The Best Platforms for Selling Car Parts in the UK

Selling auto parts in the UK offers a great opportunity to tap into a thriving market with good growth potential.  But with so many platforms out there, how do you choose the best one? 

This guide is a perfect place to start your research. We'll break down the top platforms for selling auto parts, from household e-commerce giants to niche marketplaces and even creating your own online store. Plus, we’ll weigh up the pros and cons of each to help you make the right call. Let’s get started!

UK Auto Parts Market Overview

Although the UK retail auto parts market has seen a slight dip recently, it’s still sizeable (£8.3 billion in 2024) and sustained by the growing demand for replacement parts as vehicles age, according to the car parts market research by IBIS World. The wholesale sector, worth around £19.6 billion, remains stable, driven by strong demand for essential components like tyres and parts for used cars.

Looking ahead, the Expert Market Research predicts that the market is expected to grow further, with advancements in vehicle technology and an increasing number of registered cars boosting demand. With more drivers holding onto their cars longer, the need for quality, affordable parts is rising, making now a great time to establish your presence online.

So, as a car parts fabricator and seller, what options do you have in terms of UK online platforms that can help you reach your potential customers? Let’s have a look at the most popular giant e-commerce platform where you can establish your shop and dedicated car parts marketplaces that only target your desired audiences. 

Selling Car Parts on E-Commerce Giants

Amazon UK FBA

If handling storage, logistics, and returns sounds like a hassle, the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) programme might be the perfect fit. It takes care of the most time-consuming parts of online selling, including warehousing, packing, shipping, and even customer service. 

You send your products to Amazon’s fulfilment centres, and they handle the rest—great for scaling up quickly and keeping your operations streamlined.

However, FBA isn’t the right option for everyone, especially car part sellers. The fees can add up, particularly for bulky or slow-moving items, and you lose some control over the customer experience. 

Whether it’s a good fit depends on your specific circumstances—like the types of parts you sell, your profit margins, and how much of the process you want to manage yourself. 

To make the decision easier, let’s break down the pros and cons.

Pros of FBA for Car Parts Sellers

1. Prime shipping benefits: With FBA, you can offer Prime shipping (next-day free delivery), which can make your listings more appealing. 
2. Higher desirability for prime customers: Prime customers often filter their search results to show only Prime-eligible products.
3. Logistics simplification: Amazon handles storage, packing, shipping, and returns, so you don’t have to waste time on all that hassle.

Cons of FBA 

1. Fees are high: FBA fees include storage, fulfilment, and referral fees, which can add up, especially for low-margin or heavy car parts.
2. Product restrictions: Some car parts may fall under restricted categories (e.g., hazardous items like batteries) or may require approval to sell.

Examples of FBA Costs for Car Parts

1. Small Car Accessory

Product: Air Filter (Size: Small parcel, Weight: 500g)

Selling price: £20

Costs:

• Fulfilment Fee: £2.90
• Storage Fee: ~£0.06/month (small size, assuming 1 unit stored for 30 days)
• Referral Fee: £3.00 (15% of £20)

Total fees per sale: £5.96
Profit margin: £14.04 (before other expenses like product cost or shipping to Amazon).

2. Medium-Sized Auto Part

Product: Brake Pads (Size: Standard parcel, Weight: 1.5kg)

Selling price: £50

Costs:

• Fulfilment Fee: £4.90
• Storage Fee: ~£0.20/month
• Referral Fee: £7.50 (15% of £50)

Total fees per sale: £12.60
Profit margin: £37.40 (before other expenses).

Is FBA a Good Fit for You?

FBA can be a great option for sellers with small-to-medium inventories of high-demand car parts who want to scale quickly without investing in warehousing or logistics. 

It’s only effective for products with sufficient margins to cover FBA fees. However, it may not suit sellers offering specialised or niche car parts with slower turnover or those dealing in low-margin products with high storage and fulfilment costs.

Amazon UK FBM

An alternative to the costly FBA is handling everything yourself - the FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) model. With FBM, you handle all aspects of storage, packing, shipping your car parts, and customer service yourself. Here’s what you need to know about this option:

How FBM Works

1. Listing products: You list your car parts on Amazon, just as you would with FBA.
2. Order management: When a customer places an order, you’re notified through Amazon’s Seller Central.
3. Shipping: You pick, pack, and ship the car parts directly to the customer using your own logistics.
4. Customer service: You handle inquiries, returns, and any issues that arise.

Why FBM can be a good option for car part sellers:

With FBM your costs are significantly lower. There is noFBA fees for storage, fulfilment, or returns. You pay only Amazon’s referral fee (typically 15% for car parts).

You have greater control over the whole process. You manage your inventory and shipping processes. Also, it’s easier to manage branded packaging or personalised touches.

