Ecommerce Piece with Nettie Reeves-Lewis

Regardless of your business or passion, setting up an online store can help you take control, simplify your business, and create a space for your business online.

If you’re selling your products or services through marketplaces like Etsy or eBay, or managing everything on your own with pencil, paper, and a laptop, here’s what striking out on your own can give you:

Give your business a unique online identity

Nettie Reeves-Lewis already had a successful business, 'N Shape With N, that focused on physical fitness and overall financial health, especially for women. She had a website for that business, with an online schedule of her fitness classes, a shop with DVDs for sale, and updates about recent awards and appearances.

But when she decided to write and publish a book, 'Through Thick and Thin And Thick Again: A Black Woman’s Journey With BED (Binge-Eating Disorder)', Reeves decided she wanted to give the book a space on the internet all its own.

"I wanted to write the book," Reeves-Lewis says, "But I didn’t just want to write the book, I wanted to promote the book as well."

She could have added it to her existing website, but she felt that would be a disservice to the book and its message. On her main site, it would just be one thing among many. She worried it would get "watered down."

"[I set up the site] so that the book has its own place, in a sense. I wanted something that just focused on the book, and things related to it, like speaking engagements."

It’s not just existing business owners like Reeves-Lewis who can benefit from creating a unique online space for their more personal work. If you sell your wares on sites like Etsy and eBay, it can be hard to set yourself apart from the rest of the crafty pack. A stand-alone site and store lets you fashion a particular image for your customers.

Cut out the middleman and keep more of your money for yourself

When Reeves-Lewis set up a new website at throughthickandthin.club, she put the book up for sale through her own online store.

Aside from giving the book its own online space and identity, the website also allowed her to keep more of the proceeds from any sales she made. She had published the book through CreateSpace, an Amazon company.

"I set it up through the site because that way I get most of the royalties. Through Amazon, you get less royalties," she says.

This can be true with other online marketplaces, like Etsy, which often charge transactions fees and other assorted charges.

Take payments from anyone with PayPal

By default, the store sets up a PayPal account using the email address used to sign up for the service.

Reeves-Lewis likes using PayPal because it allows her to take payments from anyone.

"Even if they don’t have PayPal, they can just pay with a credit card," she says.

If you don’t care for PayPal, it also works with online payment startup Stripe.

Set up standard shipping rates and discounts

You can set up fixed shipping rates---including one rate for the first item a shopper adds to their cart, as well as a set charge for each additional items they add.

Reeves-Lewis ships via the US Postal Service’s media mail. She says she charges a flat $5 for the first book someone orders, and another $1 for each additional book.

If you want to offer free shipping above a certain price threshold---say $50 or $100---you can do that, too. It’s also possible to offer and apply discounts---whether a certain dollar amount or a percentage of someone’s total order.

Don’t worry about taxes

Taxes are a hassle, but through integration with TaxJar, the correct taxes are automatically added---first taking into account the location of your store, the location of the buyer, and the prices of your products---onto every order.

TaxJar works in the US, Canada, Australia, and much of the European Union. If you happen to live in a country where TaxJar doesn’t operate, it’s also possible to manually calculate your taxes.

Once she got everything set up, Reeves-Lewis says taxes haven’t been an issue.

Take control---now

It can be scary setting out on a new challenge. But there’s also much to be gained.