Not On The High Street vs Shopify: Should You Sell on Both?

Key Takeaways

• Not On The High Street is a curated UK marketplace for small brands: you apply to join, NOTHS acts as your commercial agent, and the contract of sale is between you and the customer.
• Sellers must be registered and trading in the UK, pass identity and bank checks, hold at least £1 million public and products liability insurance and go live within three months of getting their login.
• NOTHS charges a one off joining fee and a commission on each sale, including delivery, at rates it notifies to each seller; at a commonly quoted 25%, a £40 order costs £12 including VAT, against £1.05 in Shopify Basic card fees.
• NOTHS bans links to your website, your email address and other contact routes on storefronts, products, packaging and parcel inserts, so your own customer list gets built on Shopify.
• The seller agreement runs for at least 12 months, then needs 30 days' notice to end, and Shopify Marketplace Connect does not support NOTHS.
• For most of our eligible clients, we often treat NOTHS as a marketplace to test, while Shopify stays the home of the brand.

Quick Answer

Sell on Not On The High Street when you have distinctive, giftable products that suit its curated UK marketplace and its audience justifies the commission and rules. Build on Shopify when you want control of your branding, product presentation, customer acquisition, email marketing, repeat purchases, product range, SEO and personalisation. For most growing UK brands the answer is both: let NOTHS introduce new gift buyers while Shopify becomes the central home of the business.

Table of Contents

• What Is Not On The High Street, and How Is It Different From Shopify?
• Who Can Sell on Not On The High Street?
• Not On The High Street vs Shopify at a Glance
• How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Not On The High Street?
• Who Owns the Customer?
• Brand, Presentation and Promotion
• What Are NOTHS's Service Standards and Risks?
• Can You Sell on NOTHS and Shopify at the Same Time?
• When Should a NOTHS Seller Build a Shopify Store?
• Should You Sell on NOTHS, Shopify or Both?
• What About Etsy, Amazon and eBay?
• Why Matters Perspective
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Final Thoughts
• Related Articles

What Is Not On The High Street, and How Is It Different From Shopify?

Not On The High Street, or NOTHS, describes itself as a curated marketplace that hand selects the small brands selling on it (NOTHS), and products are sold and sent by those businesses rather than by NOTHS (NOTHS). Under the seller terms, you appoint NOTHS as your commercial agent to conclude sales, but the contract of sale is between you and the customer, and NOTHS is neither the buyer nor the seller (NOTHS seller terms). You remain responsible for supplying what the customer bought.

You are still selling inside NOTHS's environment. NOTHS has discretion over the look of the site, how storefronts and seller information appear and which products go live, and it runs a product submission process, so acceptance does not mean you can upload anything and present it however you like. On Shopify, you choose the domain, theme, navigation, homepage, product page design, collections, photography, upsells, personalisation tools, email capture, loyalty, subscriptions and content.

The trade is audience against control. A shopper searching NOTHS for a "personalised 30th birthday necklace" may never have heard of your brand, so NOTHS supplies the discovery, while a Shopify store has to earn its visitors through Google, Meta, Pinterest, email, PR, influencers and organic social. Once they arrive, though, far more of the experience is yours.

Who Can Sell on Not On The High Street?

NOTHS is application only, and it cannot review an application without product photos, which you can share through your website, social media or a photo sharing link (NOTHS). Your business must be established in the UK with a UK trading address, and limited companies must match their Companies House records. After approval, expect identity and bank checks, including a passport or driving licence and a bank statement from the last three months.

Timing and insurance matter too. The terms require your storefront to go live within three months of receiving your login, or NOTHS may suspend or end the agreement, so apply when your photography, product data, pricing and fulfilment are ready. Sellers must also hold at least £1 million public and products liability insurance, plus employers' liability cover where it applies (NOTHS seller terms).

Not On The High Street vs Shopify at a Glance

How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Not On The High Street?

NOTHS does not publish one price list. Its seller terms list the charges, but the amounts are notified to each seller and can change under the terms, so model your margins on the offer you actually receive.

What Does NOTHS Charge?

The terms provide for a one off, non refundable joining fee where it applies, and NOTHS's FAQs confirm there is no annual renewal fee (NOTHS). The main cost is the single commission fee, a percentage of what the customer pays for the product including its delivery charge. On top of that come a 2.5% refund fee plus VAT on any amount you refund, which is itself non refundable, a 2% margin above the wholesale rate when a payout involves currency conversion, fulfilment fees if you use NOTHS delivery services and a monthly service fee where notified. NOTHS can also introduce a monthly or annual subscription fee with 30 days' notice (NOTHS seller terms), and unless stated otherwise, every charge carries VAT.

A £40 Order on Each Platform

The commission most often quoted for NOTHS is 25%, as in this 2026 fee guide, but treat it as an illustration rather than your rate. At 25%, a £40 order costs £10 in commission, and VAT at the standard 20% rate (GOV.UK) takes that to £12, which VAT registered businesses can usually reclaim. On Shopify Basic, which costs £19 a month billed yearly or £25 monthly, the same £40 card payment costs £1.05, because 2% of £40 is 80p and the fixed charge adds 25p (Shopify).

