2. Set Up Online Stores

2. Set Up Online Stores

If you are still wondering how to sell online, set up your own online store using one or more of these excellent resources.
1. Shopify

Shopify features over 600,000 online stores set up by individual entrepreneurs. The website is used by 10 million active users worldwide. It has generated sales worth US$82 billion since inception.

You can use Shopify to sell online. It involves setting up an online store using the Shopify e-ecommerce platform. This is a very simple process.

Additionally, you can customize your website and access several excellent features like third party shipping, payment to a bank or wallet of your choice and data analysis such as number of people that viewed your products.

2. Etsy

If you are making something unique, open an online store on Etsy. It is the best place for selling handcrafted products. You can sell anything from paintings to costume jewellery, homemade oils, spice mixtures etc., on Etsy.

Opening an online store with Etsy is also pretty simple. You can register on the website and give it a free, two week trial. Once you know how an online store on Etsy works, you can opt for opening your own marketplace on this portal.
Advantages of Online Store

Selling online on resources like Etsy and Shopify gives you instant access to a marketplace with millions of buyers. Greatest advantage of selling on Etsy and Shopify is that you can target clients looking for something unique and rare.

Another major advantage is, you can coin own terms and conditions, returns policy and payment systems. Generally, online sellers on Etsy and Shopify use PayPal.

This gives you instant cash whenever anyone buys your stuff. Other than the small fee you pay to these websites for your own marketplace, Etsy and Shopify do not charge seller commissions.
Flipsides of Online Store

Setting up your own marketplace using Etsy or Shopify has its own flipsides too. Firstly, you have to ‘rent’ the store from these two e-commerce portals to sell online. This means, you will spend even before you earn.

The money is charged on monthly and annual basis. Secondly, Etsy and Shopify are mainstays of shoppers looking for very unique products. Hence, the number of clients is limited.

Thirdly, people wanting to buy online will have to visit an individual store to choose a product. Hence, your online store will be in a long queue alongside other competitors.