How to Create an Online Store: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Creating an online store sounds hard, but the steps are simple: pick something to sell, choose a platform, add your products, connect payments, and open the doors. You can do all of it in a weekend if you keep the first version small. This guide walks through each step in plain English, with real prices checked in October 2026, so you know what you are paying before you start.

Last updated: November 2026. Prices change, so check the platform’s own pricing page before you pay.

Before you start: 5 quick decisions

You do not need a business plan to open a store. You do need five quick answers:

• What will you sell? One focused range beats a shop that sells a bit of everything.
• Where will the products come from? Making, buying, or dropshipping — see Step 1.
• What is your budget? Even $0 works, as you will see below.
• How much time do you have this week? An hour a day for two weeks is plenty.
• Your own store or a marketplace? Your own store gives you control; a marketplace like Etsy brings you shoppers. Step 3 helps you pick.

Step 1: Decide what to sell

Start with something you know. If you make candles, sell candles. If you know tools, sell tools. A store with a clear focus is easier to photograph, easier to explain, and easier for a stranger to trust than a shop selling phone cases, dog treats, and wall art at the same time.

There are five common ways to get products:

If you have no product yet, dropshipping or print on demand lets you start without buying stock. The trade-off is thin margins and less control over quality, so order one of your own products first and check it with your own eyes.

Step 2: Check that people want it (30 minutes)

Before you build anything, spend half an hour checking demand. It saves you from building a store nobody visits.

• Search Google Trends for your product idea. A flat or rising line over the past year is a good sign. A line that only spikes once a year (like Halloween costumes) means seasonal sales.
• Look at Amazon Best Sellers and Etsy search for your product type. Lots of sellers means buyers exist — it also means competition, so read the 3-star reviews to find what buyers complain about. That complaint is your opening.
• Narrow it down. “Candles” is too broad. “Soy candles for small apartments” is a real niche with a real buyer. The narrower the idea, the easier it is to stand out.

If almost nobody is searching for your idea, do not force it. Pick a narrower version of it, or pick a different product.

Step 3: Your own store or a marketplace?

You have two places to sell: your own store (on Shopify, Wix, Square, or WooCommerce) or a marketplace stall (Etsy, Amazon, eBay). They work differently:

Here is the fee math, so the difference is clear. On a $100 sale with free shipping, Shopify with Shopify Payments takes 2.9% + 30 cents — that is $3.20, and you keep $96.80 before product and shipping costs. On Etsy, the same $100 sale costs about $9.95: a 20-cent listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee, and 3% + 25 cents for payment processing, according to Etsy’s fees policy.

Many sellers do both: start on Etsy to learn what sells, then open their own store once they have steady orders. There is no rule that says you must pick only one.

Step 4: Pick a platform

The platform is the software your store runs on. For a first store, pick a hosted platform — it handles hosting, security, and checkout for you. Here are the main choices, with US prices read from each platform’s own pricing page in October 2026:

A short way to choose:

• Fastest setup: Shopify.
• $0 to start: Square Online’s free plan.
• You already have a WordPress site: WooCommerce.
• Looks matter most: Squarespace.

One warning about “free” plans: a free plan with a 3.3% card rate can cost more than a $39 plan at 2.9% once your sales grow. Work out the math at your expected sales level, not just the monthly price. Check the exact numbers on Shopify’s pricing page or your chosen platform’s pricing page before you pay.

Step 5: Name your store and get a domain

Your store name should be short, easy to spell out loud, and not tied to one product, in case you expand later. “North Candles” can grow into soaps and room sprays; “Lavender Soy Candles 4 U” cannot.

• Check the domain is free on your platform or a domain registrar. A .com is still the safest default and usually costs about $10–$15 a year.
• Check the same name on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, so your shop looks the same everywhere.
• Do not spend a week on this. Pick a good-enough name and move on — you can always change the name later, but you cannot get back a lost week.

Step 6: Build the store

Pick a clean, free theme and change only the colors, logo, and home page text. Do not spend days customizing — a plain store that is open beats a beautiful store that never launches.

Every store needs these pages:

• Home — what you sell, in one sentence, plus your best products.
• Shop — all products, easy to browse.
• About — who you are and why you started. Short and human beats polished and vague.
• Contact — an email address or a simple form, and how fast you reply.
• Shipping & Returns — how long shipping takes and what happens if something is wrong.
• Privacy Policy and Terms — your platform can generate basic versions of these.

Then check every page on your own phone. Most shoppers buy on phones, and a store that looks fine on a laptop can be a mess on a small screen. Fix anything that is hard to tap or read before you launch.

Step 7: Add your products and set prices

Start with 5–10 products, not 100. Ten good listings you can photograph well will sell better than a hundred rushed ones.

Each product page needs a clear title, an honest description, the key facts (size, material, weight, what is included), and good photos. Phone photos in daylight by a window are fine to start — take 3–4 per product, including one photo of the product in use.

For pricing, work out your floor first: product cost + fees + shipping + your time. Then check what similar items sell for. A worked example on Shopify Basic: a $30 item that costs you $10 to make. The card fee is 2.9% of $30 ($0.87) plus 30 cents, so $1.17. After the fee you have $28.83, minus the $10 product cost, which leaves $18.83 before shipping and packaging. If that number is too small, your price is too low or your costs are too high — fix it now, not after 50 orders.

Write descriptions for buyers, not for Google. Say what it is, what it is made of, how big it is, and how to look after it. That is what a buyer needs to decide.

Step 8: Set up payments

Turn on your platform’s built-in payments first — Shopify Payments, Square, Wix Payments, or Squarespace Payments — and add PayPal as a second option, since many buyers prefer it.

