What is E-Commerce from Home? Roadmap for Those Who Want to Do E-Commerce from Home

Earning profit by doing e-commerce from home is a method of selling online that companies as well as entrepreneurs can prefer. With this method, you can bring the products you manufacture at home together with customers in domestic and international markets, or you can earn profit by brokering the products of different suppliers by doing stockless e-commerce. We have listed all the details that entrepreneurs who want to participate in e-commerce from home by setting up an e-commerce site, opening a store in marketplaces or selling on social media should know in our guide.

How to Do E-Commerce from Home?

The steps to do e-commerce from home are similar to selling online. You can set up your own website, open a store in marketplaces, sell on Instagram, or create a strong brand by maintaining all of them together to make Home Office e-commerce. If you are thinking about how to sell online from home, you can follow the 12 steps to make e-commerce from home:

Step 1: Find the Product to Sell

Before stepping into the industry what can I sell online You should find an answer to the question. In this process, which requires you to do a good market research, you need to have detailed information by examining different companies or stores that sell online. You can use social media, marketplaces’ trending product finding tools or Google Trends data to find popular products, or you can choose to focus on products you can produce from home. By listing the products you have obtained as a result of all this research, you can start researching the details of which product you can supply and how.

Step 2: Negotiate with Suppliers

Once you have a list of popular products that can be sold online, you should start researching suppliers that manufacture these products. Choosing suppliers directly affects your profit margins. Choose the products that will leave you the best profit margin and the reliable suppliers that will provide these products on time by including alternative companies in your list without sticking to a single supplier.

Step 3: Resolve Stock Details

You need to find a solution for stocking the products you will sell. At this stage, you need to determine how much of which product you aim to make daily, weekly or monthly sales. At this point, you can create your stock solution by creating your targets realistically and learning the deadlines of your suppliers. At this stage, if the supplier also looks favorably, you can choose to avoid incurring any inventory costs by opting for stockless e-commerce.

Step 4: Create a Company

For every product to be sold online, it is necessary to establish a company in order to issue invoices, especially for return and exchange requests. After deciding what to sell, where to source it and how to stock it person company or you can formalize your e-commerce journey by establishinga limited liability company.

Step 5: Choose a Reliable Payment Method

You need to be able to receive payments for the products you sell online. At this point, we recommend that you add credit card payment option to your payment alternatives by choosing virtual POS. Virtual POS applications from banks is a long process that can result in high commission payments.With PayTR virtual POS solutions that are reliable, low-commission anddo not require installation fees, you can get the chance to use a payment solution that will change your customers’ perspective on you.

Step 6: Build an E-Commerce Site

When you choose to sell from home by setting up your own e-commerce site, you have several alternatives. To set up an e-commerce site, you need to choose between special software or ready-made e-commerce software. At this point, your criteria should be to have an advantageous infrastructure in terms of reliability, quick deployment and integration solutions. You can choose ready-made e-commerce packages such as Ticimax, Shopify, Opencart, WooCommerce, ideasoft, Wix or Magonto, or you can work with a software developer and activate your online store with a design unique to you. After setting up your e-commerce site, you can start uploading the products you will sell to your store and make your digital business ready for sale.

Step 7: Open a Store in Marketplaces

Online marketplaces are the first stop for many businesses that want to sell online with their high customer potential. Even if you have your own e-commerce site, you can choose to open a store on online marketplace giants such as Trendyol, N11, Gittigidiyor, Çiçek Sepeti, Hepsiburada or Amazon. Marketplaces bring you together with a wide target audience with advantages such as advertising, shipping and customer options. By factoring marketplace commission fees into your costs, you can open a store and sell through these marketplaces.

Step 8: Prepare Your Instagram Profile for Sale

Entrepreneurs who want to sell on social media can achieve these goals with the account they open on Instagram. The platform’s intensive use and high interaction rate means a target audience of millions of people to make sales. We recommend that you keep this method in your repertoire, which will reach you to a wider target audience with Instagram ads offered within the platform.

