E-commerce and payment platform finance
Online shop and payment platforms offer funding based on your sales through them, repaid automatically as a share of those sales. It is quick and simple to get, but only open to their own sellers and the fixed fee can be costly.
- No security
How it works
Some platforms that sell your goods or take your payments also offer finance, worked out from your sales history with them. It is also called embedded finance.
- How much: based on your sales through the platform. For example, PayPal's UK Working Capital offers £1,000 to £200,000.
- Cost: usually one fixed fee agreed up front, instead of interest.
- Repayment: a percentage of your sales through the platform is taken automatically until the total is repaid. Some set a minimum: PayPal asks for a minimum repayment every 90 days.
- Eligibility: you must already sell through the platform. PayPal asks for a business account open at least 90 days and at least £9,000 of annual PayPal sales. Shopify asks for at least 90 days of selling on Shopify.
- Checks: decisions rest mainly on your sales data. Some providers say they do no personal credit check.
It works much like a merchant cash advance or revenue-based finance, but only the platform you sell through can offer it.
Upsides and downsides
Upsides
- Quick, with little paperwork, because the platform already sees your sales
- Repayments fall when sales fall
- Often no personal credit check
Downsides
- Only available from platforms you already sell through
- The fixed fee can be expensive compared with a loan
- A share of every sale goes to repayments
Risks
- Cash flow squeeze while repayments are taken from each sale
- Relying on repeated advances
What it costs
- How it is priced
- A fixed fee, repaid as a percentage of your sales through the platform
- Costs that are easy to miss
- The fixed fee is the same however quickly you repay, so the annual cost is high if sales are strong
- A share of each sale is taken before you can use it
- Minimum repayment rules on some products
Based on your sales through the platform. PayPal's UK Working Capital offers £1,000 to £200,000.
Have a quote? Cost of a merchant cash advance or revenue-based finance: work out the APR-equivalent and total cost
Does it fit?
Could fit when
- You sell online or take card payments through a platform that offers finance
- You need stock or marketing money quickly
Unlikely to fit when
- Your customers pay by invoice, not online or by card
- You do not sell through a platform that offers finance
Who can use it
- Business types: Sole trader, Partnership, Private limited company, LLP, Public limited company
- Needs sales (revenue)
- Trading for at least 3 months
- You must already sell or take payments through the platform, usually for at least 90 days
- Minimum sales levels apply, such as £9,000 a year of PayPal sales for PayPal Working Capital
- Some platforms only invite eligible sellers
Am I ready?
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- Sales history on the platform
- Margin check
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Regulation and protections
Depends on the product and on who is borrowing. Sales-based advances to companies are commercial finance and not generally regulated. Read the platform's terms, and check the provider on the FCA Register.
Types of provider: Online marketplaces and shop platforms; Payment providers.
Also consider
Sources
- PayPal UK: Working Capital (provider's own terms) · checked 7 October 2026
- Shopify UK: Shopify Capital (provider's own terms) · checked 7 October 2026