How to sell products online from home in the UK

To sell products online from home in the UK, choose where you’ll sell (your own shop, a marketplace or social media), set aside space to store and pack orders, sort out cheap, reliable posting, and check the home-specific details: your mortgage or tenancy, your insurance and which address customers see.

Thousands of UK shops start at a kitchen table. The selling part is much the same as any online shop. What’s different is how you fit stock, parcels and customers into a space that’s also your home.

Where to sell products online from home

Most home sellers use one or more of these:

• Your own shop website. You set the prices, keep the customer relationship and avoid per-sale marketplace commission. You need to bring visitors yourself.
• Marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy or Amazon. Shoppers are already there, but you pay a cut and compete with sellers side by side.
• Social media. Great for showing products being made or used, and for building a following that later buys from your own site.

A common pattern is to start on a marketplace or social media, then build your own site once you know what sells. Our step-by-step guide to starting an online shop in the UK covers platforms in more detail.

Check you’re allowed to run a business from home

For most small online shops this is a formality, but check before you start.

• Renting? Your tenancy agreement may say you need your landlord’s permission to run a business from the property. Ask in writing.
• Mortgage? Some lenders want to know if you run a business from home. Check your mortgage terms.
• Planning permission isn’t usually needed if your home is still mainly a home. It can matter if you have lots of deliveries, customers visiting, staff, or noise. If unsure, ask your local council.
• Business rates don’t normally apply to a small corner used for work, but can if part of your home is used only for the business. Check on gov.uk.

Sort out your insurance

Standard home insurance often doesn’t cover business stock or equipment. Tell your insurer you’re selling from home and ask what’s covered.

• Stock and equipment. You may need a business extension on your home policy or a separate policy.
• Public and product liability. Not a legal requirement for most sole traders, but worth pricing up, especially if you make products yourself.
• Employers’ liability. If you take on staff, this is usually a legal requirement.

Set up a space to store and pack orders

You don’t need a whole room. You do need a spot that stays organised, because lost stock and slow packing cost real money.

• Keep stock off the floor and away from damp, heat and pets. Clear plastic boxes with labels work well.
• Have one packing station with everything in reach: boxes, mailers, tape, filler, labels, a pen and scales.
• Weigh and measure each product once, packed, and write it down. Postage is priced on size and weight.
• Keep a simple stock count. Update it each time an order goes out or new stock arrives.

Get parcels out of the door cheaply

Posting from home is easier than it used to be. Your main options:

• Buy postage online and print labels at home. It’s usually cheaper than paying at a post office counter.
• Drop-off points. Many couriers use local shops and parcel lockers, often open long hours.
• Collections. Several carriers will collect from your door for a fee, which saves time once you’re busier.

Compare a few carriers on your real parcel sizes. The cheapest for a small, light item may not be the cheapest for a heavy box.

Decide your dispatch promise early, such as “orders before 2pm leave the same day”, then stick to it. Shoppers care more about a clear, reliable date than a fast but vague one.

Your address: what customers need to see

UK law expects online sellers to show who they are and a postal address where they can be contacted. Many home sellers aren’t keen to publish their home address.

• If you form a limited company, you can use a separate registered office address, but you still need a proper contact address on your site.
• Some people use a business address service. Check it meets the rules for your setup before relying on it, and see gov.uk for current guidance.
• Whichever address you show, make sure returns can reach you there.

Register and keep records

• As of October 2026, if your trading income goes over the £1,000 trading allowance in a tax year, you’ll normally need to register for Self Assessment with HMRC by 5 October after that tax year ends.
• Some products need extra registration. For example, if you make food at home to sell, you must register with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading (as of October 2026). It’s free.
• Keep receipts and a record of every sale from day one.

Keep work and home separate

Selling from home works best with a few boundaries.

• Open a separate bank account for the shop, so money is easy to track.
• Set packing times, like mornings and early afternoons, and a daily courier cut-off.
• Turn off order alerts in the evening if they keep pulling you back to work.
• Use a separate email address for customer messages.

Build a shop that saves you time

When you sell from home, every manual task eats into your day. Look for a shop platform that sends order and dispatch emails automatically, shows clear delivery times on product pages and keeps customer messages next to their orders.

Merchella was built by people who run their own shops, so those everyday jobs (dispatch emails, delivery date countdowns, a customer inbox) are built in rather than bolted on.

In short

Selling products online from home is very doable in the UK. Pick a place to sell, check your tenancy or mortgage and your insurance, create a tidy packing space, find a carrier that suits your parcels and keep simple records. Get those basics right and your home shop can grow until you’re ready to move stock out.