Step 9: Deal with Shipping Companies

The most important component of e-commerce is product delivery, that is, cargo companies. Delivering the products you sell on time is the golden rule. In order to comply with this rule, turning to companies that manage cargo processes well and taking advantage of ready-made solutions at the point of cargo integration will lead you to success. Products that are not delivered on time create a negative impression and cause you to face financial penalties in the marketplaces. When choosing cargo companies, we recommend that you research customer reviews, company references and delivery conditions well.

Step 10: Create a Profile of Your Customers

The secret to success in e-commerce is to achieve customer satisfaction. Nowadays, many users review user reviews on social media, forum sites or directly on e-commerce sites. By choosing to build a good relationship with your customers, you can earn important points. In addition to this, defining a customer support line, being transparent in return and exchange procedures, and delivering the sold product on time will also help your branding efforts in a positive way.

Step 11: Be Active on Social Media

Social media offers you unique opportunities to both improve communication with customers and advertise your site or store. According to the Globalwebindex report, the average time spent on social media in Turkey in 2021 was measured as 2 hours and 57 minutes per person. This statistic alone shows how effective social media is. Don’t forget to take advantage of strategies that will make you stand out, such as regular posts on social media, providing feedback without skipping customer comments, and advertising products!

Step 12: Advertise

Advertising is the most effective way to increase your sales in a short time and create brand familiarity. Advertisements, which are among the important factors of being successful in e-commerce, should be maintained on different platforms. You can use social media, Google or marketplaces to promote your products. Measuring the returns by advertising with a low budget at the beginning and increasing your advertising budget with the improvements you make will give you a positive return in a short time! Wherever your target audience is active, you can carry out effective advertising campaigns on those platforms and move your store and site ahead of your competitors.

What are the Advantages of E-Commerce from Home?

Companies or entrepreneurs doing e-commerce from home, have advantages at different points. The 6 advantages of doing home office e-commerce , which has significant advantages in terms of operational expenses, are listed as follows:

1. Working from home exempts you from rent or equipment costs.
2. Product shipping costs can be reduced by utilizing the cargo agreements of marketplaces.
3. By reflecting low costs in the price, a large customer base can be reached in a shorter time.
4. With a 24/7 active online store, sales can be made at any time.
5. With social media and the right advertising campaigns, a reliable brand can be created in a short time.
6. Tax exemption advantage can be utilized up to a certain revenue amount.

What are the Disadvantages of E-Commerce from Home?

The negative aspects of e-commerce from home are related to the disruptions that can be experienced in organized operations. When the 12 steps shared for the question of how to do e-commerce from home are followed, you can continue this process without any disruption and in a planned manner. When analyzed in general terms, the disadvantages of e-commerce from home can be listed as follows in 4 articles:

1. Disruptions in the shipping process may cause the brand name to be negatively affected.
2. Due to the intense competition in the market, the time allocated to SEO, social media and marketing activities may increase.
3. Marketplaces’ relatively high commission rates may suppress profit margins.
4. Failure to work with alternative suppliers may lead to disruptions in the product supply process.

Tax Exemption

Tax exemption means that taxpayers are partially or completely excluded from tax. The regulation on tax exemption, which closely concerns those who make e-commerce from home, was published in the Official Gazette and started to be implemented as of January 1, 2021. According to the regulation, those who make e-commerce from home must meet the following conditions in order to be exempt from income tax:

1. Selling products manufactured at home and not using machines and tools capable of mass production in manufacturing
2. The person who makes e-commerce from home does not have a workplace
3. All revenues from e-commerce should be kept in a commercial account to be opened at the bank and the amount of revenue should not exceed 220 thousand TL
4. Obtaining a tax-exempt tradesman certificate

What is a Tax Exempt Tradesman Certificate?

