripe, PayPal, Square and Shopify UK card rates checked 15 September 2026, plus the platform surcharge most guides miss and a £45 order worked at three volumes.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- Dropshipping tax and VAT in the UK, explained with worked examples
Three worked examples in pounds: a side hustle under £1,000, a sole trader on £30,000, and a VAT-registered importer. Thresholds checked on gov.uk, 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 11 min
- Can you dropship on Amazon and eBay in the UK? The rules and fee maths
eBay allows wholesale dropshipping but bans buying from another retailer. Amazon wants you named as the only seller. Policies and fees checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Selling to the EU from the UK after the July 2026 parcel rules
The EU scrapped the under-EUR 150 duty exemption on 1 July 2026, and a GB seller still cannot register for IOSS directly. The real cost, checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- UK returns and refunds for dropshippers, with a policy you can copy
The 14 / 14 / 14 timings, who pays return postage, what to do when your supplier refuses the return, and a full un-gated policy template. Checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Ecommerce bookkeeping in the UK: getting sales into Xero or QuickBooks
A £1,000 sales day lands as a £963 payout, and posting the payout as income is the classic error. The clearing-account fix, checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
Inventory
Stock in every location, with a history
Every adjustment is recorded with the numbers before and after, and who made it.
Payouts and VAT
Exports your bookkeeper can use
Orders export as CSV, and every payout opens into the transactions behind it.
Conversion
5 posts
Checkout, abandoned carts, buy now pay later and product photos.
- Buy now, pay later for small UK shops after the FCA rules changed
The FCA started regulating buy now, pay later on 15 July 2026. What it means for your shop, what Klarna costs, and the break-even maths. Checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Product photography at home: a £30 setup for phone photos that don’t look like phone photos
The full product photography at home method: a £30 kit (prices checked 7 August 2026), the window-light technique, phone settings that matter and a five-shot list per product.
07 Aug 2026, 8 min
- 25 of the best UK online shops, and what to steal from each
25 real UK online shop examples, every site checked live on 7 August 2026, and the one design or conversion lesson worth stealing from each, grouped by theme.
07 Aug 2026, 10 min
- Abandoned carts: the order you nearly had
Most carts never become orders, and that is normal. What matters is why people leave, what a recovery email actually does, and how to measure what comes back without fooling yourself.
12 Jun 2026, 6 min
- Checkout quick wins that actually add up
Small changes that reduce friction at the point people bail: the ones we keep re-implementing for clients because they just work.
05 Oct 2025, 7 min
Abandoned carts
A reminder on the delay you choose
Included on every plan, with the click and the recovered cart recorded.
Discounts
Codes with a cap on value and uses
Percentage or money off the order, or free delivery, with a minimum spend if you want one.
Leaving a platform? Read the comparison first.
Eight comparisons with UK prices and a check date on each page, plus two shortlists.
How this blog is written.
Who writes the posts, and how the figures in them are checked.
Done reading? Start building.
Nebula comes with every plan, and you can cancel any time.