setting up an ecommerce website

[Thunderchild]

I'm thinking of setting up an ecommerce website (or registering with one of the many providers). obviously this is a step higher than ebay where unless i'm a comercial seller I don't have to worry about tax etc.

How exactly do I stand in setting up an ecommerce shop as an individual. Do i have to register as a company or can I simply declare my earnings ?

[sumo19]

To set up the website and get it off the ground, unless you have the expertise yourself, you will have to pay for this service from a professional web design company. These companies will know how to incorporate services that allow customers to buy and pay for goods on the website.

Companies will basically sort the site out for you yourself and you don't have to worry about it.

In terms of legally setting up a company-

If you work on your own and are self employed then the likelihood is that you will need to register yourself as a sole trader. This involved registering with company house and filling out forms like for example articles of association and memorandum.

Before setting up anything, make sure you know what it entails. For example, if you set up as a sole trader and then take out a loan from the bank, you will have unlimited liability to pay back this loan as a sole trader, meaning that your personal assets such as your house will be at risk in order to pay the loan back.

If you set up as a limited liability company, then you have limited liability and risk only losing the money you have put into the company. This is a less risky set up but it subjected to tighter requirements in terms of making accounting information avaliable to the public for example.

There are many technicalities that you need to be aware of before setting up a company. If you're unsure, consult your lawyer, because you don't want to get yourself in the position of taking out debt as a sole trader with a reasonable prospect of being unable to repay it.

does that help a little bit?

[Masked_Landlord_UK]

Sorry, sumo90 is wrong.

If you are a sole trader you don't have to register anywhere. You do have to tell the taxman you are trading, but that's it.

Companies House only register Limited Companies (Ltd & plc).

You could set up as a Limited Company, but there are no real benefits for a start up. Any bank would expect you to personally guarantee a loan and you'd need to pay Corporation Tax.

Having said that - There is an accounts exemption for small companies, where you only have to supply abbreviated accounts and by judicial payments of dividends and salaries you might be able to save a few pounds in tax.

[sumo19]

Yeah I do stand corrected on the account of having to register at Company House.

The rest is correct though :)

[socialniche]

If you are just by yourself, you don't have to register as a company, you can be a sole proprietorship, which means you declare your earnings along with your annual tax. The only reason for you to register a company is to get legal protection so that you separate your business from your personal assets. But then you may need to file separate taxes. You may also want to read http://zuhah.com/2012...-a-free-online-store/

[Greenhorse]

Beside, I think registered as company as essential to expand your business, and submit your credential to customers.

If you are new to website building, setting up an eCommerce site is tricky part. Designing site can be done via CMS portal, for instance Wordpress. Wordpress support eCommerce plug-ins both free and commercial plug-ins. However, it's recommended for business to create an eCommerce site through professional company/services, or hiring professional to set it up.

See :

http://www.izzonet.com/streetwise-ecommerce/opening-an-ecommerce-website

[Zubida]

My recommendation would be product and marketing research . Realize the competition in other online stores, marketplaces and whatever other channels there. Check what delivery methods they're using, what design ambition they need , how they engage in customer service, how well they're placed in search results, etc.. This list could keep it up going forever.
I would personally even suggest purchasing the offering of your competitors in order that you'll get a sense for what they're doing bad and good. supported this you'll make a far better offering.
Gathering most of the merchandise and market data are often a tough task that needs tons of manual research. So if you'd wish to accelerate this process, i might recommend the utilization of marketing research tools.