You're the merchant. Here's what that means for your earnings.

Last reviewed 2026-06-24

When you sell on Reluv, something a little different happens compared to some other marketplaces: you're not just a user of the platform — you're the merchant of record for every sale you make. That's a meaningful distinction, and it's worth understanding what it means for your money.

What "merchant of record" means for C2C sellers

On many large marketplaces, the platform collects the buyer's payment, takes its cut, and then transfers the remainder to you. You're at arm's length from the transaction itself.

Reluv works differently. Because we use direct charges, the buyer's payment is processed directly on your Stripe account. Reluv then collects an application fee from that payment, and the rest is yours. In legal terms, you are the seller — the merchant of record — for every item you list.

This has a few practical upsides:

• Transparency. Every transaction is visible in your own Stripe account — you can see exactly what was charged, when, and what Reluv deducted as a fee. There's no black box.
• You own the record. Your Stripe account holds the full payment history. If you ever need to export or verify your sales data independently, it's there.
• A cleaner relationship with the buyer. The transaction runs through you, not through a middleman. For buyers, this means the sale is backed by a real seller, not just an anonymous platform account.

Understanding the numbers: payout vs. Stripe gross

Here's where it can get confusing. Open your Stripe dashboard and you'll see a "lifetime volume" or gross total that's higher than the sum of your payouts. That's expected — and here's why.

Take a typical sale:

The full £39.39 runs through your Stripe account (because you're the merchant of record), so Stripe counts it all as your volume. But £7.41 of that is Reluv's fee — it never touches your balance. Your income from that sale is £31.98, not £39.39.

The Stripe gross figure is a measure of activity on your account, not of what you earned. Think of it like a till reading that counts every transaction before the business's costs are taken off — useful for Stripe's internal records, but not your net income.

Which number to use for your records

For your own record-keeping, the number that matters is what landed in your bank account — your payout.

Reluv shows this clearly in a few places:

• Insights → Earnings snapshot — shows gross sales, awaiting payout, and paid out across any period you choose.
• Each sale — the sale detail page shows your net earnings and payout date for that specific order.
• Future: downloadable statement — we're building a year-by-year export so you can pull a clean record for any tax year at any time.

For most sellers — those clearing out their own wardrobes — this is unlikely to affect your tax position at all. But it's worth knowing the right figure regardless. If you're selling regularly or think you may be classed as a trader, our guide on tax on selling clothes in the UK covers when tax actually applies, and what HMRC looks for.

What Reluv deducts, and why

The platform fee covers what it costs to run the marketplace: secure payments, buyer and seller protection, dispute resolution, shipping infrastructure, and support. It comes in two parts:

• A seller fee — deducted from your sale price (this is what reduces your payout from the listing price).
• A buyer fee — added on top of the listing price for the buyer.

Together these make up the application fee that Stripe shows as the deduction on your account. Reluv also covers the Stripe payment processing cost — it's not passed on to you, so your payout is clean.

FAQ

Which figure should I use for my tax records — my Reluv payout or the gross on Stripe? Your payout amount is your income from the sale — it's what you actually received. The gross figure on Stripe includes Reluv's platform fee, which is not your income.

Why does Stripe show a larger amount than my payout? As the merchant of record, the full transaction runs through your Stripe account before Reluv's fee is deducted. Stripe's lifetime volume reflects gross throughput, not what ended up in your pocket.

What does being the merchant of record mean? It means you — not Reluv — are the legal seller of the item. The buyer's payment is processed on your Stripe account and Reluv takes an application fee. You own the transaction, which gives you more transparency and a cleaner record.

Do I need to report the Stripe gross volume to HMRC? Generally no — the Stripe gross includes Reluv's platform fee, which is not your income. Your relevant figure is the money you actually received. Check with an accountant for your specific situation.