Pricing · 2026
Pricing & finance
Stop setting one price and hoping for the best. Here's how to price the same product differently per marketplace to protect margin — without triggering price-parity penalties.
Most UK sellers set one price and list it everywhere. But each marketplace has different fees: Amazon takes 15.3% on general merchandise; eBay takes 13.4% + £0.30; TikTok Shop takes 5-8% + 1.25%; Temu takes 2-10% (contractual). If your cost is £10 and your list price is £25 across the board, your actual margin ranges from £9 (Temu) to £3 (Amazon after FBA). The same product pays your rent on Temu and breaks even on Amazon.
Goal of this playbook
By the end of this guide you'll have a channel-by-channel pricing ladder that protects margin at 20%+ across every channel you sell on — and a quarterly review rhythm to keep it that way.
You’ll need:
10 min
Pick a gross margin target. For most UK sellers, 20% is the floor (enough to cover overheads and pay yourself). 30% is healthy. 40%+ is premium. This number is your anchor — every pricing decision derives from it.
20 min per SKU (first time; faster afterwards)
Open the Marketplace Fee Calculator. Enter your cost of goods and shipping cost. Experiment with sale price per channel until you hit your target margin. Note the break-even price — the minimum sale price that delivers your target margin — for each channel.
10 min per SKU
Each channel has a 'strategic premium' based on buyer psychology. Amazon buyers tolerate 5-10% premiums because of Prime convenience. eBay buyers are price-sensitive — stay at break-even. Temu buyers expect aggressive discounts. TikTok Shop buyers react to livestream urgency. Tune your per-channel premium accordingly.
10 min
Amazon's Fair Pricing Policy (UK) says you must not price 'materially higher' on Amazon than on other sales channels, including your own website. In practice, under 10% higher on Amazon is safe; over 15% regularly will attract warnings. If your per-channel strategy pushes Amazon above 10% over the lowest channel, adjust — either lower Amazon, or raise other channels.
30 min
MaxInvent supports per-channel pricing rules: set a base price, then apply channel-specific multipliers (or fixed amounts). Prices push to each marketplace on schedule. You can also set automated rules — e.g. 'match Buy Box on Amazon if competitor is within 2%, otherwise hold price'.
1-2 hours per quarter
Marketplace fees change (Amazon has increased referral fees three times in the last two years). Your costs change (supplier rate changes, currency fluctuation, shipping). Cost-of-living pressures on your target margin change. Schedule a quarterly pricing review — rebuild break-even prices, re-apply premiums, push updates.
After following every step, you should be able to verify these outcomes:
Yes, with one caveat. You can price DIFFERENTLY on Amazon, eBay, Temu, TikTok Shop and your own site. However, Amazon's Fair Pricing Policy prohibits pricing materially HIGHER on Amazon than elsewhere — this is enforced via Buy Box suppression or listing suspension. You can always price LOWER on Amazon (there's no ceiling). eBay, Temu and TikTok Shop currently have no equivalent parity rules in the UK.
20% gross margin is the practical floor for a sustainable UK business once you account for overhead, returns, bad debt and account manager fees. 30% is comfortable. Under 15% is very hard to run profitably unless you have exceptional scale or very low operating costs.
Usually yes, because Amazon has the highest fees and buyer tolerance for premium pricing (Prime). But don't push more than 10% above your lowest channel — that's where Fair Pricing Policy warnings start. For commodity / price-comparison-heavy categories, Amazon prices should hug eBay prices to stay competitive.
FBA adds a per-unit pick-pack-ship fee (typically £3-£7 depending on size/weight) on top of the 15.3% referral fee. Your break-even price on FBA is usually 10-15% higher than on FBM for the same product. This is reflected in the Marketplace Fee Calculator — pick the FBA category if applicable.
For Amazon sellers competing for the Buy Box, yes — a repricer pays for itself in days. For eBay / Temu / TikTok, repricers are less important and many UK sellers don't use them. MaxInvent supports Buy Box repricing on Amazon with configurable floor prices (so you never race to the bottom below your break-even).
MaxInvent is built for UK multi-channel sellers. One stock pool across Amazon, eBay, Temu, TikTok Shop, Groupon and more — with the UK’s only native Temu courier label integration.
Playbooks are educational content. For tax, legal or regulatory questions (especially around VAT), always consult a qualified adviser.