Sell car parts online in the UK: fitment notes, part numbers and returns, without “guaranteed fit”

This guide is for a UK car parts seller moving from an eBay shop or a trade counter to their own website, selling to home mechanics and small garages. It covers how to sell car parts online: listing a part so the buyer orders the right one, the law when a part does not fit, eBay and Amazon fees, posting awkward items and surcharges on exchange units. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, a hosted ecommerce platform, so weigh the Orbit sections accordingly. Every law and price below was read at its source on 9 November 2026.

What fitment information does a car parts listing need?

A parts listing is a set of facts the buyer matches against a car you cannot see. Each listing needs:

1. Your part number and the maker’s number, in the title too, where a buyer who knows the part will search.
2. OE references and cross-references, so a buyer with the old box can match it.
3. A “Listed for” list in words: make, model, years, engine, position and the exceptions, such as a disc diameter.
4. Fitment notes saying what to compare on the old part: diameter, length, connector, thread.
5. Photos that answer questions: the part alone, the label legible, the connector close up, one shot beside a ruler.
6. What is in the box and how it fits, ending “If you are not confident, have it fitted by a qualified mechanic.”

Three phrases do a guarantee’s work without making one: “Listed for”, “Check the fitment notes” and “Compare with the part you are replacing”. The buyer reaches the part by picking the make and model from your categories and vehicle tags, or by typing a part number into search, and then checks the notes.

What does the law say when a part does not fit?

Three sections of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 decide it, all checked 9 November 2026. Section 9: goods must be of satisfactory quality, judged against their description, price and public statements such as advertising (section 9). Section 10: where the buyer makes a particular purpose known to you, the goods must be reasonably fit for it unless the buyer did not rely on your judgement (section 10). Section 11: goods must match their description, and the information you give about their main characteristics before a distance sale is a term of the contract (section 11). Your “Listed for” line is that information.

Section 19 sets out the remedies, and for repair, replacement and price reduction a part that fails within six months is taken not to have conformed on delivery unless you show otherwise (section 19):

Since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has also made false or misleading information relating to a product a misleading action (section 226), so a fitment claim you cannot stand behind is a consumer protection matter as well as a return. For your own case, ask a solicitor or Trading Standards.

Can a customer send back a part they ordered by mistake?

On a website sale, yes. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 a consumer may cancel without giving any reason (regulation 29) within 14 days after the goods come into their possession (regulation 30). They then have 14 days to send the part back, bearing the direct cost unless you agreed to pay or failed to tell them they would have to (regulation 35). You refund everything paid, including delivery at your cheapest standard rate, within 14 days of getting the part back or of proof of posting, by the same method, with no fee (regulation 34). All checked 9 November 2026.

Regulation 34 also lets you deduct, up to the price, for handling beyond what a shop would allow to check the goods. Fitting a part usually goes beyond that, so say in your terms that you will deduct, and photograph what comes back. The deduction is lost if you did not give the cancellation information in Schedule 2 (the right to cancel, with its conditions, time limit and procedure). Regulation 31 stretches the cancellation period by as long as 12 months for a shop that stays quiet.

“No returns on electrical parts” is a trade habit, not the law. The exceptions in regulation 28 include goods made to order or personalised, sealed hygiene goods or software once unsealed, and goods inseparably mixed after delivery. Describe the part exactly and say a fitted or opened electrical part is refunded less its loss in value. Our guide to what UK returns law actually requires has the wider rules; on Orbit the returns workflow counts your window from delivery, offers the reasons you wrote, such as “Did not fit”, and refunds from the order, in full or in part.

Why you should never promise a part will fit

You cannot know that a part will fit, because one model year can carry two brake sizes, a facelift can change a lamp connector and a build-date split can change a sensor. A promise you cannot check becomes a section 11 term you will break and a section 226 statement that may mislead. Say what the part is listed for and what to compare. When a buyer is unsure, ask for the registration and a photo of the old part, check the numbers and reply in writing: that reply is a section 10 promise, so make it only when you are sure.

What does it cost to sell car parts on eBay, Amazon or your own website?

Keep eBay for its buyers and add a website for the margin and the customer. Figures from each company’s own page, checked 9 November 2026.

eBay’s parts rate rose from 8.9% to 9.5% on 12 February 2026 (eBay Seller Centre); the current table is on its business seller fees page, last updated 5 November 2026. On a £60 order (a £54 part plus £6 postage) that is £5.70 plus 40p plus 21p: £6.31 before VAT, or 10.5%. The same order on your own Orbit shop costs £1.45 on a UK personal card, 2.4%, with the plan on top. eBay’s free returns rule has applied since 8 June 2026 to new, fixed-price parts listings over £10 with a UK item and buyer (eBay Seller Centre). Amazon’s rates are on its UK pricing page. More maths in eBay vs your own website and running eBay and your own shop from one stock count.

Batteries, oils and exhausts: posting the awkward parts

The courier’s list decides what you can sell by post. Yodel, one of the carriers Orbit Shipping offers, will not carry anything that law or regulation classes as dangerous or hazardous, refuses parcels over 30kg, and warns that “Used car parts risk containing lubricants such as engine oil, grease, diesel and petrol” (Yodel prohibited and restricted items, checked 9 November 2026). The list may change, so before you list a battery, brake fluid, an aerosol or paint, read your courier’s list and ask if it is unclear. Drain and clean used units; engines and gearboxes go on a pallet service.

