UK Amazon sellers have a structural advantage over overseas competitors since Brexit VAT rules changed — most brands are not capitalising on it

Since 1 January 2021, Amazon UK has been designated a deemed supplier for VAT purposes on goods sold by overseas sellers to UK buyers. This means Amazon collects and remits VAT on those transactions rather than the overseas seller doing so directly — but the overseas seller still needs a UK VAT registration in many cases and faces additional customs documentation requirements. UK-based brands with domestic stock already hold a UK VAT registration and do not face the same customs friction at the border. The practical effect is that overseas competitors shipping from EU or non-UK warehouses carry compliance costs and delivery delays that UK-based FBA sellers do not. Most UK brands are not pricing or positioning their listings to exploit this delivery and cost advantage explicitly.

Amazon Brand Registry is a programme that links your registered trademark to your Amazon selling account and grants access to a set of tools that standard seller accounts cannot use. The key unlocks are: A+ Content (enhanced product description modules with images and comparison tables), Sponsored Brand ads (headline search ads that appear above organic results), Brand Store pages (a dedicated storefront within Amazon), and the Report a Violation tool for removing counterfeit or infringing listings. To apply, you need a registered trademark — not a pending application — in the country where you want brand registry. In the UK, this means a trademark registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO).

OnBuy is a UK-founded online marketplace that launched in 2016 and has grown to over 35 million products from tens of thousands of sellers. It is structured differently from Amazon: OnBuy does not sell its own products and does not compete with its sellers. Commission rates vary by category but are generally lower than Amazon's referral fees in comparable categories. OnBuy does not have its own fulfilment network — sellers ship from their own warehouse or use a third-party logistics provider. The buyer base skews toward value-conscious UK shoppers and is meaningfully distinct from Amazon's UK buyer pool. For brands that already hold stock in a UK warehouse and have a product catalogue exportable to a new channel, the incremental cost of listing on OnBuy is low relative to the potential revenue diversification.

Amazon prohibits incentivised reviews, review gating (only asking satisfied customers to leave reviews), and any communication that pressures buyers or steers them toward positive feedback. What is permitted: a single follow-up message through Amazon's Buyer-Seller Messaging system that asks the buyer to leave a review, and use of the Request a Review button in Seller Central (or automated via the Amazon API or tools like Jungle Scout). The compliant approach is to automate the Request a Review trigger on every delivered order, ensure the timing is within the 4 to 30 day window after delivery, and monitor review velocity on a weekly basis so you can identify ASINs where accumulation has stalled.

The CE mark is the EU's product conformity mark, indicating that a product meets EU safety, health, and environmental requirements. Following Brexit, the UK introduced its own equivalent: the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark, which applies to goods placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales). Products placed on the Northern Ireland market continue to use the CE mark under the Windsor Framework. For Amazon UK sellers, listing copy or product images that reference CE marking for products that should carry UKCA may create a compliance discrepancy. Amazon has taken enforcement action on listings with incorrect compliance claims in regulated categories including electrical goods, toys, and PPE. The safest approach is to audit all regulated-category listings and update compliance references to reflect the correct mark for the UK market.