Launching an E-commerce Business: The Real Steps

A project that succeeds rarely follows an order different from this one. Skipping a step, particularly supplier verification or the legal obligations, catches up with you later, often once the goods are already produced or online. A poorly chosen product makes even the best store useless, and unresolved legal obligations expose you to a frozen payment account, not just a poor commercial result.

In France, registering a micro-entreprise is done online through the Guichet unique des formalités des entreprises, at the earliest one month before starting activity and at the latest fifteen days after. Registration is free, except for commercial agents, who pay 23.21 euros. Failure to register exposes you to a fine of up to 7,500 euros, a false declaration up to 4,500 euros and six months' imprisonment.

The micro-entreprise suits a solo launch with limited volume; beyond that, a standard sole proprietorship or a company, an EURL or SASU, becomes relevant. No status exempts you from the obligations that follow: product safety, import VAT, eco-contributions.

A product is chosen on verifiable criteria: a market that already exists, a positive margin once freight and customs duties are factored in, and regulations compatible with selling to European consumers. A heavy certification requirement delays a first launch by several months.

On platforms such as Alibaba, minimum order quantities most often sit between 100 and 1,000 units depending on the product; some suppliers accept 10 to 100 units, at a higher unit price. A sample generally costs 15 to 50 dollars each, excluding shipping, and is usually not refunded. The minimum stays negotiable: a paid sample, a credible purchase prospect and few colour or size variants are the most common levers for lowering it.

Holding your own stock gives you quality control before shipping and predictable timelines, at the cost of tied-up capital. Dropshipping delegates shipping to a third-party supplier, which reduces starting capital but often lengthens timelines and removes direct quality control.

Choosing a model changes nothing about the seller's legal obligations. Article L221-15 of the French Consumer Code provides that the trader remains automatically liable for the proper performance of the contract, even when a partner supplier performs it instead: compliance, announced deadlines, returns. The fourteen-day right of withdrawal applies the same way, whether dropshipping or holding your own stock.

Shopify remains the most used platform for a first launch. According to several French Shopify agencies consulted in late August 2026, the rates shown in euros sit around 36 euros a month for the basic plan, 105 euros for the intermediate one and 384 euros for the advanced one. Not directly confirmed in euros on the official page at the time of writing, since the displayed currency depends on geolocation: check the exact rate before committing. On top of the subscription fee come transaction fees starting at around 1.5% plus 0.25 euro per sale, decreasing on higher plans.

A payment provider generally checks the company's legal existence before activating payment collection. A realistic budget adds up the subscription, payment fees, the domain name and a cash reserve for the first restock, before spending the first euro on advertising.

Since 1 July 2021, all shipments from countries outside the European Union have been subject to VAT regardless of value, with an electronic customs declaration. For shipments of 150 euros or less, this declaration is made via the Delta H7 service. The IOSS one-stop shop allows this VAT to be declared and paid in a single member state for all distance sales within the Union, without registering in each country of consumption; this mechanism mainly concerns shipments sent directly from China to the end customer. An e-tailer who imports goods in bulk to stock them in Europe follows the usual import VAT and customs clearance rules.

European Regulation 2023/988 on general product safety, in force since 13 December 2024, requires that a product sold in the Union have a responsible economic operator established in the Union, a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor, tasked with answering to the authorities in the event of a risk. This directly concerns an e-tailer who imports its own goods from China.

In France, extended producer responsibility requires anyone placing a product on the national market for the first time to register with ADEME's SYDEREP register and obtain a unique identifier, a fifteen-character code starting with FR, before the first sale and with no volume threshold. The absence of an identifier exposes you to an administrative fine of up to 30,000 euros, with a daily penalty of up to 20,000 euros for persistent non-compliance.

Also selling on a marketplace adds checks of its own: Amazon, for example, has collected the contact details of a responsible person established in the Union since 16 July 2021 for CE-marked products sold by non-EU brands. These rules need to be settled before ordering, not after going live.

No method guarantees fast revenue or easy profit: e-commerce remains a commercial activity with real costs, a risk of unsold stock and competition on most consumer products. The first customers most often come from content that answers a real purchasing question, from organic search rankings built over time, and from genuine customer reviews accumulated order after order.

The mistakes that cost a beginner the most look alike from one case to the next: a large stock ordered for a product never tested in small quantities, a store launched before settling the legal obligations, transaction and return fees underestimated in the margin calculation, or the entire starting budget staked on advertising without having validated real conversion. A cautious launch tests a product on a small volume, with a verified supplier, before committing to a larger stock or a substantial advertising budget.

Sorva is a trading house based in Guangzhou, with a Chinese-speaking team on the ground and a team in Paris. Sorva buys the goods in China and resells them delivered: supplier search, verification of their legal existence and production capacity, negotiation and order follow-up through to delivery in Europe.

For a first launch, a discovery supplier search identifies leads matching a given product and budget, and a supplier verification checks that a company found online actually exists. For a complete project, the Business turnkey package covers the whole journey, from finding the product and the factory through to launching a store and its automation, at a reduced price because manufacturing is outsourced to China. Sorva promises no sales figure and no guaranteed profit: the support covers verifiable steps, not a commercial outcome that depends on the chosen market.