The gap is large, but it is not the whole story. If the shopper found you on NOTHS, part of that commission pays for demand you did not have to create, while a Shopify sale might also carry £8 of Google Ads or £10 of Meta spend, plus SEO, influencer or affiliate costs. The useful question is what it costs to win a profitable customer through each channel, and that is what decides whether NOTHS is worth it for you.

Who Owns the Customer?

NOTHS lets you use a customer's details only as far as needed to fulfil their order (NOTHS seller terms), which covers dispatch, delivery, personalisation, customer service and returns but not adding them to your marketing list. Your messages to customers must be solely about managing the order, normally through NOTHS's system, with no reference to your own website or other services.

The terms also ban direct or indirect links to other websites, including your own, your email address and any other route for customers to contact you directly, on your storefront, products and packaging, unless the law requires them. Those rules cover anything you put in the parcel, and every order must include NOTHS's dispatch letter, so a card saying "get 10% off at ourwebsite.co.uk" is a breach rather than a clever workaround.

That shapes how repeat purchases work. A customer who buys a £45 personalised wedding candle set on NOTHS may well come back through NOTHS, but the relationship stays inside the marketplace. Someone who finds your Shopify store independently and gives marketing consent, which Shopify can collect through forms, checkout and customer accounts (Shopify Help Center), can enter a journey of post purchase emails, launches, birthday offers and Christmas campaigns. Our guides to growing your email list and Shopify email marketing show how to build it.

Brand, Presentation and Promotion

Presentation carries real weight on a curated marketplace, because your product is judged visually beside other creative UK businesses. NOTHS says clear, well lit imagery helps sales and that lifestyle photography showing products in situ performs better than white backgrounds or mannequin shots (NOTHS), so a personalised champagne glass on a wedding table or inside its gift box helps shoppers picture the occasion.

You also give NOTHS the right to use your images, logos and other storefront content in its own editorial and promotional activity, and to promote your products on its site, in print and on other websites. That exposure is part of what commission pays for, but it means your photography needs to work beyond your product page. You may not bid on the NOTHS name or variations of it in Google or other search ads (NOTHS seller terms), so direct acquisition for your Shopify store has to rest on your own brand, products and generic searches.

Even with a polished storefront, the surrounding environment belongs to NOTHS. On Shopify you control typography, colour, navigation, homepage storytelling, collections, product page structure, video, reviews, cross sells, email capture and loyalty, which matters most once customers buy because they trust the business behind the product; our guide to product page design covers the detail.

What Are NOTHS's Service Standards and Risks?

NOTHS expects fast service. You must accept or reject each order within two working days, with 24 hours as best practice, and reply to customer enquiries within one working day (NOTHS seller terms), while keeping stock availability accurate in its system. For a solo maker checking personalised wording, spelling, delivery dates and gift messages, that workload peaks exactly when Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and wedding season bring the most orders.

The agreement is a real commitment. It runs for at least 12 months from the day your storefront goes live, after which you can usually end it with 30 days' notice, and NOTHS keeps the right to restrict, suspend or end the service in set circumstances. NOTHS also decides which products are accepted and how they appear, so a business taking all its revenue from NOTHS is exposed to any change in visibility, fees, product eligibility or account status.

Can You Sell on NOTHS and Shopify at the Same Time?

Yes, and each can do a different job: NOTHS for marketplace discovery, gifting demand, personalised and seasonal products and shoppers who browse NOTHS, and Shopify for the full brand experience, SEO, email sign ups, repeat purchases, corporate gifting, wider ranges and loyalty.

NOTHS's terms give you complete discretion over your prices (NOTHS seller terms), so you can reflect commission, VAT on fees, packaging, delivery, returns and acquisition costs, although big price gaps between channels can confuse customers. Stock needs a system: if you make 20 leather journals and Shopify sells 15 while NOTHS still shows 20, you will oversell. Shopify Marketplace Connect supports Amazon, eBay and some US marketplaces but not NOTHS (Shopify Help Center), so check whether your inventory, order management or ERP system connects to both before promising automatic sync; for a small catalogue, careful manual updates may be enough.

When Should a NOTHS Seller Build a Shopify Store?

The best time to build Shopify is while NOTHS is working, not after it stops. These signs suggest the moment has arrived:

1. Christmas carries too much of the business. A Shopify store lets you build year round demand through content, email, launches, seasonal ranges and loyalty.
2. Customers keep coming back. If buyers return for new designs, refills or more gifts, your own retention channel becomes far more valuable.
3. You need richer personalisation. Shopify apps support text fields, file and image uploads, add ons and live previews, so a product page can guide buyers from colour and photo upload to wording, preview, gift box and delivery date.
4. Corporate gifting is growing. Bulk quantities, logo personalisation, invoicing and longer lead times need their own landing pages and enquiry forms, such as a corporate Christmas gifts page for teams.
5. You want your own email audience. Shoppers who find you through search, social, ads, content or PR can join your list directly, feeding welcome, abandoned cart, post purchase and win back flows.

