Answer in brief
Start with a product, a buyer and the arithmetic of one order, including shipping and returns. Then choose a hosted platform, open-source software or a custom build, check which payment providers and tax rules apply in your country, write honest product pages and terms for the markets you serve, test the checkout, and bring the first buyers from marketplaces, Google’s free listings and social posts.
Start an online store from a product and a buyer
Most people who search how to start an online store expect step one to be choosing software. It is closer to step five. The first step is a sentence you can say out loud: what you sell, to whom, and why they should buy it from you. A potter selling mugs to people who met her at a craft fair has an answer. A reseller of mass-market phone cases has a harder one.
The cheapest test of that sentence needs no site. Sell the first ten units through channels you already have: past customers, a post, a market stall, a marketplace listing. Write down every question and objection; they become the product pages and delivery terms. Note the catalogue size too. Ten products with sizes, two hundred spare parts and weekly one-off pieces are three different stores.
The arithmetic of one order: margin, shipping and returns
An online store is a set of costs that every order must cover. Take one typical order and write each line: goods, packaging, payment fee, delivery, platform and app subscriptions spread over the month, and the cost of bringing that buyer in. What is left is the margin. If it is negative at the price buyers accept, more traffic only deepens the loss.
Shipping and returns need lines of their own. Weigh and measure each product in its packaging, since carriers price by weight and size. Launch in one or two countries; they are cheaper to get right than five. Then count the returns. In the EU and the UK a distance buyer may change their mind, so return postage, restocking and write-offs belong in the sheet.
Hosted platform, open-source software or a custom-built store
A hosted platform rents you a working shop. Shopify is the familiar example. Its Help Center walks a new owner through adding products, picking a free or paid theme from the Shopify Theme Store and connecting a domain. Before launch, Shopify asks for a subscription plan, a store address and a payment method with test mode off. The platform runs hosting and security and sets the rules and fees.
Open-source software gives you the shop and leaves the building to you. The WooCommerce listing on WordPress.org calls it the open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress: a free core plugin, hundreds of free and paid extensions, and data that stays yours. The price is the server. WooCommerce’s documentation currently recommends WordPress 6.9, PHP 8.3, MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer, 256 MB of memory and HTTPS. Someone must maintain it all.
A custom build is written for one business. It fits logic no template covers: a product configurator, separate prices for each wholesale client, a stock system checked every few minutes, several warehouses. It takes the most effort to make and to keep, because every fix becomes your project. Many shops start on the first two routes and switch once the numbers can carry custom code.
Online store payments and sales tax: check your own country
Payments depend on where your business is registered. Shopify’s Help Center says Shopify Payments works only for businesses located in the supported countries it lists; others need a third-party provider. Stripe’s documentation adds the buyer’s side: different payment methods dominate in different regions, and not every customer has or prefers a card. Each method also limits currencies and countries, so map your buyers first.
Tax follows the buyer as much as the seller. The European Commission’s VAT One Stop Shop page explains that from 1 July 2021 an EU-wide EUR 10,000 threshold also covers distance sales of goods to consumers in other member states. Above it, VAT is due where the transport of the goods ends. The One Stop Shop lets a seller declare that VAT through one member state. A separate import scheme covers consignments up to EUR 150.
In the United States, sales tax is a state matter. Stripe’s tax documentation describes economic nexus: sales into a state can oblige you to register, collect and remit tax there without a physical presence, under that state’s own rules. Its monitoring tool flags possible obligations, but confirming them is up to you. None of this is advice for your case: before the first sale abroad, talk to an accountant.
Product pages and photos that answer the buyer first
A product page does a shop assistant’s job. It shows the item, says what it is made of and how big it is, and gives the price with delivery. It also says what happens if the item does not fit. The questions from your first ten sales are the outline. Keep delivery and return terms one tap from the button, where people hesitate.
Google Merchant Center’s help pages make a useful standard. To show a product, Google asks for an id, title, link, image link, price, description and availability, plus brand, GTIN or MPN where they exist. Its image rules require at least 500 by 500 pixels for all products from 31 January 2027 and recommend around 1,500 by 1,500. Promotional overlays, watermarks, borders and placeholders are not allowed. Clean photos from several angles serve both Google and the buyer.
A new store has no reviews, and the temptation is to borrow some. In the United States, the FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule has applied since 21 October 2024. It targets fake reviews and incentives that demand a particular sentiment, and the FTC notes that courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Ask real buyers for honest feedback after delivery.
