Here is an example. Say you make cotton T-shirts in Tiruppur and sell them on Amazon.in. Until this July, every T-shirt you sent to the UK paid 12% customs duty at the border. Since 15 July 2026, it pays nothing.
That change came from the trade agreement between India and the UK, which came into force that day. For many Indian brands, it makes Amazon.co.uk worth a serious look. But zero duty is only one part of selling in the UK. This is the rest, and what we would do first.
What the trade deal changed
The agreement, called CETA, removes UK customs duty on about 99% of product lines for goods made in India, according to India’s official release. The UK’s own tariff lookup shows what that means for everyday products. Knitted T-shirts and knitted bed linen went from 12% to zero. Women’s leather shoes went from 6% to zero, and imitation jewellery from 4% to zero. Some products, such as hand-knotted carpets, skin care and turmeric, already paid no duty.
Two things do not change. Import VAT, usually 20%, is still charged when goods enter the UK. And the zero rate applies only to goods that meet the agreement’s rules of origin. The UK importer has to back the claim, usually with an origin declaration or a certificate of origin. Ask your customs broker what your shipment needs before it leaves India.
Opening the account
One Amazon seller account covers the UK and Amazon’s European stores, such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain. You do not need a UK company to sell on Amazon.co.uk. You can sell with your Indian business details, and you do not need an Amazon.in account first.
The Professional plan costs £25 a month, plus VAT, and covers all these stores. Amazon also takes a referral fee on each sale. For clothing, it is 5% on items up to £15, 10% from £15 to £20, and 15% above that. Most other categories pay between 8% and 15%.
Expect an identity check. Amazon asks sellers in its UK and EU stores to verify who they are, sometimes on a video call, with your original ID, a bank statement less than 180 days old and your business licence. Once you are selling, Amazon can pay you in rupees in your Indian bank account.
VAT: the part to get right
The UK’s VAT rules for foreign sellers are strict. A UK business registers for VAT once its sales pass £90,000 a year. A business based outside the UK has no threshold at all.
If you use FBA, your stock sits in Amazon’s UK warehouses. When a seller from outside the UK sells that stock, Amazon charges the VAT to the shopper and pays it to the UK tax office. You do not collect it. But you still pay import VAT and duty when the stock enters the UK, as the importer.
This is why registering for UK VAT usually makes sense. The UK’s guidance for marketplace sellers allows an overseas seller to ask for an exemption from registering instead. But HMRC’s own manual points out that only a registered business can reclaim the import VAT it paid. Amazon’s pages do not agree on the timing either. Its UK page says an FBA seller from outside the UK must register straight away, and its India page says within 90 days. We would register before the first shipment.
If you ship each order from India yourself instead, Amazon charges the VAT at checkout on parcels worth £135 or less. The UK has confirmed that the customs duty relief on these small parcels will end by October 2028 at the latest.
Getting your stock into the UK
For FBA stock, you are the importer of record: the business named on the customs entry. You need a UK customs number called an EORI, which starts with GB. You can apply on the UK government website without a UK company, and it is usually issued at once. The customs agent who clears your goods must be based in the UK.
Amazon’s own shipping service for Indian sellers, SEND, carries stock to its UK warehouses by sea, from Mumbai and Chennai. Amazon does not publish a transit time for the UK route, so ask when you book. Stock in the UK can also serve the EU stores later, but the UK and the EU are separate customs areas, so each side has its own VAT and customs. Our guide to Amazon Germany and Europe covers the EU side.
Product rules
Great Britain still accepts the European CE mark on products such as toys, electrical goods and machinery, alongside the UK’s own UKCA mark. The UK government’s guide to CE and UKCA marking explains which products need which.
The bigger issue for Indian sellers is the UK importer. For regulated products such as toys and electrical goods, the importer must be a business established in the UK, and its name and address must be on the product. There is no exception for goods coming from India. So for these categories, you need a UK business on your side.
A few categories have rules of their own. Cosmetics need a UK Responsible Person with a real UK address, a safety report, and a notification to the UK regulator before the first sale. Textiles need a fibre-content label in English. Household appliances must come with a UK three-pin plug and fuse. And smart devices must meet UK security rules, including no shared default passwords.
The UK is also working on new duties for online marketplaces, and possibly a UK responsible person for some high-risk products sold from abroad. A consultation closed in June 2026. Nothing has come into force yet. Amazon has said that listings on its UK store do not need the product safety details that the EU now asks for.
Listings and your brand
UK listings follow UK consumer law. Prices must include VAT. Since 6 April 2026, unit prices must be shown per kilogram or per litre, not per 100 grams. And since April 2025, fake reviews and hidden paid-for reviews are banned, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
Amazon’s Build International Listings tool can copy your offers from another store. Your reviews from that store show on the product page until UK reviews come in. For Brand Registry, Amazon’s UK page accepts a trademark from any country with an Amazon store, which includes India, but it recommends a trademark in each store you sell in. A UK trademark costs £205 for one class if you file online, and takes about three to four months. Our Brand Registry guide covers the Indian side.
When to start
The UK’s next big sale is Prime Big Deal Days on 6 and 7 October. Last year, Black Friday Week ran from 20 November to 1 December. Storage is also more expensive in the last three months of the year: about twice the normal rate for standard-size products. In our view, with the account checks, VAT registration and sea freight still ahead, a brand starting now should plan its UK launch for the new year, and aim at Prime Day next summer rather than this Christmas.
Where we come in
We make listings, images, A+ Content and brand stores for brands that sell on Amazon.co.uk, including Indian brands that sell through Global Selling. We adapt your listings and prices for UK rules, design packs with the English labels, fibre content and UK importer details they need, and plan your first UK launch. See our listing work, packaging design, and our Global Selling guide for other stores.
We are not a customs broker, a tax adviser or a UK importer. You will need those partners, and we can tell you what to ask them. The trade deal has taken away the duty. What is left is paperwork, and most of it is done once.
