Inventory
Stock in every location, with a history
Every adjustment is recorded with the numbers before and after, and who made it.
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
Filed where you would look for it.
Four topics, newest first. Pick a chip in the search bar to see just one.
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
- Selling on Amazon and your own website: how to run both from one catalogue
Amazon brings volume you cannot build alone. Your own site keeps the margin and the customer. Running both from one catalogue is the whole trick, and it is simpler than most people set it up to be.
21 Aug 2026, 9 min
- 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.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- 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.
20 Aug 2026, 13 min
- 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.
07 Aug 2026, 8 min
- Stocky closed on 31 August 2026: a migration guide
Shopify closed Stocky on 31 August 2026. What actually needs replacing, your realistic options, and how to carry your suppliers and purchase orders somewhere they keep working.
20 Jul 2026, 7 min
- Selling wholesale without a second platform
How small UK wholesalers move from price spreadsheets and emailed orders to company accounts and negotiated price lists, in the same store as retail.
12 Jun 2026, 5 min
- 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.
10 Jun 2026, 10 min
- 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 min
- 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.
10 Jun 2026, 9 min
- 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.
01 Dec 2025, 8 min
- 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.
15 Sept 2025, 9 min
Payouts and VAT
Exports your bookkeeper can use
Orders export as CSV, and every payout opens into the transactions behind it.
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.
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