On Orbit, shipping classes do the sorting: put every product in a class such as Parcel, Heavy items or Pallet, give each class its own cost on each delivery method, and a basket mixing a wiper blade with an exhaust becomes two deliveries at checkout. A pallet method can show “To be confirmed” until you price it by hand. Delivery estimates show at checkout, and a dispatch promise stamps each order with a ship-by date that the Orders list flags when late. Put a weight on every product, then buy the label from the order through Orbit Shipping or your own Royal Mail, DPD, Yodel or Parcelforce account (advanced shipping rules).

Surcharges on exchange units

Exchange units such as starter motors and alternators carry a surcharge, refunded when the old unit comes back. One specialist, AH Spares, spells it out: “A core is your old unit returned to us so it can be assessed for rebuilding”, and the surcharge “may be refundable once a suitable core is returned”. Its terms require the unit to be complete, clean and drained and back within 90 days of the invoice (AH Spares exchange cores, checked 9 November 2026). Publish your rules on the listing: the total price with every extra charge is Schedule 2 information.

The shopper pays the full price of the part at checkout, and the surcharge is taken by hand as its own order, so the buyer sees it as the separate, refundable sum it is. Create a draft order with a custom line (“Surcharge, starter motor, order 1042, refunded when the old unit arrives”), send the payment link (it works for seven days), and refund that order when the unit comes back in a condition you accept. With the surcharge stated on the listing, the buyer has seen the whole price before ordering.

Setting up the listings on Orbit

Each part number is a physical product with weight, dimensions, a shipping class and stock per location; products are unlimited on every plan. Where one listing has versions, a disc in two diameters or a lamp for either side, make them variants, each with its own price, SKU, barcode, image and stock. Keep vehicles out of the variants unless they change the part number.

The buyer’s facts go in custom fields, on every plan: OE reference and cross-references as text, fitment and install notes as longer text, position as a pick-one list. Each field has a storefront visibility switch, and the Custom Field element in the page builder puts it on the product page under the title (custom fields). Group products into categories by system and tag them with the vehicles they are listed for; a smart category filled by a rule keeps a vehicle collection up to date. The storefront search matches a product’s SKU and barcode as well as its name, so a typed part number lands on the part. An eBay or spreadsheet export comes in through the CSV column mapper.

Install the free Product Reviews plugin and ask for a review in your shipped email: a review naming the car it went on is the best fitment note you can publish, and every review waits for your approval. If a few garages buy from you on the same discount, give them a discount code restricted to those customers, on any plan; a UK business card costs you 3.3% + 25p on Solo. Full trade accounts, with a price list per garage, applications and quotes, are B2B on the Enterprise plan at £999 a month; taking a trade counter online covers what that buys.

Where Orbit fits

Everything here except trade accounts is on every Orbit plan, from Solo at £25 a month ex VAT (£19 a month billed yearly). That covers unlimited products with variants and custom fields, shipping classes and ship-by dates, labels from the order, the returns workflow, draft orders with payment links, stock per location with a low-stock flag, and the eBay and Amazon plugins, which bring marketplace orders into one Orders list and have a free tier. Product Reviews is free, postage is per label, and the card rate is the one published for your plan, nothing added. The theme store lists free and premium themes by industry; pick one for a parts shop and change its colours, fonts and logo in the dashboard.

Read next: putting a used car forecourt online and getting your wholesale range into UK online shops.

Questions people ask about selling car parts online

Do I need a registration lookup to sell car parts online?

No. A registration lookup narrows the list but does not stop a wrong order, because one model year can carry two brake sizes, two connectors or a build-date split. Categories by system, vehicle tags, a “Listed for” list and fitment notes do that work, and the storefront search lands a typed part number on the part.

Can a customer return a car part that does not fit?

On a website sale, yes. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a consumer 14 days after delivery to cancel for any reason, then 14 days to send it back. You refund the price and standard delivery within 14 days of getting it back, less any loss in value from handling beyond what a shop would allow, such as fitting it.

Can I refuse returns on electrical parts?

Not on a distance sale. Regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations lists the goods with no cancellation right, such as personalised items and sealed hygiene goods or software once unsealed; electrical car parts are not among them. You can refund a fitted or opened part less its loss in value, if you gave the cancellation information first.

Who pays the return postage on a car part?

On your own website the buyer bears the direct cost of returning a part they cancelled, provided you told them so before they bought (regulation 35 and Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations); stay silent and the cost is yours. For a faulty or misdescribed part, repair or replacement is at your cost, postage included.

What does eBay charge for selling car parts in the UK?

A business seller in Vehicle Parts and Accessories pays 9.5% of the total sale including postage up to £750 per item and 3% above, 40p an order over £10 (30p at £10 or under) and a 0.35% regulatory operating fee, all before VAT. Checked on eBay’s business seller fees page, last updated 5 November 2026.

Start with the twenty parts you sell most, write their fitment notes properly, and take real orders on the 14-day free trial, no card required.