Sell toys online in the UK: safety marks, age labels and the new product rules

This guide is for anyone opening a toy shop online in the UK. It covers the laws, what a toy must carry before you list it, who is responsible for a toy you did not make, what the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 has changed so far, and how to list toys well. Toys are a gift market as much as a children’s market. The British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA), the trade body, presented Circana’s data at Toy Fair on 20 January 2026 showing UK toy sales up 6% in 2025, the first growth in five years. Children accounted for two-thirds of spending, and 76% of 18 to 34-year-olds had bought a toy for themselves or another adult in the past year (BTHA Toy Fair release, read 9 November 2026). Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, an ecommerce platform, so weigh the Orbit parts accordingly. Every legal point was read on legislation.gov.uk, gov.uk or the European Commission’s site on 9 November 2026 and is linked to its source. It is general information, not legal advice: for your own product, ask Trading Standards, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) or a test house.

Which laws cover toys sold in the UK?

Two sets of regulations apply, enforced by local Trading Standards and by the Secretary of State through OPSS. The Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 cover any product “designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14” (regulation 4, read 9 November 2026). OPSS’s statutory guidance says a breach can bring an unlimited fine in England and Wales (up to £10,000 in Scotland), up to six months in prison, or both (OPSS guidance, updated 24 March 2025). The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 are the safety net for consumer products that are not toys and for second-hand toys sold by a business.

Under the 2005 Regulations no producer may place a product on the market unless it is safe (regulation 5), and anyone who learns a product they supplied poses a risk must tell an enforcement authority in writing straight away (regulation 9). The rules in our guide to what UK returns law actually requires apply to toys unchanged.

Are you the manufacturer, the importer or the distributor?

A manufacturer makes a toy, or has it made, and sells it under its own name or trade mark: a maker in a shed, or a shop that brands factory-made toys. An importer is established in the UK and places a toy from outside the UK on the market. A distributor is anyone else who makes a toy available, such as a shop buying from a UK wholesaler. Sell under your own brand, or alter a toy in a way that could affect compliance, and every manufacturer duty is yours (regulations 32 and 37).

Handmade toys: the maker is the manufacturer

Regulation 12 requires a safety assessment of every hazard, from chemicals to flammability. Where designated standards cover every essential requirement you may self-declare after your own production checks; otherwise a UK approved body must examine the type first (regulation 13). The designated standards published on 22 October 2026 include EN 71-1 (mechanical and physical properties), EN 71-2 (flammability), EN 71-3 (chemical migration) and EN IEC 62115 (electric toys) (designated standards: toy safety). The law names no laboratory, but you must be able to show conformity, which usually means a test report from an accredited lab (UKAS directory). OPSS says someone occasionally making toys for a charity to sell is unlikely to be in business; a regular seller is.

UKCA or CE: which mark does a toy need in 2026?

Either, in Great Britain, for most toys. The government recognises the CE mark alongside or in place of UKCA under the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024, indefinitely, for a list of product regulations that includes the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 (gov.uk, placing goods on the market in Great Britain, read 9 November 2026). OPSS adds that a toy assessed by a UK approved body must carry UKCA. The mark goes visibly, legibly and indelibly on the toy, a label or the packaging (regulation 18).

The UKCA mark must be at least 5mm high, and until 11pm on 31 December 2027 it may sit on a label or accompanying document (gov.uk, using the UKCA marking, updated 21 August 2026). Northern Ireland follows EU goods rules, so toys sold there need CE, or CE with UKNI where a UK body assessed them (gov.uk, Northern Ireland guidance, updated 8 April 2026). The Lion Mark is not a legal mark: the BTHA created it in 1988, only members may use it, and it signals adherence to the association’s Code of Practice (BTHA, the Lion Mark).

What must a toy’s label say? Age warnings, choking hazards, batteries and magnets

1. Who made it. The manufacturer’s name or trade mark, a contact address and a type, batch, serial or model number, on the toy or, where size prevents it, on the packaging (regulation 19); an importer adds its own name and address (regulation 27).
2. Warnings and instructions. In English, clearly visible and legible, on the toy, a label or the packaging and in any instructions, each introduced by the word “Warning” (regulation 20).
3. The age, on your product page too. Schedule 5 requires at least the minimum or maximum age, and regulation 20(9) says a warning that determines the decision to purchase, such as an age limit, must be clearly visible before the purchase, online included.

For toys that might be dangerous for children under 36 months, Schedule 5 gives the wording, “Not suitable for children under 36 months” or “Not suitable for children under three years”, or the prescribed pictogram, with a brief indication of the hazard, for example small parts. It is not required where the toy is manifestly unsuitable for a child under three (Schedule 5).

Button batteries and magnets

OPSS’s button and coin battery guidance adds no legal requirement but asks for a compartment that cannot open inadvertently, prominent warnings on the product and packaging, and warnings in online listings (gov.uk, updated 10 July 2025). Small, high-powered magnets have carried an OPSS safety alert since 19 May 2021: two or more swallowed can cause serious injury or death, and toys must meet the magnetic flux limit in EN 71 (OPSS alert PSA1). Recalls appear on the government’s alerts, reports and recalls list, and a business that has sold an unsafe product must notify its market surveillance authority (gov.uk, updated 6 October 2026).

What do the new product rules change?

The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 21 July 2025 and is a framework: it gives ministers power to make product regulations. Section 2 says those regulations may cover “the marketing of products through an online marketplace” and bind whoever controls access to a marketplace or its contents (Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, read 9 November 2026).

