Guide for sellers

How to sell handmade online in the UK: a simple guide for makers

By Velor · 3 November 2026 · 6 min read

You make things by hand in the UK: pottery, jewellery, woodwork, knitwear, leather, candles, art. You want to sell them online. Here is what to know before you start, in plain words, and how selling on Velor Handmade works.

1. Tax: the trading allowance (£1,000 now, £3,000 from April 2027)

HMRC gives everyone a single tax-free trading allowance each tax year (6 April to 5 April), covering all your side hustles together.

This tax year (to 5 April 2027) it is £1,000. If everything you earn from trading is £1,000 or less, you do not pay tax on it and you do not need to tell HMRC. If you earn more, you need to tell HMRC, which at the moment means a Self Assessment tax return.
From 6 April 2027 it rises to £3,000, as announced in the Budget on 28 October 2026. From then, trading income of £3,000 or less a year is tax-free and does not need to be reported, and the Self Assessment threshold for trading income rises to £3,000 too.

The allowance is counted on what you take in, not on your profit, so keep a simple record of every sale and what you spend on materials. HMRC has a quick online checker to tell you whether you need to tell them about your income. Online marketplaces, Velor included, also report sellers' sales to HMRC under the digital platform reporting rules, so it pays to keep your own records straight.

2. Selling as a business or as a private person

The law treats you differently depending on whether you sell as a business or as a private person now and then. If you make and sell regularly to earn money, you are almost certainly selling as a business, even as a sole trader working from your kitchen table.

On Velor you tell us which you are in your dashboard, and buyers are shown it on your listings. Business sellers give their business name and address when asked; it is kept private and only shared for a complaint or legal claim.

3. Buyers' rights when you sell as a business

When a business sells to a shopper online, UK law (the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013) usually gives the shopper 14 days to cancel after the item arrives, for any reason. Items made to the buyer's own specification or clearly personalised are an exception. Goods must also be as described and of satisfactory quality (Consumer Rights Act 2015).

That is why Velor does not allow "no returns" or "all sales final" wording on listings. Velor's own Buyer Protection explains how problems are reported and sorted out.

4. Posting your orders

Every order needs a tracking number. It protects you as much as the buyer: tracking is how delivery is confirmed and how you get paid.

If you only sell within the UK, Velor can buy a Royal Mail or Evri label for you the moment an order is paid, linked to the order, so you just print it and post. Or connect your own courier account so buyers see live prices. You choose the countries you deliver to; buyers elsewhere do not see your listings.

5. Getting paid

On Velor, the buyer pays at checkout and the payment is held until delivery is confirmed. For UK sellers it is released 7 days after confirmed delivery and paid to your bank through Stripe, which checks your identity before your first payout.

6. Keeping it handmade

Velor is handmade only. Every listing must confirm the item is made by hand by you or the makers you work with, and the photos must be real photos of that item: no AI images, mock-ups or stock photos. Factory-made, resold, dropshipped and print-on-demand goods are not allowed. The full rules are in the Seller Rules.

7. Your own website and your socials

Every maker on Velor gets their own shop website at velorhandmade.com/your-shop-name, designed in a simple editor, and can send their listings straight to their social accounts from the dashboard. There is a Velor app for iPhone and Android too.

A quick checklist

Keep a record of every sale and what you spend.
Check with HMRC once your trading income passes the allowance (£1,000 this tax year, £3,000 from 6 April 2027).
Decide whether you sell as a business or as a private person.
Never write "no returns" if you sell as a business.
Put a tracking number on every order.

Make things by hand in the UK? Apply to sell on Velor at velorhandmade.com/apply. It's free to list, and the fees, set out in the Seller Agreement, apply only when you sell. This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice.