Best Shopify Alternatives for UK Businesses in 2026
Learn about the features, fees, advantages and limitations of some of the best Shopify alternatives for UK businesses in our guide.
e-Commerce is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, as well as the largest. In 2019, e-commerce sales were about $3.5 trillion worldwide and are expected to hit $4.9 trillion by the year 2021.
eBay is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms. It allows online sellers to put up their products for sale easily and grants access to the millions of buyers that use the platform. Using eBay is quite simple, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of setting up your own website. Plus, with eBay, you can easily sell internationally.
Another advantage that eBay provides is the ease of receiving payment from customers. With eBay, you can easily receive payments via PayPal and many other available payment methods. Calculate the cost of using PayPal on eBay with this simple PayPal eBay calculator.
In this article, we’ll look at how to remove PayPal from your payment methods on eBay, as well as other payment methods that you can use to receive international payments. You’ll also see how to save money on your sales using Wise Business.
If you want to unlink your PayPal account from your eBay account, here are the steps to follow:
eBay UK has already started plans to launch it’s own “managed payment service” for both buyers and sellers. This will mean that buyers will be able to pay with a variety of methods, which include Paypal, credit cards, Google, and Apple Pay. This could be a welcome development, as eBay UK begins to move away from having only PayPal as the available payment method. It will also solve a range of common frustration that eBay shoppers face, which include having to bounce from PayPal to eBay and credit card providers in the case of refunds. With the new managed payment services, eBay you have control of both the sale and the money, which means that they are the only party to deal with when there's a financial conflict between buyers and sellers.¹
According to eBay, they managed payments and processed more than $2 billion (£1.54 billion) in gross merchandise value (GMV) for about 25,000 sellers and saved them a collective £7.7 million. The new payment system is expected to be rolled out to most UK business sellers by the end of 2020, and for a majority of their marketplace customers in 2021.²
As a seller on eBay, there are several payment methods that you can use in place of PayPal. Some of them are:³
● Wire transfer: With this method of payment, buyers deposit payment directly into the seller's bank account. This can be done online or at most Banks.
● Cash On Delivery (C.O.D): Here, the item is paid for when it is received at the time of delivery. The buyer can choose to pay by cash, money order, or check.
● Cash: While cash and cash wire transfers are accepted on eBay, they are not recommended as there is no transaction protection, and are not easily traced. This means that there is little or no remedy in case of a transaction problem in the future.
When selling online, your choice of payment platform determines just how much you spend on fees and commissions. This is where Wise shines.
You can use Wise to withdraw and convert the funds you’ve collected in your PayPal account to reduce the fee from 2.5% to an average of 0.75%.
By taking advantage of Wise’s conversion rate, you end up getting more for the money you convert. The fees are low, straightforward, transparent and 14x cheaper than PayPal.
Other ways you can save money through Wise are:
You can also take advantage of the following benefits:
*Disclaimer: The UK Wise Business pricing structure is changing with effect from 26/11/2025 date. Receiving money, direct debits and getting paid features are not available with the Essential Plan which you can open for free. Pay a one-time set up fee of £50 to unlock Advanced features including account details to receive payments in 22+ currencies or 8+ currencies for non-swift payments. You’ll also get access to our invoice generating tool, payment links, QuickPay QR codes and the ability to set up direct debits all within one account. Please check our website for the latest pricing information.
Sources:*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
Learn about the features, fees, advantages and limitations of some of the best Shopify alternatives for UK businesses in our guide.
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