You don’t pay long-term storage fees. Even slow-moving or bulky items won’t incur hefty Amazon storage charges.

Cons of Selling via FBM

It is time and labour consuming. You’re in charge of warehousing, packing, and shipping, which can be time-consuming and resource-heavy.

Your visibility is lower without a Prime badge. Products fulfilled by FBM don’t automatically qualify for the Prime badge, which can reduce visibility and appeal to customers who filter for Prime products.

How much do you pay for Amazon FBM?

When selling on Amazon using the Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) model, your fees are simpler than with FBA. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Referral Fees

This is Amazon’s cut for letting you sell on their platform. It is typically 15% of the item’s selling price for car parts.

Example: If you sell a car part for £50, you’ll pay £7.50 as a referral fee.

2. Subscription Fee

Individual Plan: £0.75 per item sold.

Professional Plan: £25/month, allowing you to list unlimited items and access advanced tools (recommended for sellers moving more than 34 items/month).

Is Amazon FBM a Right Fit for You?

FBM is a great choice if you want full control over your storage, packing, and shipping processes while avoiding the fees associated with Amazon’s fulfilment services. 

It’s particularly suitable if you have existing logistics capabilities or low-turnover, bulky, or niche auto parts that aren’t cost-effective to store in Amazon warehouses. 

While FBM requires more effort to manage inventory and handle customer service, it allows sellers to retain more of their profits and offers greater flexibility for customisation and branding.

Selling Car Parts on eBay

With its dedicated Car Parts & Accessories section and tools like the Parts Compatibility Tool, eBay is a great platform for car part sellers. 

It has a massive audience of millions, ranging from DIY enthusiasts to professional garages. Its Parts Compatibility Tool allows sellers to add detailed fitment information, improving search visibility and reducing returns. 

The platform also provides flexible selling options, letting you choose between auction or fixed-price formats. Plus, with its global reach, eBay enables you to sell niche or rare parts to buyers worldwide.

Costs

• Final value fee: 10-12.9% of the sale price (including shipping).
• Insertion fee: Free for up to 1,000 listings/month; £0.35 per additional listing.
• Optional fees: Promoted listings or enhanced features like bold titles.

Pros and Cons

Pros: High visibility, low entry costs, global reach, and specialised tools for car parts.
Cons: Stiff competition, fees on shipping, time-consuming listings, and handling customer service/returns.

Is eBay Right for You?

eBay can be a great platform for selling car parts, but it’s not for everyone. It’s especially good for sellers with popular, fast-moving parts or those with niche items that may appeal to buyers worldwide. The platform also suits sellers who appreciate the flexibility of choosing between auctions or fixed prices.

However, eBay may not be ideal if you’re in a highly competitive space where frequent price wars can cut into your margins. 

The fees, including a percentage of the sale price and shipping, can add up—particularly for low-margin items. 

Ultimately, whether eBay works for you depends on your product range, pricing strategy, and how much time you’re willing to invest in creating detailed listings and handling customer interactions. 

Selling on Specialised Auto Parts Marketplaces

ifndautoparts

ifndautoparts is a niche platform created specifically for buying and selling auto parts, making it a fantastic choice for garages, car enthusiasts, and specialised businesses. 

Unlike broader marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, ifnd focuses exclusively on the auto parts industry, giving you a highly targeted audience. The platform’s tools, such as the ‘My Garage’ feature, allow buyers to search for parts, used or new, tailored to their specific vehicles, improving the chance of a successful match.

Pros of selling car parts on ifnd

• Focused audience: ifnd connects you with buyers who are actively searching for auto parts, such as garages and car enthusiasts, giving you a competitive edge.
• Seller-friendly fees: Listing your items is free, and the platform charges only a 10% commission on sales—far lower than many larger platforms.
• Customised tools: Features like ‘My Garage’ let buyers filter parts for their vehicles, improving visibility for your listings.

Cons

• Smaller audience: While highly targeted, the platform’s audience is smaller compared to giants like Amazon or eBay.
• Building a reputation: You’ll need to work to establish trust and credibility on the platform, especially as a new seller.

Costs

Listing your car parts on ifndautoparts features a straightforward, seller-friendly fee structure with no upfront costs. The platform maintains a simple 10% commission on the final sale price, excluding shipping costs, which is more affordable than general marketplaces that typically charge commission plus additional processing fees. There are no monthly subscriptions, featured listing fees, or separate payment processing charges, allowing you to list your entire inventory without financial commitment.

Is ifndautoparts Right for You?

