Ecommerce, written plainly.
Notes from the team building Orbit: practical, checked-against-the-source writing on running an online shop, with none of the usual filler.
Start here.
The reads to open first: the rules and numbers every UK shop runs on, checked against the source.
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.
Royal Mail or a courier? Shipping for a small UK shop
Current prices compared properly: the Large Letter trick, the compensation small print, and when each option actually wins. Checked June 2026.
Everything else.
Filed by theme. Read what's useful to you, skip what isn't.
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.
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.
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.
Facebook and Instagram shopping for UK sellers: what a catalogue actually gets you
A Meta catalogue turns your products into taggable, advertisable items across Facebook and Instagram. What it enables, what changed about checkout, and the honest case for a small UK shop.
How to write product titles that actually get found on Google Shopping
The title is the single field with the most influence over whether your product appears at all. A formula that works, the words to cut, and why your favourite product name is probably costing you sales.
Snapchat for small shops: who it works for, and who should skip it
A product catalogue on Snapchat unlocks dynamic ads to a young, mobile audience. Honestly assessed: the shops it suits, the shops it does not, and what setup actually involves.
Performance Max for small UK shops: the maths to do before you spend anything
Google’s automated campaign type can work well for small shops and can also quietly drain a budget. The break-even calculation, the settings that matter, and how to tell which is happening.
Selling on Amazon and your own website: how to run both without overselling
Amazon brings volume you cannot build alone. Your own site keeps the margin and the customer. Running both from one stock count is the whole trick, and it is simpler than most people set it up to be.
eBay and your own shop: running both from one stock count
eBay still moves serious volume for the right products, and it costs you a fee per sale rather than a monthly subscription. How to run it alongside your own site without double-selling or double-keying.
How to sell on Google Shopping in the UK (2026): from zero to live listings
The complete UK guide to Google Shopping: Merchant Center setup, the product data Google actually requires, free listings versus paid ads, and the image deadline landing in January 2027. Requirements checked 20 August 2026.
Google Merchant Center for UK sellers: setup, verification, and the errors that stop your products showing
How to set Merchant Center up properly the first time, and a plain-English fix for every disapproval that commonly blocks UK products, ranked by how often it bites. Checked 20 August 2026.
How to get your products on Google for free (no ads, no budget)
Free product listings put your catalogue across Google Search, Images, Lens, the Shopping tab, YouTube, Maps and Gemini without a Google Ads account. What it takes, what it will not do, and why most small UK shops never qualify. Checked 20 August 2026.
How to start an online store in the UK: the complete step-by-step guide (2026)
The complete 12-step guide to starting an online shop in the UK: HMRC rules, real card fees, legal must-haves and your first ten sales. Prices checked 7 August 2026.
25 trending products to sell online in the UK (2026)
25 products with real UK demand: every trend checked 7 August 2026. Energy-saving home kit, padel, pet supplements, matcha, refurb tech, plus how to validate demand before you buy stock.
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.
30 online business ideas you can run from home in the UK
30 online business ideas that genuinely run from a UK home: honest £ startup bands (key costs checked 7 August 2026), why each works, and the first step for each.
Side hustles UK: 30 ideas that actually pay in 2026
30 UK side hustles with honest earning bands, checked 7 August 2026: plus the £1,000 trading allowance and HMRC’s platform-reporting rules in plain English.
How to make money online in the UK: 25 legit ways (2026)
25 legit ways to make money online in the UK, ranked honestly by effort and reward: from your own shop to pocket-money surveys. Fees and rates checked 7 August 2026.
How to start a business with no money in the UK (actually £0 vs nearly £0, honestly)
The honest split between genuinely £0 routes and nearly-£0 ones, plus the free UK arsenal: £1,000 trading allowance, free banks, free tools. Checked 7 August 2026.
How to start a candle business in the UK: CLP labels, insurance and real costs
CLP labels, BS EN safety standards, £69-a-year insurance and what a 30cl candle really costs to make: supply prices checked 7 August 2026 against UK suppliers.
How to start a clothing brand in the UK: 14 steps
The 14-step UK route from first sketch to first sale: real sampling costs (checked 7 August 2026), low-minimum UK manufacturers, labelling law and honest margins.
How to start a jewellery business in the UK: hallmarking rules included
Silver over 7.78g legally needs a hallmark before you can sell it as silver: most start-up guides never mention it. The full UK guide, costs checked 7 August 2026.
How to start a soap and bath bomb business in the UK (CPSR explained)
Soap and bath bombs are cosmetics in UK law: no craft exemption. Real CPSR costs (£55–£180, checked 7 August 2026), SCPN notification and honest startup maths.
How to sell food online in the UK: registration, allergen labelling and your first 10 orders
Registering with your council is free and can’t be refused: you just need 28 days’ notice. The hard part is allergen law. Checked against gov.uk and food.gov.uk, 7 August 2026.
Print on demand UK: the best suppliers with UK fulfilment, and how to start
We verified base costs, UK production sites and dispatch times for seven print on demand suppliers with genuine UK fulfilment (checked 7 August 2026): plus the margin maths most guides skip.
