How do I start an online store in 2026?
By Stefan Pretty, founder and CEO of SubblyUpdated · 4 min read
The short answer
Choose a product and a customer you understand, and check people will pay before you spend much: pre-orders, a small batch or a market stall. Work out what each order costs you, register the business, then set up a store with a domain, product pages, a checkout, shipping rates and tax settings. A store platform costs about $29 to $39 a month plus card fees of about 2.9% + 30¢. Most of the early work is finding customers, so start with people who already know you.
The steps, in order
- Pick a product and a customer. Something you know, for people you can reach. Candles for the people who already buy from your market stall are an easier start than candles for everyone.
- Check people will buy. Take pre-orders, open a waitlist, or sell a small batch to friends, at a market or on a marketplace before you order stock in bulk.
- Work out your numbers. Add up the product, packaging, postage, card fees and the platform's fee for one order. Weigh a packed sample to price the postage. If an order leaves too little, change the price or the product before you build anything.
- Register the business. A sole proprietor usually needs no filing beyond a trade name (DBA) if you sell under a brand. An LLC costs $35 to $500 to form, depending on the state. An EIN is free from the IRS, and most states need a seller's permit to collect sales tax, which is free in most of them.
- Choose where to sell. Your own store, a marketplace such as Etsy or Amazon, or both. See the next section.
- Build the store. A domain, a home page, product pages with clear photos and prices, a checkout that takes cards and wallets such as Apple Pay, shipping rates, tax settings, and the pages people look for before they buy: shipping, returns, privacy and terms.
- Set up shipping. Pick packaging, get a scale, and buy labels through shipping software at commercial rates rather than at the post office counter. Decide whether to charge for shipping or build it into the price.
- Launch to the people who know you, then grow. Email your list, post on your own channels, and ask your first customers for reviews. Spend on ads once you know which products sell and what an order is worth to you.
Should I sell on my own store or a marketplace?
A marketplace such as Etsy or Amazon brings shoppers who are already searching, and takes a fee on every sale. Your own store costs a monthly fee instead, and you have to bring the shoppers yourself, but you keep your brand, your customers' email addresses and the relationship. That matters most for products people buy again.
You can do both: use a marketplace to be found, and your own store for repeat customers and anything you sell on a schedule.
What does it cost to start an online store?
| Cost | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Store platform | $29 to $39 a month | Shopify Basic or Squarespace Core; less if billed yearly |
| Card fees | 2.9% + 30¢ | On each US card payment, on most platforms |
| Domain name | $10 to $25 a year | Cloudflare sells .com domains at cost, about $11 |
| Business email | $7 a month | Google Workspace Business Starter, per person |
| Logo | $0 to $399 | Free with Canva, or a design contest on 99designs |
| Product photos | $60 to $440 | A light box and phone tripod, or a photographer's average flat rate on Thumbtack |
| Registering the business | $0 to $500 | LLC filing fees run from $35 (Montana) to $500 (Massachusetts) |
| Insurance | About $42 a month | Median for an ecommerce business's general liability policy |
On top of that come your first stock, packaging and marketing, which depend on what you sell. For a worked example with every line, see how much it costs to start a subscription box.
Can I build an online store for free?
You can start for very little, but not quite nothing. Square Online has a free plan with fewer features than its paid plans, and most other platforms offer a free trial. Either way you pay card fees on every sale, and a domain of your own costs about $10 to $25 a year.
Do I need a licence to sell online?
Usually not a special online licence. What you need depends on what you sell and where you're based, so check your state, county and city: the SBA's page on licences and permits lists where to look. Most states with a sales tax need you to register for a seller's permit, which is free in most of them. Food, cosmetics, supplements, alcohol and children's products have their own rules.
Which platform should I use?
Shopify and Squarespace are the two most new stores weigh up, and both cost about the same to start. Shopify has the largest app store and theme marketplace, and suits stores that expect to add features over time. Squarespace starts from design-led templates and is simpler to run, with fewer add-ons. If you plan to sell subscriptions, check how each handles them before you choose: the store costs in our subscription box answer compare them.
AI tools can now build a first draft from a description. Can ChatGPT build me an online store? covers what they can and can't do.
On Subbly
Starting a store on Subbly
Subbly is a store platform where you describe your business and your agent builds a first draft of the store in minutes: pages, products and checkout, designed around your brand. Each change after that is one message. One-off products, subscriptions or both run in the same store, with no apps to add. The Subbly plan is $69 a month, plus 1% + 12¢ a transaction on Stripe, and new stores get free credits for the agent while they set up.
If you'd rather build it with someone, Launch Club is a free live session every weekday where the Subbly team builds stores on screen and answers questions.
