How to start an online store in the US, step by step

Opening an online store is less about building a website and more about getting a handful of decisions right in the right order. Pick what you will sell, sort out the paperwork your payment processor and your state will ask for, choose how you will ship, and only then worry about colors and fonts.

This guide walks through each step. It assumes you sell physical products to customers in the US. If you sell services or digital downloads, most steps still apply; the shipping section does not.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Business registration, licensing and tax rules differ by state, county and city. Use this guide to understand the steps, then check with your state’s official websites and talk to an accountant or attorney about your situation.

1. Decide what you will sell first, and to whom

Start narrow. A store with 20 products you know well beats a store with 400 products you copied from a wholesaler’s catalog. Before you spend a dollar, write down:

Your first 10 to 30 products. The ones you can photograph, describe and restock without trouble.
Your cost per unit, including packaging.
Your likely selling price, and what similar products sell for.
Who buys them. A college student shopping for herself and a parent buying a gift shop differently and expect different things.

If the gap between your cost and your price is small, stop here and rethink. Shipping, payment processing fees and returns will take a real share of every order. Our guide on working out true profit per order shows how quickly those costs add up.

2. Get your basic paperwork in place

You do not need a big legal setup to sell online. Many sellers start small and formalize as they grow. What you need depends on your state, your city and what you sell, but most people end up looking at these:

A business structure. If you sell on your own without registering anything, you are generally treated as a sole proprietor. Many owners later form an LLC with their state, which can separate business and personal liability. Each structure has different tax and paperwork consequences, so this is a good first conversation with an accountant.
An EIN (Employer Identification Number). This is a free federal tax ID from the IRS, applied for on the IRS website. Some sole proprietors without employees can use their Social Security number instead, but an EIN keeps your SSN off forms you send to suppliers and partners, and banks and processors often ask for one.
A business bank account. Keeping business money separate from personal money makes bookkeeping and tax time far easier.
A sales tax permit (sometimes called a seller’s permit) from your home state, if your state has a sales tax and you sell taxable products. Most states expect you to register before you start collecting tax. Our sales tax guide for online sellers explains when you may also need permits in other states.
Local licenses. Some cities and counties require a general business license, even for home-based businesses. If you trade under a name other than your own legal name, you may need to file a DBA (“doing business as”).
Product-specific rules. Food makers should look at their state’s cottage food rules, which limit what you can make at home and where you can sell it. Cosmetics, children’s products and some other categories have federal labeling and safety rules.

Keep scanned copies of everything in one folder. You will upload them more than once.

3. Choose a name and a domain

Pick a name that is short, easy to spell after hearing it once, and not already a trademark in your category. Search the name in the USPTO’s trademark search, your state’s business name database and on Instagram and TikTok before you commit.

Then buy the domain. A .com is the safe choice. Avoid hyphens and numbers; people will type them wrong when you say the name aloud. If your first choice is taken, add a short word such as “shop” or “co” to the end rather than a hyphen or a number.

You do not need your own domain on day one. Most store builders give you a free address to start. But set up your own domain before you spend money on ads or print it on packaging, because changing it later breaks every link you shared.

4. Set up payments

US shoppers expect to pay by card, and many expect a one-tap option such as Apple Pay or Google Pay on their phone. Some prefer PayPal.

For online payments you need a payment processor account, such as Stripe. To approve your account, a processor usually asks for:

Your legal name, date of birth and address, plus your EIN or SSN
A bank account for payouts
A description of what you sell
A live website with a contact page, privacy policy, terms, return and refund policy, and shipping policy
Product pages with prices

The last two catch many sellers out. Processors review your site, so publish your policy pages early.

Processors charge a fee on each payment, and your store platform may charge its own fee too. Put both into your pricing from day one. The money goes from your customer to your processor and then to your bank on a payout schedule, so plan your cash flow around that delay.

5. Pick a shipping setup

For most new sellers, a shipping label platform such as Shippo is the easiest start. You compare USPS, UPS and FedEx rates in one place, print labels at home and send tracking to customers, without opening separate accounts with each carrier. Label platforms often give access to discounted commercial rates that are lower than paying at the counter.

Before launch, weigh and measure your packed boxes. Carriers can bill on dimensional weight, so a big box with a light product can cost more than you expect. The shipping carrier guide explains how that works and when USPS, UPS or FedEx tends to fit.

Stock up on boxes, poly mailers, tape and an inexpensive shipping scale. Take a photo of high-value orders before you seal them; it helps with damage claims.

6. Build the store

Now the part most people start with. Keep it simple:

Home page: what you sell, who it is for, and your best products.
Product pages: clear photos in daylight, a plain description, size or variant details, price, delivery time and return policy in one place.
Policy pages: contact, privacy, terms, returns and refunds, shipping.
An About page with a real name and a way to reach you. New stores win trust with plain facts.

Be honest about shipping times. The FTC’s mail order rule expects sellers to ship within the time they state (or within 30 days if they state none) and to tell customers about delays. Your privacy policy should say plainly what you collect and how you use it; depending on your size and where your customers live, state privacy laws such as California’s CCPA/CPRA may apply.

If you would rather not build this from scratch, AjVik can set up a store in one evening: add a photo and one sentence per product, and it drafts the listings, policy pages and storefront on a free AjVik address that you can later swap for your own domain.

7. Test like a customer

Before you tell anyone, place real orders:

One order with a card, one with Apple Pay or Google Pay
One order to a ZIP code on the other side of the country
Cancel one, return one

Check the confirmation email, the receipt, the sales tax on the order, the tracking link and the refund. Fix what feels confusing. Ask a friend who has never seen the store to buy something while you watch without helping.

Launch checklist

Item	Done?
Business structure chosen, EIN and business bank account ready	☐
Sales tax permit in your home state (if needed)	☐
Local business license checked	☐
Payment processor approved and tested	☐
Shipping label account live, return address set	☐
Box sizes measured, shipping charges set	☐
10–30 products with photos, prices and stock	☐
Contact, privacy, terms, returns and shipping pages published	☐
Own domain connected	☐
Test orders placed, delivered and refunded	☐
Instagram, Facebook and TikTok profiles link to the store	☐

After launch: the first 30 days

Your first customers will be people who already know you. Tell them directly, by text, email and on social media, and ask for honest feedback. Start an email list on day one, with a clear sign-up and consent, because it is the one audience you own. Ship fast, answer messages the same day, and ask every happy buyer for a review.

Then watch three numbers each week: orders, returns and problem deliveries, and what you actually made per order after all costs. Those tell you far more than website visits. Once they look healthy, it is time to think about ads.

Selling in India too? See selling in India with AjVik.