Tax-exempt tradesmen certificate that they need to obtain for e-commerce from home, It is the official document showing that the conditions for the exemption of tradesmen specified in Article 9 of the Income Tax Law No. 193 are complied with. People who meet the conditions listed above can benefit from income tax exemption with this document.

• How to get it?

Entrepreneurs who want to obtain a tax-exempt certificate should apply to the tax office where their residence is connected with a petition. For the petition to be written, the petition sample in the annex of the Income Tax General Communiqué No. 283 series should be used.

• What is its validity?

The tax exempt certificate is valid for 3 years. At the end of the 3-year period, it is necessary to apply to the tax office with a petition as described above in order to renew the document that has lost its validity.

Products You Can Produce at Home

Products that you can produce at home to make e-commerce from home allow you to take advantage of tax exemption up to a certain sales volume. Considering the increasing popularity of handcrafted products in the domestic and international market, entering the sector with these product options can be shown as an example of a good product choice. You can earn a good income by selling online with products you can make from home that will force you to operate in a market with relatively less competition. If you are thinking about what you can sell online from home, we have listed the 15 most popular product options for you below:

• Soap

Homemade organic soaps are among the popular product groups sold online. You can manufacture organic products such as soaps and shampoos at home using different formulas and sell them online.

• Table

If you have the ability to draw, you can deliver the paintings you have prepared to different audiences through social media or your e-commerce site. In this product group, where you can manufacture with different product options such as oil paintings or ceramic paintings, you can sell the products you have prepared on canvas or framed in the domestic and international market.

• Mum

The market for exotic and scented candles continues to grow every day.Considering that there is a 2.3 billion dollar candle market in the United States of America (USA), you can sell your home-made candles not only domestically but also abroad.

• Knitted Basket

Rope knitted baskets are among the best-selling products on the internet with different sizes. You can bring your products together with your customers through marketplaces and e-commerce sites with different models that you can simply manufacture at home according to the size.

• Jewelry

Handmade jewelry has a big piece of the e-commerce pie. You can bring the jewelry you produce with different features such as buckles, necklaces, bracelets or brooches to a wide target audience on the internet.

• Sunglasses Case

There is a great interest in personalized products on the internet. Sunglasses cases and containers are among the product groups that can operate in this field. If you are looking for an alternative to the handmade products that are sold a lot on the internet, you can consider producing containers or cases for sunglasses.

• Special Day Ornaments

There is great interest in handmade ornaments for birthdays, weddings and different celebrations. You can produce ornaments for parties and sell them online. The fact that there are many alternatives to be counted as special days in this product group that you want to produce at home and sell online gives you a big plus in terms of product diversity.

• Flowerpot

The increasing use of decorative products at home has increased the expectations of decorative appearance even in ordinary products. Those who want to turn this detail into profit can take their place in the online market with handmade flower pots. You can take your place in e-commerce with an empty variety by painting the pots or decorating them with fabric covers you have prepared.

• Lip Balm

Transparent and colorful handmade organic lip balms have a good market online. You can consider selling online with special formulas that you have prepared against problems such as chapped lips or cold sores.

• Hair Oil

Handmade hair oils have become one of the trendy products of recent days. You can sell handmade hair oil through various channels, especially Instagram stores.

• Hammock

Turkish people’s fondness for hammocks is an indisputable fact. To turn this fact into profit, you can manufacture hammocks at home and sell them online.

• Print T-Shirt

Printed t-shirts can help you reach your high return target in a short time if they have good design features. Although it has a good market share, the biggest handicap is that you need to buy a machine of at least 30 thousand Euros for the production of printed t-shirts. If you have the opportunity to make such an investment, you can step into the world of online sales with printed t-shirts.

• Body Lotion

Body lotions that nourish the skin and make you feel better with their relaxing effect allow you to achieve a good sales volume. You can produce these products at home with natural formulas and reach your customers online with different lotion types.