Dropshipping in the UK: how to start legally in 2026 (HMRC, VAT and the honest odds)
Dropshipping is legal in the UK, but the VAT, customs and refund obligations sit with you, not your supplier. The real rules, checked against gov.uk on 7 August 2026.
11 best UK dropshipping suppliers with fast UK shipping (vetted, 2026)
Eleven genuinely UK-warehoused dropshipping suppliers: niches, dispatch times, fees and minimums, all checked against live supplier sites on 7 August 2026.
How to price handmade products in the UK: the formula, with real numbers
The pricing formula UK makers actually need (materials, labour at £12.71/hr, overheads, ×2 wholesale, ×4 retail) with three worked examples priced 7 August 2026.
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.
How to name your UK business: Companies House rules, availability checks and names that sell
The Companies House name rules, the four availability checks (register, trade mark, domain, socials) and five naming formulas, checked 7 August 2026.
Small business grants UK: what’s actually available for new online sellers in 2026
Every scheme checked live on 7 August 2026: the grants genuinely open to UK online sellers, the famous ‘grants’ that are actually loans, and how to find local money.
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.
Shopify vs WooCommerce for UK shops, and the question behind it
Shopify vs WooCommerce for UK shops, judged on numbers: honest yearly costs at £30k, £100k and £300k turnover, and who does the maintenance. Prices checked 7 August 2026.
eBay vs your own website: what UK sellers actually keep
eBay gives you buyers on day one, and takes 17% or more of a typical business sale. Worked maths on a £30 order and a £2,000-a-month shop, fees checked 7 August 2026.
Multichannel selling software UK: what small shops actually need (and the enterprise bloat they don’t)
An honest map of multichannel selling software for small UK sellers: quote-only enterprise suites, connector tools from $39/mo, and built-in marketplace plugins. Prices checked 7 August 2026.
How much does an online shop cost in the UK? A line-by-line 2026 budget
From about £150 on a shoestring to £2,000 well-funded: every line item for starting a UK online shop, with prices checked 7 August 2026. No £3,000 agency quote required.
Do you need to register a business to sell online in the UK? The £1,000 rule, plainly
Not until trading sales pass £1,000 in a tax year, and clear-outs never count. The trading allowance, the 5 October HMRC deadline and what marketplaces report, checked on gov.uk 7 August 2026.
The best Shopify alternatives for UK businesses (2026)
Six real alternatives compared on what a UK shop actually pays (plan prices, card fees, the surcharge small print and turnover caps) checked against every pricing page on 21 July 2026.
The best ecommerce platform for a UK small business, by true cost
Seven platforms costed at £30k, £100k and £300k of annual sales (subscription, card fees, add-ons and the traps) using published UK prices checked 21 July 2026.
EKM vs ShopWired vs Bluepark: the UK-native platforms compared
The three British ecommerce stalwarts head-to-head in 2026, including EKM’s quiet exit from self-serve pricing, plus where Orbit fits as the fourth UK option.
Wix vs Shopify for UK sellers, and the third option
A straight UK comparison of Wix and Shopify (plans, VAT small print, card fees and caps, checked 21 July 2026) and where a UK-based platform beats both.
WooCommerce alternatives for UK stores (2026)
When maintaining WordPress stops being worth it: the hosted platforms worth moving to, what each really costs against your Woo stack, and the honest migration path.
Moving your shop from Shopify without breaking it
What exports cleanly, what you rebuild, the app audit that often pays for the move, and the redirect work that protects your rankings: with honest timings.
Leaving WooCommerce: when self-hosted stops being free
The honest sum of hosting, extensions and maintenance hours, who should stay on WooCommerce, and the migration path if the spreadsheet comes out the other way.
The real cost of a Shopify store in the UK (2026)
Plan prices, the third-party gateway surcharge, the app stack and the staff-account squeeze: itemised in pounds against published prices, checked June 2026.
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.
Selling wholesale without a second platform
How small UK wholesalers move from price spreadsheets and emailed orders to company accounts, negotiated price lists, and invoices on terms, and when a dedicated B2B platform still earns its keep.
Sole trader or limited company for your online shop
The old "go limited, save tax" advice died in April 2026. The current maths, the real admin, and when incorporating still makes sense, checked against gov.uk.
Returns and refunds: what UK law actually requires
The 14-day right, the 12-month trap for shops that stay quiet about it, who pays return postage, and the "no returns" sign that’s actually illegal.
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.
Royal Mail or a courier? Shipping for a small UK shop
Current prices compared properly: the Large Letter trick, the compensation small print, and when each option actually wins. Checked June 2026.
Launching a storefront that feels instant
What "fast" actually means for a store, what we focus on in Orbit, and the handful of things you can control as the merchant.
SEO that ships by default
Sitemaps, structured data, and clean metadata: what Orbit handles without you thinking about it, and what you still need to do yourself.
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.
Inventory and fulfilment without the chaos
A simple operating model that works whether you are doing 10 orders a month or 10,000, and keeps working as you add locations.
Stocky is retiring on 31 August 2026: a migration guide
Shopify is shutting down Stocky. What actually needs replacing, your realistic options, and how to carry your suppliers and purchase orders somewhere they keep working.
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