What are the requisites for starting an online store?

Answer 1

You'll need a product or service to sell, and way to get it to the buyer. You'll need a computer and a host to connect you to the web. You'll need ways to collect payment, which can be snail mail or (most probably) electronic. You'll need a "cool" or "killer" web site, and it will have to be set up to collect hits from searches, grab attention, pitch product or services, and make navigation easy. You'll need a bookkeeping application to keep track of sales so you don't get into tax trouble. Other than that, it should be easy. Computers have never been so inexpensive or so powerful (Moore's law - 40 years old and still accurate!). Hosting costs money. So does web design. Clever keywords or phrases must capture a search engine's "eye" as it looks for stuff. You can ship from home or at a shipping store, though the store costs more. Some products can be mailed, and some can even be emailed. All efunds transfers cost money. PayPal, BidPay and the like are scandalously wealthy because of their rates. Web design is done by every high school kid (and lots of others) with a computer. Finding the "right" web person may take a while, and costs vary. (You'd be surprised what you can do yourself, though the "money" is in keywords for search hits.) There are a number of good accounting applications out there, and they are priced modestly. Good luck.