Everything you need to know to sell online

Do you want to make a profit from your activity of buying and selling goods on the Internet?

In this case, you will have to choose the appropiate legal status and create a company. The solution you choose to sell online does not matter, whether it’s a sales platform for specialized sellers or not.

Legal specificities : each status has its own advantages and disadvantages concerning the costs of setting up a business, the number of partners, the VAT regime and the applicable taxation.

Are you a private individual who does not want to be bogged down with the creation of an online business? No worries, as long as the sales made are occasional and part of the management of your private assets.

Example: selling a shirt on an online platform.

Online sales platforms are a great way to promote your products and increase your visibility, both for individuals and entrepreneurs who use marketplaces like Etsy or Leboncoin.

It should be noted that some marketplaces like Amazon allow only businesses to sell. On the other hand, other sales sites are reserved exclusively for sales between individuals, such as Vinted.

The advantage of marketplaces is that they are quite diverse and allow you to reach your target regardless of the field of activity.

Thanks to platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Instagram Shopping, businesses and individuals can sell their products (or services) and find new customers.
Thanks to the proximity that networks offer, you can post an ad and are likely to reach a new shopper anywhere in the world. Plus, you can easily mix your sales activity with the reach of your communications on your Facebook business page.

Registration can be free, but platforms often charge a commission on the sale. Find out how the platform is remunerated before you start. Also, find out about the payment methods allowed.

find out about shipping/forwarding liability issues, package insurance or shipping costs to be advanced. All these factors must be taken into account to avoid seeing your earnings decrease (especially among entrepreneurs)

Some markets are saturated; it may be that competition for a product is tough. Study competitor offers to provide a better online sales experience.

One of the most important elements will be your images because these are the first things that Internet users see, whether on your own online store or on a marketplace. So consider choosing images that highlight the product.

Choosing a product to sell is a real discipline: it must meet the needs of Internet users and allow you to make a margin on sales. Our article What to sell on the internet, will facilitate your thinking by guiding you on the trendy and seasonal products, but also on the most requested sales sectors on the web.

Here is a list of questions to help you find your next bestseller:

• The product must meet an identified demand on the market, for this, you can choose products already available on the web.
• The need that this product fills must be urgent and necessary
• The product can be the object of a passion
• Take inspiration from the bestsellers of online sales platforms like Amazon
• Find topics that people are passionate about or that are trending on discussion groups or forums

You can also refer to a supplier’s catalog through dropshipping. This technique makes it possible to market a product without having any stock and gives you access to thousands of items for sale. To do this, you simply need to create a dropshipping site, select the right supplier and the right product.

So you earn money by selling your supplier’s stock while regularly receiving proposals for new products to put on sale on your online store.