• You will need a bank account and, in the US, your Social Security number or EIN so the platform can send you payouts.
• Payouts usually take 1–3 business days. The first payout can take longer while the platform checks your account.
• Place a real test order with your own card, then refund it. Check that the order email looks right and the money path works. A store that cannot take money is not a store.

Step 9: Sort out shipping

Shipping is where beginners lose money without noticing, so decide the rules before launch:

• Pick a simple rule: a flat rate (say $4.95), free shipping over a threshold (say $50), or exact carrier rates worked out at checkout. Flat rate is the easiest to start with.
• Weigh and measure one packed order before you set prices. Guessing loses money on every order.
• Buy a cheap kitchen scale and a pack of mailers. Print labels from your platform — it is often cheaper than paying at the post office counter.
• Set a clear handling time (“ships in 2 business days”) and a simple returns rule, and put both on your Shipping & Returns page.
• Selling digital products? There is no shipping at all — deliver by email or a download link and skip this whole step.

Step 10: The legal and tax basics (simple version)

This is not legal or tax advice — it is the plain version of what most first-time sellers need to know. If your sales grow, talk to an accountant in your state.

• You do not need an LLC to start. In the US, you start as a sole proprietor by default. An LLC is about protecting your personal assets, and many sellers form one once sales are steady.
• Register a business name if your state or county asks for it — often called a DBA (“doing business as”).
• Sales tax: if you sell to buyers in your own state, you usually need to collect it. Many states also have sales thresholds for out-of-state sales. Shopify, Wix, and Square can work the tax out for you once you turn the setting on.
• Keep every receipt and a simple spreadsheet of sales and costs from day one. It makes tax time easy instead of painful.
• Selling food, cosmetics, or children’s products? Check the rules for that product first — some need specific labels or safety tests.

Step 11: Test everything, then launch

Work through this list before you tell anyone your store is open:

1. Every product has photos, a description, a price, and the correct weight and size.
2. Your About, Contact, Shipping, and Returns pages are live and read well on a phone.
3. Payments are connected, and you placed a real test order, paid for it, and followed it through to the confirmation email.
4. Shipping rates are right, and taxes are turned on.
5. Your domain is connected and the store loads without errors.
6. Your logo, store name, and contact email are correct everywhere.

Then open the store. Tell your first customers yourself — friends, family, your social media, a local group. New stores do not get discovered on their own in week one.

How much does it cost to create an online store?

It depends on the path you take:

Google’s own summary puts a basic DIY store at $100–$500, and that matches the numbers above. The monthly plan is only part of the cost — card fees on every sale, apps, and a paid theme can add up, so budget for fees per sale, not just the plan.

How long does it take?

A simple store can be live in one weekend: pick products on Saturday, build on Sunday. Most beginners take 1–2 weeks at an hour a day, mainly because product photos and descriptions take time. Do not aim for perfect. Launch with 5 products and improve the store after real orders show you what needs fixing.

7 mistakes to avoid

1. Listing 100 products before the first sale. Start with 5–10 and add more once you know what sells.
2. Pricing without counting fees and shipping. A sale that loses money after fees is worse than no sale.
3. One blurry photo per product. Buyers cannot touch the product, so photos do the selling.
4. No shipping or returns page. Buyers leave when they cannot find the answer.
5. Waiting until the store is “perfect.” Perfect never comes. Launch, then fix.
6. Paying for apps before you need them. Most stores need zero paid apps in month one.
7. Ignoring the phone view. Most of your visitors are on phones.

Your first 30 days

Think of the first month as a learning sprint, not a revenue target:

• Week 1 — Soft launch. Tell friends and family, watch for anything that breaks, and fix it fast.
• Week 2 — Add 5 more products and ask your first buyers for a review.
• Week 3 — Post where your buyers are. Pick one place — Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest — and share the story behind your products, not just links to them.
• Week 4 — Check the numbers. Which product sold? Where did visitors come from? Do more of what worked and drop what did not.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to create an online store?

$0 on a free plan like Square Online, or about $100–$500 for a typical DIY store in the first year (platform, domain, and a free theme), plus card fees on every sale. A custom-built store costs $10,000 and up.

Can I create an online store for free?

Yes. Square Online’s free plan lets you sell with no monthly fee — you only pay 3.3% + 30 cents per online card payment. Big Cartel also has a free plan. Note that Wix’s free plan cannot take payments, so the real starting point there is a paid plan.

Do I need an LLC for an online store?

No. In the US you start as a sole proprietor by default, and you can sell without forming an LLC. Many sellers form an LLC later, once sales are steady, for liability protection.

Do online stores make money?

Yes, but most start slowly. Typical net margins run about 10–30%. Early sales usually come from your own effort — telling people, posting, and asking for reviews — rather than from strangers finding the store on their own.

How much does Shopify take from a $100 sale?

$3.20 with Shopify Payments on the Basic plan (2.9% + 30 cents), so you keep $96.80 before product and shipping costs. If you use a different payment provider instead, Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on top of what that provider charges.

What is the cheapest way to start an online store?

Square Online’s free plan is the cheapest way to open your own store. The other cheap route is to start on a marketplace like Etsy — a listing costs 20 cents — learn what sells, and open your own store later.

How much can I sell online without paying taxes?

There is no tax-free amount for income — income from sales is taxable, and sales tax rules depend on your state. Keep records from day one and check your state’s rules, or ask an accountant.

Can ChatGPT create an ecommerce website?

It can write product descriptions, draft your pages, and help with code, but it cannot run a store for you. You still need a platform like Shopify or Square to take payments and handle checkout.

The bottom line

Creating an online store comes down to one product, one platform, and one weekend of focused work. Pick something people want, start with a free or low-cost plan, launch with a handful of good listings, and fix the rest after real customers show you what matters. The store you launch this week will teach you more than another month of planning.