Revenue-based finance (RBF)
Revenue-based finance is a lump sum advanced to an online business and repaid as a fixed percentage of daily sales until a pre-agreed flat fee is cleared. There's no fixed term and no interest rate. The lender underwrites on live Shopify, Amazon and Stripe data, not filed accounts, so a six-month-old store with strong sales can qualify. UK tickets run £10,000 to several million, fees typically 2% to 8% of the advance.
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, FundBiz
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind FundBiz. His background runs through commercial finance, mortgages and fintech, including as managing director of an invoice finance business. He oversees FundBiz's guides and lender reviews.
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At a glance
- Ticket size
- From around £10,000 to several million
- Pricing
- Fixed fee, 2% to 8% of advance
- Repayment
- % of daily sales (revenue share)
- Term
- Variable, no fixed end date
- Underwriting
- Live store, marketplace and payment data
- Decision
- 24 to 48 hours once data is connected
- Personal guarantee
- Often required on Ltd deals
- Soft search
- Yes at quote stage
How it works
You connect your store and payment data (Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, sometimes your ad accounts and bank feed). The lender reads recent and forward revenue, then offers an advance with a single flat fee. A £100,000 advance at a 6% fee means you repay £106,000 in total. Repayment is a fixed share of daily sales, taken automatically, until that £106,000 is cleared.
Because the split is a percentage of sales, the term flexes: strong weeks clear it faster, quiet weeks slower. There's no fixed monthly payment and no compounding interest. The cost is the fee, fixed at the offer, which is what makes RBF easy to read up front and easy to misjudge if the advance repays very quickly.
RBF vs a merchant cash advance
They share a repayment model (a share of takings) but underwrite differently. A merchant cash advance sizes against card-machine takings and suits hospitality and bricks-and-mortar retail. Revenue-based finance sizes against online store and marketplace revenue and suits e-commerce. MCA is quoted as a factor rate; RBF as a flat fee. For an online seller with little or no card-terminal flow, RBF is usually the better-fitting product.
Who it fits
- Shopify, WooCommerce and other direct-to-consumer stores with steady online sales.
- Amazon, eBay and marketplace sellers funding inventory ahead of peak.
- Subscription and SaaS businesses with predictable recurring revenue.
- Growing online brands whose filed accounts understate current trading.
Who it doesn't fit
- B2B service businesses with invoice or bank-transfer revenue (invoice finance fits better).
- Pre-revenue startups with no sales data to underwrite against.
- Businesses wanting a fixed monthly payment and a known APR (a term loan fits better).
- Cases where the advance would repay in weeks, where the flat fee becomes expensive annualised.
UK lenders in this market
Specialist lenders we list for revenue-based and embedded ecommerce finance include Wayflyer, Outfund, YouLend and Liberis. Each has a different sweet spot on ticket size, platform integration and how much trading history it wants. Other providers an online seller may meet directly, such as Shopify Capital and Amazon Lending, are platform-tied offers rather than independent lenders, so they only appear inside the platform you already sell on.
FAQ
What is revenue-based finance?
Revenue-based finance is a lump-sum advance to an online business, repaid as a fixed percentage of daily sales until a pre-agreed flat fee is cleared. There's no fixed term and no interest rate. The lender underwrites on live store and payment data rather than filed accounts.
Is revenue-based finance a loan?
Commercially it behaves like one, but it's structured as a purchase of future revenue rather than an interest-bearing loan. That is why it is priced as a flat fee, not an APR, and why it is generally outside FCA consumer-credit regulation. For a limited company the practical effect is similar to short-term borrowing.
How much does revenue-based finance cost?
Most UK providers charge a flat fee between 2% and 8% of the advance, disclosed at offer. A £100,000 advance at a 6% fee repays £106,000 in total. The headline fee looks small, but if sales repay it quickly the annualised cost can be high, so check the effective cost before you sign.
How much can I borrow?
Advances are usually sized against your recent monthly online revenue, often around one to two months of sales, though strong-growth brands secure more. UK tickets run from about £10,000 up to several million for established sellers. The exact band depends on revenue stability and which platforms you can connect.
Run the numbers first
A flat fee isn't an interest rate. Convert your offer to an effective annualised cost and a payback period before you compare it against a term loan or invoice finance.
Where it applies
Send an enquiry
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