What do I need to start selling online?

Short answer: To start selling online you need something to sell, a website with a product catalogue, a cart and a secure checkout, a payment gateway to take card payments, and a plan for delivery and tax. Get those pieces in order and you can take your first order within a few weeks.

The core things you need

Selling online comes down to a short list. Miss one and orders stall, so it helps to see the whole picture before you build.

• Products, priced and described. Each item needs a clear name, an honest description, a price, and a photo. If you sell variations like sizes or colours, decide how those work early.
• A website with a catalogue and cart. Customers browse, add to a basket, and check out. Our e-commerce build includes the product catalogue, cart, secure checkout, payment gateway setup, and order management for a one-off £750.
• A payment gateway. This is the service that actually takes the money, such as Stripe or PayPal. You will need a business bank account to receive payouts.
• Delivery and returns. Decide what you charge for postage, who you ship with, and how returns work. Customers look for this before they buy.
• The legal basics. Terms of sale, a privacy policy, and clarity on VAT if it applies to you.

If you want a sense of the total, our guide on how much an e-commerce website costs breaks the numbers down plainly.

Getting your products ready

The part that usually takes longest is not the website, it is your own content. Good product pages sell; thin ones do not.

Write a short, specific description for each item. Say what it is, what it is made of or does, and who it suits. Photos matter more than almost anything else online, because the customer cannot pick the item up. Clean, well-lit shots on a plain background work for most products. If you do not have decent photos yet, that is worth sorting before launch rather than after.

Group your products into sensible categories so people can find things without hunting. A small range might need no categories at all; a larger one benefits from clear sections.

Payments, delivery and tax

Once someone wants to buy, three things need to be sorted behind the scenes.

Taking payment. A payment gateway connects your checkout to your bank. Card details never touch your own site, which keeps you off the hook for a lot of security burden. If you want the detail, see how payment gateways work.

Delivery. Set postage costs that cover you without scaring customers off. Flat-rate or free-over-a-threshold are the simplest to start with. Choose a courier or use Royal Mail, and be clear about dispatch times.

Tax. In the UK you only charge VAT if you are VAT-registered, which is required once your taxable turnover passes the threshold, or if you register by choice. Below that, you do not add VAT. Keep records of every sale for HMRC. If you are unsure, a quick word with an accountant saves headaches later.

What we set up for you

You do not have to assemble all this alone. Our e-commerce package covers the technical side end to end: the catalogue, the cart, the secure checkout, the payment gateway connection, and an order management area so you can see and fulfil orders. It is a one-off £750 with no subscription, and you own the finished site outright. Hosting is free, forever, if you would rather we kept it running.

Your job is the part only you can do: your products, prices, photos, and postage rules. We handle the build and hand you a shop that works. You can see examples of our recent work to get a feel for the standard.

Ready to start selling? Get a clear price and we will map out exactly what your shop needs.