None of this means taking NOTHS customers away in breach of its rules. It means building a separate source of customers who discover your brand directly, and our guide to setting up a Shopify store is a practical next step.

Should You Sell on NOTHS, Shopify or Both?

For most established NOTHS sellers, the strongest model gives each channel a clear role rather than abandoning one. NOTHS keeps introducing people who are actively shopping for gifts, while Shopify becomes the wider home of the brand.

Think of NOTHS commission partly as an acquisition cost. If it brings a profitable £60 sale from someone who had never heard of you, paying far more than a card fee can still make sense, and there is little reason to leave a profitable marketplace just because you have your own site. The problem comes when dependence stops you building anything outside it, so a sensible path is NOTHS, then NOTHS plus Shopify, then a Shopify led brand that keeps NOTHS while it pays.

What About Etsy, Amazon and eBay?

NOTHS and Etsy overlap on gifts, personalised products and independent makers, but Etsy is a far larger international marketplace with its own creativity rules and fees, while NOTHS is more tightly curated and only accepts UK businesses; see our Etsy vs Shopify guide. Amazon serves a much broader market where shoppers prioritise convenience, availability, fast delivery and price, so the same product can perform very differently there; see our Amazon vs Shopify guide. eBay suits used, refurbished, collectable, clearance and end of line stock, a different proposition for most gift brands; see our eBay vs Shopify guide.

Why Matters Perspective

For most of our eligible clients, we often treat NOTHS as a marketplace to test rather than the whole business. Because the agreement runs for at least 12 months, we plan that test around a full gifting year and judge it on profit after commission, VAT, returns and fulfilment rather than revenue alone, because a marketplace turning over £100,000 is not automatically worth more than a Shopify store turning over £70,000 if the store's customers keep coming back.

If NOTHS produces good margin orders, keep it; the aim is to reduce unhealthy dependence, not profitable revenue. Build the independent channel before you need it, because Google rankings, email subscribers, returning customers, advertising data and brand searches all take time, and launching while NOTHS still sells gives your store room to mature. Our first 90 days marketing plan shows where to start.

Why Matters is a Shopify Select partner with Verified Skills across development and marketing. Our pricing is published, retainer clients are billed one month in arrears and never tied into long contracts, and every development project carries a 3 month guarantee. See our Shopify packages, read our guide to what a Shopify store costs to build, or email us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Not On The High Street better than Shopify?

They do different jobs. NOTHS gives you access to a curated UK gifting marketplace, while Shopify gives you control of your brand, website, customer acquisition, product range and retention. For an established NOTHS seller, running both is usually more practical than choosing one.

How much does it cost to sell on Not On The High Street?

NOTHS's seller terms provide for a one off joining fee, a commission on each sale including delivery, a 2.5% refund fee, a 2% currency conversion margin and possible service or subscription fees, generally plus VAT. NOTHS tells each seller its rates rather than publishing them; at a commonly quoted 25% commission, a £40 order costs £10, or £12 with VAT.

Can I sell on Not On The High Street and my own website?

Yes. You can run a NOTHS storefront alongside your own Shopify store, and NOTHS's terms give sellers complete discretion over their prices. Customer details from NOTHS orders may only be used to fulfil those orders, so build your Shopify audience separately.

Can I put my website address in NOTHS parcels?

No. NOTHS's terms ban links to your own website, your email address and other direct contact routes on your storefront, products, packaging and parcel inserts unless the law requires them, and every order must include a NOTHS dispatch letter.

Who can sell on Not On The High Street?

NOTHS is application only, and your business must be registered and trading in the UK. Approved sellers pass identity and bank checks, need at least £1 million public and products liability insurance, and must get their storefront live within three months of receiving their login.

Is Not On The High Street better than Etsy?

It depends on your products and goals. Etsy is a much larger international marketplace with its own creativity rules and fees, while NOTHS is more tightly curated and only accepts UK businesses, so compare audience, commission, product fit and profit rather than size alone.

How long is the Not On The High Street contract?

The seller agreement runs for at least 12 months from the date your storefront goes live. After that, you can usually end it with 30 days' notice, so treat NOTHS as a year long commitment rather than a quick experiment.

Final Thoughts

Not On The High Street can be an excellent route to market for the right UK business, with shoppers actively looking for gifts, personalised products and independent brands, but it comes with commission, service standards, product approval, customer data limits and branding rules. Shopify sits on the other side of that trade: you attract the customer yourself and in return control the brand, website, marketing, products, email and retention. The real question is not which to choose but what role each should play, with NOTHS introducing new customers and Shopify becoming the infrastructure the business grows around. If you would like help planning that, email us.

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