The platform's targeted audience of automotive enthusiasts and professionals provides a higher visibility-to-cost ratio compared to general marketplaces where your parts would compete with countless unrelated categories. To maximize profitability, consider bundling similar items to increase order values while paying commission on single transactions, accurately price shipping, and take advantage of seasonal promotions that may offer reduced commission rates. With this transparent pricing model, you can focus on selling quality parts rather than navigating complex fee structures.

Building Your Own E-commerce Site

Creating your own e-commerce site puts you in the driver’s seat of your business, giving you full control over branding, customer interactions, and pricing. 

With platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, setting up a sleek, professional store has never been easier. However, getting your site to be visible is the most difficult part of the journey. Add to this handling all the shipping, logistics and customer interaction, and the whole process becomes really overwhelming.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of selling car parts via your own site. 

Pros

• No latform fees: Unlike marketplaces, you don’t pay selling commissions, which can lead to higher profit margins.
• Control over branding: Your site is your canvas, allowing you to build a unique, professional image that resonates with your target audience.
• Customer loyalty: Direct relationships with your customers make it easier to build loyalty through personalised interactions and marketing strategies like email campaigns or exclusive offers.

Cons

• Upfront costs: Building your site requires an investment in design, hosting, and marketing. For example, Shopify plans range from £29 to £259 per month, with additional costs for plugins, themes, and payment processing fees (around 2-3% per transaction).
• Driving traffic: Unlike established marketplaces, an e-commerce site relies heavily on your ability to attract visitors. This means investing time and money into SEO, paid ads, and social media to generate traffic.
• Managing operations: You’re responsible for logistics, customer service, and handling returns. This can be time-consuming and complex, particularly for businesses without dedicated resources.

Is Building a Site the Right Solution for You?

If you’re ready to invest in building your brand and creating a tailored customer experience, an e-commerce site is a powerful option. It gives you unparalleled control over your business and the potential to earn higher profit margins. 

However, it requires more effort upfront—like driving traffic and managing logistics, marketing operations and customer interactions. 

Car Part Selling Platforms - Comparison

Let’s summarise every option that we have discussed as the table for easy comparison:

Platform	Ease of Setup	Maintenance	Marketing	Costs	Scalability
Amazon FBM	Moderate: Requires setup and listing.	High: Manage inventory and shipping.	Basic exposure via marketplace.	£25 + VAT/month (Pro Plan) or £0.75/item; 12%-15% referral fee; self-managed fulfilment costs.	Limited by your logistics capacity.
Amazon FBA	Easy: Amazon handles logistics.	Low: Monitor stock and fees.	High visibility via Prime.	£25 + VAT/month; 12%-15% referral fee; £2.14–£10.07/item fulfilment fee; long-term storage fees.	Highly scalable via Amazon’s system.
eBay	Easy: Simple listing process.	Moderate: Self-fulfilment required.	Limited native tools.	Free or £25-£1,199/month (business); 12.9% transaction fee + £0.30; self-managed fulfilment costs.	Depends on manual handling.
ifndautoparts	Moderate: Niche platform tailored for car parts.	Low: Integrated support.	Built-in audience for auto parts.	Pay-as-you-sell; 10% commission. Self-managed fulfilment costs.	Scalable within the niche.
Own Website	Complex: Needs development and hosting.	Moderate to High: Requires updates.	Full control; requires ad spend.	Website setup and maintenance fees + fulfilment and advertising costs.	Unlimited, but resource-intensive.

Notes on fees:

1. Amazon FBM: This model saves you fulfillment costs but requires significant time and effort to manage logistics.
2. Amazon FBA: Higher overall costs, including fulfilment and long-term storage fees, make this better suited for high-margin or high-volume sellers.
3. eBay: Its flexible subscription tiers make it appealing for both small and large sellers, but transaction fees add up, especially for low-margin items.
4. ifndautoparts: Focused on automotive products, no fees, just a commission on sale.
5. Own Website: The upfront investment is high, plus ongoing costs for maintenance, tools, fulfilment and marketing.

How To Choose The Marketplace That’s Right For You

Selling auto parts in the UK gives you plenty of options - from massive e-commerce platforms to specialised marketplaces like ifndautoparts, or even setting up your own shop. Each has its strengths, but the key is finding where YOUR parts will shine brightest.Y

It is essential to make sure your parts can be found by the right buyers, not buried under thousands of unrelated listings. That's why so many sellers are finding their home at ifndautoparts, where your rare Jaguar E-Type headlight assembly won't get lost between someone's old trainers and vintage vinyl records.

Ready to stop paying excessive fees and start connecting with buyers who actually know what they're looking for? ifndautoparts combines seller-friendly pricing with a community that speaks your language. Why not give it a try today? Your parts (and your profit margins) will thank you!

Explore ifndautoparts today and join a community of passionate car enthusiasts and sellers who make trading auto parts seamless and rewarding!