Delivery, returns and legal pages for EU, UK and US buyers
The European Commission’s Your Europe guide for sellers sets the EU baseline. Before an online order, the buyer gets clear information on who you are, the product, delivery and the total price, and the order button states its function, for example Order & Pay. The buyer may then withdraw within 14 days of delivery, or one additional year if never informed. You refund within 14 days of notice. Goods must arrive within 30 days, and the buyer pays return postage only if told in advance.
GOV.UK describes similar rules for the UK. Before the order, the buyer sees your business name and address, the price with taxes, delivery arrangements and cancellation rights, in a form they can keep. They can cancel up to 14 days after delivery, or within 12 months if nobody told them. The refund is due within 14 days of getting the item back and includes standard delivery. Personalised and perishable items are refunded only when faulty.
In the United States, the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires a reasonable basis for any shipping time you state, or for 30 days if you state none. If you cannot ship on time, the buyer may accept the delay or cancel for a full and prompt refund. Shopify can generate some policies from store settings, but its Help Center says those templates are not legal advice. Have a lawyer read your terms for each market.
From test orders to the first buyers you do not know
Before the store goes public, buy from it. Shopify’s launch guide recommends at least one test order during setup and after every change to payment settings. It checks the checkout, order processing, inventory, shipping and taxes at once. On any platform, order from a phone, pay, cancel, refund and read every email it sends. Then watch a stranger try to buy, without helping.
A new store has no visitors, so start where buyers already look. Google Merchant Center can show products free of charge across Google, including Search, Images, YouTube, Maps and the Shopping tab, and new accounts are opted in to free listings by default. Shipping settings are required in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Eligibility, Google adds, does not guarantee the products will be shown.
Marketplaces and social channels fill the gap while search engines learn about the site. A marketplace brings ready buyers but sets its own commission, rules and rivals beside your listing. Treat it as a channel and the store as the place buyers return to. Social posts work best when they show the product being made, used or packed. Collect email addresses from the first order.
What to prepare before you order an online store
Whether you build it yourself or order it, the same materials set the pace. Prepare the product list with prices, variants, weights and sizes, the photos, delivery zones and rates, and return terms you can honour. Add the legal entity, a bank account, a payment provider for your country and your accountant’s note on tax. Decide who packs orders and answers buyers. With that folder, a hosted store on a standard theme is a realistic do-it-yourself project.
Ordering the work makes sense when the store needs more than a theme: its own design, several languages or currencies, a link to stock or accounting software, a move from an old site. It also makes sense when your hours belong to the product, not the settings. VITON13 Studio builds online stores remotely for clients in any country; the linked guides explain the price. Bring the folder, and the question of how to start an online store becomes a written scope, timeline and price.
Practical checklist
- Write one sentence: what you sell, to whom, and why they should buy it from you and not elsewhere.
- Sell the first ten units through channels you already have and note every question buyers ask.
- Weigh and measure each product in its packaging and price one order line by line, returns included.
- Check which payment providers serve your country and ask an accountant where you must register for tax.
- Place test orders from a phone, then cancel and refund them before the store opens to the public.
Questions and answers
Should a new online store sell to several countries from the first day?
Usually not. Each extra country adds its own delivery times, customs questions, consumer rules and possibly tax registration. Starting with one or two markets keeps mistakes small; the list can grow once orders, returns and complaints there are under control.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for a first online shop?
It depends on who will look after it. Shopify is hosted: the platform runs the servers and checkout under its own plans and rules. WooCommerce is free open-source software for WordPress, so you choose and maintain the hosting yourself and keep ownership of your store’s data.
Do I need my own website if I already sell on a marketplace?
Not on day one, but it helps later. A marketplace sets the commission, the rules and the competitors beside your listing. Your own store is where repeat buyers come back, where you keep their email addresses and where the brand is not one tile among hundreds.
What legal pages does an online store need before launch?
Shopify’s own list of store policies is a fair starting set: returns, privacy, terms of service, shipping, a legal notice and contact information. Sellers to EU and UK consumers must also explain the right to cancel. The wording depends on the country, so have a lawyer check it.
How many photos should each product page have?
Enough to replace holding the item: the front on a plain background, the back or the inside, a close-up of the material, and one shot that shows the size next to a familiar object. Google Merchant Center does not accept images with watermarks, borders or promotional overlays.