On 31 March 2026 OPSS and the Department for Business and Trade opened two consultations. One is on a new product safety framework to replace the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, with “accountability throughout the supply chain” among its themes (the UK’s new product safety framework). The other is on enforcement and commits to civil monetary penalties as an alternative to prosecution (market surveillance and enforcement framework). Both closed on 23 June 2026 and, as at 9 November 2026, both pages say the government is analysing the feedback. Nothing in the toy rules above has changed yet.

Selling into the EU: the new toy safety regulation

The EU is replacing its Toy Safety Directive with Regulation (EU) 2025/2509, adopted on 26 November 2025. The European Commission says it entered into force on 1 January 2026 and applies from 1 August 2030, when every toy sold in the EU will need a digital product passport alongside its CE mark (European Commission, toy safety, read 9 November 2026).

What it costs to start a toy shop, and the tax points

• Registering. You register with HMRC once trading income passes the trading allowance; our guide to whether you need to register a business to sell online covers the £1,000 rule.
• VAT. Not until taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months; then you register within 30 days of the end of that month (gov.uk, read 9 November 2026). Once registered, toys carry the standard rate of 20%: gov.uk’s list of reduced and zero rates names children’s clothes at 0% and children’s car seats at 5%, and toys are not on it (VAT rates, rates on different goods).
• The shop. On Orbit the Solo plan is £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT, with unlimited products and a 14-day trial with no card; UK personal Visa and Mastercard payments cost 2% + 25p on Solo, nothing added on top (pricing).
• Delivery and Christmas stock. A wooden kitchen and a pack of cards cannot carry the same postage; our guide to advanced shipping rules shows how to charge by shipping class and weight. For Christmas, order autumn stock early and set order-by cut-offs to the carriers’ last posting dates.

Setting up the listings: age range, materials and the safety marks as custom fields

On Orbit, each toy is a physical product with its weight, dimensions and a shipping class, and variants for colour or size (products). Custom fields are boxes you define once and fill on every product, each with a switch for storefront or internal (custom fields guide). For toys: age range as a pick-one list, materials as a pick-several list, safety marking (UKCA, CE, both), the warning text as a field shown on the page so the age warning is visible before purchase, and the declaration of conformity as an internal file. Tag products by age band so shoppers can filter by tag.

Delivery. Shipping classes group products that travel alike, with a cost per class per method, so a ride-on carries a two-person delivery charge while a jigsaw goes as a parcel, and a mixed basket shows as separate deliveries at checkout. Give each method handling days, transit days and an order-by time and checkout shows the delivery date beside the price, the promise goes on the order emails, and the Orders list flags anything Late or Due today (shipping and fulfilment).

Reviews, gift cards, bundles and reach. Product Reviews is a free plugin where every review stays Pending until you approve it (reviews). Gift cards sell as a product whose amounts are variants and are emailed the moment payment succeeds, and a bundle of up to 30 physical products is switched on for your shop when you ask. The Google Shopping feed plugin rebuilds the feed daily by default. The eBay and Amazon plugins list from your catalogue and bring their orders into your Orders list, each with a free tier and paid plans for bigger catalogues (marketplaces and feeds; see also selling on Google Shopping in the UK).

The first ten orders

Before they arrive, photograph the mark and the warning on every toy’s packaging and file each declaration of conformity and test report, read every product page as a parent would, and publish the returns and cancellation information before the order button and in the confirmation email.

Where Orbit fits

Everything above is on every Orbit plan: the six product types, variants, custom fields, shipping classes and delivery estimates, order emails in your branding, gift cards, the free Product Reviews plugin and the Google Shopping, eBay and Amazon plugins from the plugin store. Plans start at £25 a month on Solo (£19 a month billed yearly), then Team at £85, Pro at £249 and Enterprise at £999, all ex VAT. Two themes in the theme store were built for this trade: Pip, a kids and toys theme designed around shopping by age, and Tinker, a bright theme for toy and games shops. The paperwork stays with the product: each declaration of conformity and test report sits on its listing as an internal file field, ready when Trading Standards ask.

Read next: selling baby and nursery goods online and selling to Ireland and the EU in euros.

Questions people ask about selling toys online in the UK

Do I need UKCA marking to sell toys in the UK?

Every toy sold in Great Britain needs a conformity mark, but CE is accepted in place of UKCA because the government recognises CE for toys indefinitely. A toy assessed by a UK approved body must carry UKCA, and a toy sold in Northern Ireland or the EU needs CE.

Can I sell handmade toys without testing them?

Not in practice. You are the manufacturer, so you must assess the toy’s hazards, show it meets the essential safety requirements, keep a technical file and declaration of conformity for ten years, and mark and label it; that usually means an EN 71 test report from an accredited lab.

What does “not suitable for children under 36 months” mean?

It is a legal warning, not an age recommendation. Schedule 5 of the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 requires it on toys that might be dangerous for a child under 36 months, with a brief note of the hazard such as small parts. Online it must appear on the product page before purchase.

Am I the importer if I buy toys from a supplier outside the UK?

Yes, if you are established in the UK and place those toys on the UK market. You must check the manufacturer assessed, marked and labelled the toy, add your own name and address, keep the declaration of conformity for ten years, and act and tell the enforcement authority if a toy proves unsafe.

Has the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 changed the toy rules yet?

No. The Act, which received Royal Assent on 21 July 2025, gives ministers power to make product regulations, including rules for online marketplaces, but those follow consultations that closed on 23 June 2026 and had no published outcome on 9 November 2026.

If you are ready to build the shop, the 14-day free trial, no card required, is long enough to set up the custom fields and list your first toys before you order Christmas stock.