Many self-employed people, tradespeople and small businesses have a few products that would sell well online: handmade soaps, their own book, spare parts, vouchers or regional specialities. Yet the thought of running their own online shop often inspires caution: taxes, legal duties, technology, payment processing. In fact, getting started need be neither expensive nor complicated. In 2025 German online retail with goods generated around 83.1 billion euros (bevh) and grew by 3.2 percent (bevh) compared with the previous year – so the market is large enough that even a small range can find its place. This guide explains in plain, relaxed language how you, as a small business, can start a manageable shop: from the small-business rule and the mandatory legal details to products, payment and shipping. At the end we show how a fixed-price online shop package takes the technology and the legal foundations off your hands.
Key takeaways
- A small online shop usually needs a business registration – a small trade is typically all you need to start.
- Under the German small-business rule, you do not have to charge VAT up to 25,000 euros of prior-year turnover, which simplifies prices and bookkeeping.
- An imprint, privacy policy, terms and a withdrawal notice are mandatory – they are the most common reason for warning letters in online retail.
- Offering a few clearly described products with common payment methods and transparent shipping costs noticeably reduces cart abandonment.
Is a small online shop even worth it?
The honest answer is: it depends on your range and the effort you want to invest. Anyone selling full-time plans differently from someone offering a dozen items on the side. The market figures, however, suggest that selling online is long past being a niche topic. 83.1 billion euros (bevh) in goods turnover in 2025 and expected growth of around 3.8 percent (bevh) for 2026 show that customers are used to shopping online. At the same time, satisfaction with online purchases remains high at 96.2 percent (bevh) – those who deliver cleanly have a good chance of satisfied buyers.
For small providers, staying realistic is key. Your own shop is not a self-runner that brings orders overnight. It is more an additional, predictable sales channel that works independently of external platforms and belongs to you. Anyone who already runs or plans a website can see the shop as a logical extension. How to build a lean site affordably is described in our article on the affordable website start for the self-employed. The online shop follows the same logic: start small, set it up cleanly, grow when needed.
Your own sales channel
Your own shop belongs to you – unlike a seller account on an external platform. You decide on the range, prices and appearance yourself.
Local and beyond
A small shop sells to regular customers from the region and to prospects who find you through search – without geographic limits.
Predictably expandable
Start with a few items. If sales pick up, the range, features and marketing can be expanded step by step.
Do I need a business registration for the shop?
As soon as you sell regularly and with the intention of making a profit, this is a commercial activity – and you usually have to register it with the trade office (e-recht24). A special approval procedure is not needed for most products, but the simple registration is. For the start, a small trade is usually enough: you run the shop as a sole proprietorship, need no entry in the commercial register and no double-entry bookkeeping. Instead of an elaborate balance sheet, the simple income-surplus statement (EUER) is usually sufficient (digital-zentral).
Largely exempt from business registration are freelance activities and pure private sales – so anyone who only occasionally sells used items from their own household is not founding a business by doing so. But as soon as new goods are offered regularly with the intention of profit, the registration duty applies. In case of doubt, the trade office, the chamber of commerce or a tax adviser will clarify the classification in the individual case. We implement the technical foundation of your shop cleanly; trade and tax advice belongs in the hands of the responsible bodies.
A small trade is not the same as a small business for VAT
The small-business rule and the 25,000-euro limit
For many small shops, the small-business rule under Section 19 of the German VAT Act is the decisive simplifier. Since the reform on 1 January 2025, two turnover limits apply that continue unchanged in 2026: your turnover in the previous year must not have exceeded 25,000 euros (Taxfix) net, and in the current year you must be expected to stay below 100,000 euros (Taxfix). If both conditions are met, you can use the rule. If the 100,000-euro (Taxfix) limit is exceeded during the current year, the exemption ends immediately with the turnover that breaks the limit – not only at the end of the year.
The practical advantage is significant: as a small business you do not show VAT on your invoices and do not pay any (digital-zentral). This makes pricing for sales to private customers simpler and your products tend to be more attractive, because you do not have to add VAT. Bookkeeping also stays lean, because the monthly or quarterly advance VAT return is dropped. In return, however, you may not claim input tax from your purchases – a drawback above all when you have high initial investments.
| Aspect | Small business (VAT) | Standard taxation |
|---|---|---|
| VAT on the invoice | Not shown | Shown and paid |
| Input tax deduction | Not possible | Possible |
| Bookkeeping effort | Low, usually EUER | Higher, advance returns needed |
| Price for private customers | Tends to be lower | Including VAT |
| Turnover limit | 25,000 euro prior year / 100,000 current | No upper limit |
Whether the small-business rule is worthwhile for you depends on the individual case – for example, whether you sell mainly to private individuals or to companies and how high your purchasing costs are. You should not make this decision off the cuff but ideally discuss it with a tax adviser. Anyone who is just starting out will also find funding options that make the start easier; we give an overview in our article on funding and grants for the websites of small businesses.
Not tax advice
The mandatory details: imprint, terms, withdrawal, privacy
This is where it gets serious, because online retail is legally far more demanding than a pure business-card website. Anyone selling products to consumers has to meet a series of information duties. If they are breached, warning letters loom – and small shops in particular are popular targets, because formal errors can be detected by machine (e-recht24). Four building blocks form the foundation: a complete imprint, a privacy policy matching the site, legally sound terms and a correct withdrawal notice. How these four building blocks interact in detail is explored in our article on the GDPR basics for the small website.
