The options
Our guide Shopify or your own store compares the last two honestly.
- Marketplaces (Amazon, Etsy, eBay): huge reach, high fees, and the customer belongs to the marketplace.
- Store builders (Shopify, Square Online, Wix): quick to start, monthly fees, and add-ons for anything beyond the basics.
- A store on your own website: no monthly platform fee or cut of each sale beyond the payment processor, and built around your real products and options.
Decide these first
- What you’ll sell online. Often a smaller selection than the store: best sellers, gift cards, items people ask for by phone.
- How it gets to the customer. Pickup, local delivery, shipping, or a mix.
- Sales tax. In South Carolina, sales you make are generally taxable at the state rate plus local rates where they apply. A good checkout calculates tax by the customer’s address; your accountant can tell you what applies to your products.
- Inventory. Whether online orders need to come out of the same stock count as the shop.
Make it work locally
- Offer pickup prominently. It’s the reason a local customer buys from you instead of a big site.
- Put the online store on your Google Business Profile.
- Photograph your real products in good light. It matters more than the design.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.