Opening your shop, step by step

Opening a shop takes four short steps, and you can stop and come back at any time. Here's what each step asks for, with the names of the buttons you'll see.

Before you start, have ready:

• a name for your shop;
• a few good photos of one item you sell;
• your bank details and some ID, for Stripe (the payment company that pays you).

Create your account

Go to the Sell page and press Create an account to start. Enter your name, email address and a password, and press Register. You come straight back to the Sell page. Already have an account? Press I already have an account and sign in. Then press Let's do this!

Step 1: Name your shop

• Shop name: what buyers will see.
• About your shop: a line or two about what you sell.
• Currency: all your prices use it. It can't be changed later, so choose carefully.
• Country you are based in: this must match the country of your bank account, and be one where Stripe can pay you. Countries it can't pay yet are marked “buy only”.

Press Open my shop.

Step 2: Make your shop uniquely yours

• Shop logo: a square picture, at least 400 × 400 pixels. It shows next to your shop name and on every listing.
• Shop banner: a wide picture, for example 1600 × 400, across the top of your shop page.
• Short description and Your story: who you are, what inspires you and how you make things.

Press Save and continue, or Skip for now if you'd rather do it later. You can change all of this any time in Shop Manager › Settings.

Step 3: Create your first listing

Start with one item: photos, a title, a price and how you'll post it.

• Add photos under Photo and video.
• Under Item details, choose the Item type (a physical item or a digital download), then add a Title, a Description and a Category.
• Under Pricing and delivery, enter the Price.
• For a physical item, fill in How will you post it?: the delivery service, and what buyers pay for One item and Each additional item. You only do this once. It's saved as your shop's standard delivery to your own country, and you can add other countries later (see setting up postage).
• Enter the Preparation time: the working days you need before you post it.

Press Publish listing when it's ready, or Save as draft to finish it later. Selling on Etsy already? You can import your Etsy listings instead of typing them out again.

Step 4: How you will get paid

Press Set up payouts with Stripe. You finish on Stripe's own website (check the address bar says connect.stripe.com), then come straight back. Stripe asks for your business details, your identity and your bank account. It takes about 5 minutes. No website? You don't need one: we fill in your shop page for you.

Your bank details go to Stripe, never to us. Buyers can't check out from your shop until this step is done. If you need to stop, press I'll do this later: go to Shop Manager, and finish it from the Payouts box on your Shop Manager dashboard. More about getting paid.

What next?

Your Shop Manager dashboard has a checklist that shows what's left: your first listing, payouts, a logo, a banner and your story. Then share your shop link with your customers and followers, so they know where to find you.