Online business checklist - Did I miss anything?

Hello folks,

I've posted a few times so far, and I'm still getting the hang of how Salehoo works. I have been figuring out lately exactly what I need in order to start my own online business (most likely starting with eBay since I've been using it for over a decade).

Here is what I have learned, and I hope that more experienced sellers could fill in everything I am missing here:

1) Obtain a Seller's Permit (Sales Tax ID). Usually costs around $50.00 or so. Allows individuals to buy wholesale sales tax free, and also allows you to pay taxes (and charge taxes). Google "your state" + "sales tax ID" to find how to obtain one in your area, if you even need one in the first place. (A few states do not need them.)

2) Find your Federal ID Number, as many wholesalers will request it along with your Sales Tax ID. (I have a business manager to help me with this, but I figure it would be helpful if someone could respond with another method of finding this number out.)

3) If you don't have a business name, simply use your actual name as the business name. You can change this later if need be.

4) Truthfully, this is all I've learned thus far. What am I missing?

-Darren

I am also interested in hearing what more experienced sellers have to say on this. I am further behind phamtom in this process, but would like to have a better handle on the overall steps needed to be set up and running in the future.

We'll get some good responses from more experienced sellers, Stbjmb. Hope this thread is helpful for both of us!

Hey guys!

@Darren - Regarding sales tax, you're pretty spot on. As a seller based in the US or Canada, you are required to collect sales tax from buyers within your state when they make a purchase. Most wholesalers will ask to see a sales tax ID or reseller’s license before they will sell you the goods. This is because they are obliged to check whether you are able to collect sales tax from the end user. If you can’t show them a sales tax ID, then they will either ask you to pay sales tax on your wholesale purchase – or more likely, they will simply refuse to deal with you because you will appear uncommitted to your business. Note that you only have to collect sales tax from buyers located in the same state that you are running your business from. For example, if you are based in California and your buyer is also based in California, you must add sales tax onto the purchase. However, if the buyer is based in Wyoming or any other state, you do not have to collect sales tax. In this case, it is the buyer’s responsibility to remit the appropriate amount to their state (this also applies to international buyers).

Here's a blog post you might be interested in reading -

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You can find out more about obtaining a Federal Tax ID number here -

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And yes, if you are working for yourself which is probably how most people get started selling online, just fill in your own name under your business trading name.

@Stbjmb - First of all, welcome to SaleHoo! If you haven't already done so, download a copy of the new SaleHoo User Manual, I'm sure you'll find the step by step guide very useful.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, Satya. This site has been incredibly useful so far. I appreciate the quick responses and attention to detail.

You're welcome! And thanks for the feedback. Please let us know if you need any help at all.

Cheers!