What changed
Comet relaunched as an online only UK electricals marketplace: more than one million products from 2,500 sellers across TVs, phones, computing, gaming, cameras and appliances; Comet carries no stock and sells only through third-party retailers and brands
When
Site launched November 9, 2026; OnBuy bought the Comet brand from Misco Technologies in May 2025; OnCommerce sales fees in force since February 4, 2026
Who it affects
Verified businesses selling genuine branded electricals, based in the UK or abroad as long as they deliver to UK customers; one OnCommerce account covers OnBuy, easyShop and Comet
What to do
Check your category fee in OnCommerce's table, register and verify, list your top 20 barcoded SKUs with delivery priced in, and compare 30 days of net margin and orders against your other UK channels

Key takeaways

  • Comet relaunched on November 9, 2026 as a UK electricals marketplace with no stock of its own: one million plus products, 2,500 sellers, £10 million behind it and OnBuy's Cas Paton as chief executive.
  • Sales fees are 7% on devices and white goods, 8% on consoles and 15% on everything else, charged on price plus delivery, with subscriptions from £25 a month; accessories do not get the 7% rate.
  • Test it with your top 20 barcoded devices, price delivery in, and judge after 30 days on orders per listing and net margin against your other UK channels.

Comet, from high street chain to marketplace

  1. Founded in Hull

  2. Collapse closes 236 stores, about 7,000 jobs

  3. OnBuy buys the brand from Misco Technologies

  4. OnCommerce sales fees take effect

  5. Comet.co.uk relaunches with 2,500 sellers

  6. First peak season, recruiting sellers

What launched on November 9

Comet's website went live on November 9, 2026 with the brand's black and orange identity and more than one million products from 2,500 sellers across TVs, mobile phones, computing, gaming, cameras and household appliances, Retail Gazette reported on November 10. ERT, the electrical retail trade title, added that a customer with an order issue contacts the seller first and can escalate to Comet if it is not resolved. Comet is recruiting more retailers and brands ahead of the Christmas trading period.

The business behind it is OnBuy, the UK marketplace founded by Cas Paton, which bought the Comet brand from Misco Technologies in May 2025 and had first aimed to relaunch it before the end of that year. The marketplace is operated by OnCommerce, OnBuy's seller platform, and the relaunch is backed by a £10 million investment. Paton, now Comet's chief executive, set an ambition to build it into a £1 billion business and said the company is exploring a partnership with a retailer to offer click and collect. There are no plans to reopen stores.

Paton's pitch to sellers, quoted by ERT: "Every sale that's made on Comet is a sale for another retailer." Comet founded in Hull in 1933 and was one of the UK's largest electricals chains; its 2012 collapse closed 236 stores and cost around 7,000 jobs.

What it costs to sell: the fee table OnCommerce publishes

OnCommerce's Comet seller page sets one fee structure across every retail brand in its network, with sales fees in force since February 4, 2026. Fees are charged on the total price including any delivery charge, and there is no separate transaction fee because Comet pays sellers directly. The standard selling fee is 15% and applies to anything outside the named categories. Consumer electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops, monitors, TVs, audio, headphones, cameras, wearables and smart home devices, but not their accessories) pay 7%. Large appliances and white goods pay 7%. Games consoles sold as complete units pay 8%, with controllers, headsets and games excluded. Tools, DIY and equipment pay 13%. All fees are subject to VAT where applicable.

On top of the sales fee is a subscription: Standard at £25 a month with API access, on and off site advertising tools and no listing fees; Partner at £69 a month (listed as £129, reduced until January 2028) with a dedicated store, custom collections and comparison table placement; Professional at £249 a month (listed as £499, also reduced until January 2028) with a seller badge, sitewide logo and dedicated product carousels. A paid Product Activation programme puts chosen products into search, browse and offsite positions. Payments release about seven days after the expected delivery window, and the seller chooses when to withdraw. Listings can be matched by barcode, created new, or fed through a channel manager, and one account also reaches OnBuy and easyShop, which OnCommerce describes as 43 sites across 21 countries.

Koongo, a feed tool that integrates with OnCommerce, says OnCommerce has stated Comet will offer free UK delivery on every product including large appliances. We could not confirm that on Comet's own site, which blocks automated readers, so check the delivery rule in the Seller Control Panel before pricing.