• Leather Accessories

The demand for leather products continues from past to present. Leather products, which hold the key to making sales not only in Turkey but also in countries such as Russia, create a good starting point for e-commerce. You can make products such as leather wallets, business card holders or key chains from leather at home and sell them online.

• Terrarium

You can make a terrarium by decorating it with various natural products in a glass lantern or jar. Depending on your imagination, you can bring the terrarium models you will create together with an important audience looking for decorative products on the internet.

How to Do Stockless E-Commerce from Home?

Making stockless e-commerce from home is among the first choices of many entrepreneurs recently. Serious profit margins can be achieved in this system, which aims to make profit from the intermediary by bringing the producers together with the customer with the opened sole proprietorship. The operation of the system is simple. The seller lists the products of the suppliers with whom they have an agreement on their website, Instagram or marketplace stores. Once a sale is made, the seller transmits the order to the supplier and completes the delivery by shipping the product. This model, which can also be called dropshipping, also applies to e-commerce without a warehouse from home. Doing e-commerce from home without a warehouse you can follow these steps:

• Discover Who You Can Sell To

Start by identifying the target audience you will sell to. You can use social media or Google data to identify your target audience. Choosing a niche audience will give you great success in this regard. You can increase your chances of success by narrowing your target audience whenever possible.

• Decide What to Sell

Once you know your target audience, research which products they are interested in. Identify what you can sell to this audience and start talking to suppliers.

• Negotiate with Supplier

Clarify from which supplier you will obtain your chosen product. Talk to companies that have the product you want in their warehouses or that manufacture this product. Focus on suppliers that allow you to sell at advantageous prices compared to your competitors and whose system of doing business you like.

• Choose Your E-Commerce Infrastructure

Determine the details of how you will display the products by choosing a reliable e-commerce infrastructure. You can save both cost and time by choosing ready-made e-commerce packages that will contribute to your integration and SEO compliance.

• Clarify Cargo Delivery Details

When doing e-commerce without a warehouse, it is important to clarify the shipping details as well as the supplier selection. It is important to know how long you can realize your domestic and international shipments and share this information with your customers. Make sure that this period is as short as possible. Keep in mind that shipping delivery times are influential in customer decisions, and remember that you may need to reconsider your supplier if necessary!

• Set your Return and Exchange Policy

You should have a clear policy on returns and exchanges. Consumers will want to know what your return policy is before they make a purchase. You can build consumer trust by sharing these conditions with your customers in clear terms on your website.

• Get Recognized by Your Target Audience with Advertising and Marketing

In warehouse-less e-commerce, advertising and marketing operations are at the seller’s initiative. Therefore, focus on increasing your sales with a good advertising campaign. Complete optimization work on topics that will attract organic visitors such as SEO and social media and publish ads in different channels. By correctly defining the target audience you choose for your ads, you can run advertising campaigns that turn into more sales with a low budget.

Frequently Asked Questions About E-Commerce from Home

Is E-Commerce from Home?

You can do e-commerce from home by setting up an e-commerce site, opening a store in marketplaces or selling on Instagram.

Is E-Commerce Profitable?

Profit margins are high when the right products are selected in e-commerce. You can sell online with an average profit margin of 40%.

Can You Do E-Commerce Without Capital?

Online sales cannot be made without capital. The obligation to establish a company in order to be able to do e-commerce requires at least the costs of setting up a company to start selling online.

What is Required for E-Commerce?

In order to conduct e-commerce, it is necessary to establish a company, register with ETBIS and open a store or set up an e-commerce site on the platforms to be sold.

Can E-Commerce be done as an Individual?

Establishing a company is required for e-commerce. When you want to do e-commerce as a person, you must at least be a taxpayer by establishing a sole proprietorship.

How to Do E-Commerce Without a Product?

You can choose the business model called dropshipping to do e-commerce without having physical products. You can make a profit from the intermediary transactions you make by marketing the products of the suppliers you have agreed with through your website or different platforms.

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