Imprint
Full name or company, a serviceable address, quick contact channels such as email and phone, and where applicable the register and VAT ID. Reachable from every page within a few clicks.
Terms and conditions
General terms govern the conclusion of contract, delivery, payment and liability. They create clarity for both sides and prevent disputes – drafted to be legally sound rather than copied from any random template.
Withdrawal notice
Consumers usually have a 14-day right of withdrawal. You must inform them clearly and in good time about it – at the latest on the final checkout page, clearly distinct from the terms (e-recht24).
Privacy policy
A small-trade shop also needs a privacy policy. It transparently explains which data is processed for which purpose – mandatory for every commercial website (e-recht24).
There are further duties that are often underestimated in online retail. Price details must be correct and transparent, including a note on whether VAT is included or not and on additional shipping costs. Anyone who places packaging on the market – and practically everyone who ships goods does – must register in the LUCID packaging register before the first dispatch. This duty applies with no minimum quantity, so even the smallest shop is affected, and a breach can be costly (Haendlerbund). A missing registration can be penalised with fines of up to 100,000 euros (verpackungsregister.org).
Better clean from the start than expensive to fix later
Adding your first products – less is more
With the range, the same applies at the start as with the website: a shop that is too big is more dangerous than one that is too small. Anyone who loads a hundred items at once gets lost in maintenance and logistics. Better to start with a few well-described products you can reliably deliver. Especially manageable ranges are easier to sell today than ever (digital-zentral). Each product needs three things to convince: a good photo, an honest description and a clear price including all mandatory details.
Good product photos are not a luxury here but a selling point – online they replace touching and inspecting in the shop. You do not need a photo studio: good daylight, a neutral background and a tidy smartphone image are often enough to start. The description should answer the most important questions: what it is, who it is for, which dimensions, materials or ingredients, and what sets it apart. Search engines read these texts too, so it is worth writing in your own words and concretely rather than copying manufacturer texts. Tips on writing them yourself are in our article on good website copy.
- Start with a few reliably deliverable products rather than an overcrowded catalogue.
- Show each product with a clear, well-lit photo.
- Honest description with dimensions, material and special features in your own words.
- Transparent price including a note on VAT and shipping costs.
- State availability and delivery time realistically, do not gloss over it.
- Optimise product texts for search without copying manufacturer texts.
Trust sells more than any discount
Payment and shipping without pitfalls
The checkout decides whether a full basket also becomes an order. The average abandonment rate in online retail is over 70 percent (komenci) – for very different reasons, from unexpected shipping costs to a missing preferred payment method. Around 36 percent (uptain) of buyers abandon the purchase if their preferred payment method is not offered. For a small shop, that does not mean offering every conceivable method, but it does mean covering the most common ones.
In Germany, when paying online, PayPal leads with a turnover share of 28.5 percent (EHI Retail Institute), followed by purchase on invoice with 25.8 percent (EHI Retail Institute) and direct debit with 17.3 percent (EHI Retail Institute). Credit and debit cards reach 12.3 percent (EHI Retail Institute). Anyone offering two to three of these widespread options covers a large part of customer wishes. At least as important is transparency on shipping costs: they belong early and clearly in the order process, because surprising extra costs at the checkout are a main reason for cart abandonment (komenci).
Common payment methods
Cover the widespread methods – that way most customers find their preferred option and abandon less often. Better a few reliable ones than many half-finished solutions.
Clear shipping costs
Show shipping costs early and transparently, ideally already on the product page. Surprises at the checkout cost orders and trust.
Secure processing
The entire order process runs encrypted over HTTPS. A valid certificate and reputable payment processing build trust with the buyer.
For shipping itself, reliability matters most for small shops. Realistic delivery times, proper packaging and a short dispatch confirmation appear more professional than any advertising promise. Remember the LUCID registration for your packaging and a simple concept for returns that fits with the withdrawal notice. That keeps the process clean even when an order does come back once – which is entirely normal in mail order.
Starting the small shop at a fixed price
Reading all this, you might think: far too complicated for a few products. This is exactly where our approach comes in. Instead of leaving you alone with technology and law, we bundle the setup of a manageable shop into a clear fixed price. The legal foundations – imprint, privacy, the integration of terms and the withdrawal notice – are planned from the outset, as is hosting in Germany and a valid security certificate. So you do not have to fight through every detail alone but receive a finished, legally clean foundation.
We build small shops on an open-source foundation with Shopware CE, that is, without license costs and without subscription lock-in. You keep data ownership and can maintain the range yourself later or hand the maintenance to us – whatever fits. Why a clear fixed price is often the more honest solution than an open hourly rate is explained in our comparison of fixed price and hourly rate. Which building blocks concretely fit your plan is best clarified in a personal conversation – non-binding and without jargon.
A small shop does not have to do everything. It has to reliably do what your customers expect – legally sound, fast and without pitfalls in the checkout.
The best time to start is usually when the range is in place and the first customers are already asking for a way to order. You do not have to start big: a few well-presented products, the four legal building blocks and a clean checkout are enough to accept serious orders. When sales pick up, the shop grows with them – without you having to start from scratch. You can find an overview of our services and packages on the page about the online shop package.