OnCommerce sales fees that apply on Comet

RateCoversExcludes
Consumer electronic devices7%Phones, laptops, TVs, audioAccessories, consumables
Large appliances7%Fridges, washers, ovensSmall appliances
Games consoles8%Complete console unitsControllers, games
Tools, DIY, equipment13%Power and hand toolsNone listed
Standard fee15%Everything elseNamed categories

So what: the margin math on a 7% channel

The number that matters is 7% on the device itself, against 15% on accessories and 13% on tools, because the two rates land on the same seller's catalogue. Take illustrative numbers: a £500 television with a landed cost of £400 and £15 of delivery. On Comet the sales fee is 7% of £500, or £35, leaving £50 before overheads, a 10% margin. If free delivery is required and you add the £15 to the price, the fee base becomes £515 and the fee £36.05, so bake the extra pound into the price too.

Now the HDMI cable you bundle with that TV. A £15 cable sold on its own sits in the standard category at 15%, or £2.25, against perhaps £6 of landed cost: still profitable, but at half the rate of the device. A seller who lists the whole range at one price rule will give back margin on every accessory. The subscription is small against volume: £25 a month is £1.25 a unit at 20 orders a month and 25p a unit at 100, so the test is whether the channel can produce 20 orders at all.

The comparison a channel manager should make is against their current UK marketplace fees for the same device, including any payment processing or fulfilment charge those channels add, because Comet's 7% includes payment and delivery is the seller's own. At launch there is no sales history to prove what a listing earns, so the launch audience from the press coverage is the bet, not a measured conversion rate.

Who should list and who should wait

Comet wants genuine branded electricals from verified businesses, and the seller FAQ says overseas sellers qualify as long as they can deliver to UK customers. That fits UK electricals retailers and brand owners first, then EU and US brands with UK stock in a 3PL. Products in the 7% and 8% categories are the obvious candidates: TVs, laptops, phones, audio, cameras, white goods and consoles. Cables, adaptors, cases and toys are listed departments but carry the 15% standard rate unless a category-specific fee applies.

Sellers already on OnBuy have the easiest path, since one OnCommerce account and one product catalogue serve both sites and OnCommerce says its technology decides where products are shown across its network. A brand that wants to see how a UK specialist channel behaves against a general one can use international expansion planning to decide which SKUs to risk, and read our ecommerce marketplace news channel for the other new UK destinations launched this quarter.

What sellers should do before Christmas

Six steps, each with an owner, a place and a metric that shows it worked.

  • Channel lead: in OnCommerce's Comet fee table, assign each SKU to its fee category (7%, 8%, 13% or 15%) and write the rate next to the landed cost. Metric: a net margin per SKU after fee and delivery, with every accessory flagged for the 15% rate.
  • Owner or finance: register on OnCommerce, upload ID, business documents and payout details, and complete verification. Metric: account verified and Comet live in the channel list; the signup form is under ten minutes but verification waits on the review team.
  • Catalogue manager: match your top 20 devices by GTIN or EAN in the Seller Control Panel or through your channel manager, with full specifications and model numbers. Metric: 20 live listings with no barcode mismatches in the first week.
  • Pricing owner: set Comet prices with delivery included if free delivery is required, using the fee base of price plus delivery. Metric: realised margin per order within one point of the planned margin.
  • Operations: set delivery windows you can hit with your own courier, because payouts release about seven days after the expected delivery window. Metric: days from order to cash, compared with your other UK channels.
  • Channel lead: after 30 days, compare orders per listing and net margin against the same SKUs on your other UK channels, and decide whether to extend the catalogue or pull back. Metric: at least 20 orders a month to cover the £25 plan, and a net margin per order equal to or better than your next best channel.

Comet listing test before Christmas

  • Assign every SKU a fee category
  • Verify the OnCommerce account
  • Match top 20 devices by barcode
  • Price delivery into the fee base
  • Set delivery windows you can hit
  • Judge after 30 days on orders and margin

When this does not apply

If you cannot deliver to UK customers, Comet is closed to you; it is live in the UK only. White label and unbranded products do not fit a marketplace that asks for recognised brands and checks eligibility before listing. Sellers whose range is mostly accessories will pay the 15% standard rate and should not expect the 7% headline. And a US brand without UK VAT registration or UK stock has a compliance and shipping job to finish before this becomes a channel decision rather than a plan.

Where PPC Spider helps

PPC Spider runs marketplace growth for brands and tests new channels with a fixed SKU list and a 30-day margin read before scaling. If you want a second pair of eyes on which products to risk on a new UK destination, our services team can map fees, pricing and stock across Amazon, eBay, Walmart and the newer marketplaces, and a free Amazon audit shows where your current UK listings leak margin. Pricing for ongoing management is on our agency pricing page.

Sources

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