
Some popular licenses that ecommerce businesses require include: General LicenseĪ general business license allows you to operate in a city or county.


I get a lot of comments about this and the answer is simple: your business license needs depends on your specific location. You may need to get more than one of any of the above. Lottery tickets and alcohol are two products that require you to have a license in most states.įor local governments, almost all businesses will have to get a license. You’d have to take a look at your state’s website to be sure of the license you need to have. States require licensing for specific occupations and the sale of certain products. Animal products, alcoholic beverages, and explosives are products that fall here. You’ll need a federal license if you sell products that are heavily regulated by government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration. It is either issued at a federal, state, or local government level. You’ll need to be informed of what applies to you. You don’t want to go through all that hard work and end up getting slapped with a heavy fine all because you didn’t do the right thing.Įvery city and state also has different requirements and laws for obtaining a license. Knowing which applies to you is as important as finding a product to sell. The licenses required you need depends on your location, the type of products you sell, and your business needs. Operating an online business does not exclude you from certain legal formalities. Do You Need A Business License To Sell Online? It shows that you have the government’s approval to operate in the city, state or country that it is issued. The government likes to monitor most things and business permits and licenses are one way they keep track of what’s going on.Ī business license allows you to run your business within a certain location. I wrote this guide because I am often asked if a business license is necessary when starting an online business. A business license is one of those documents. Running a virtual office does not erase the need to put certain legal documents in place. As an ecommerce business owner, it’s even easier to forget because you don’t have a physical location.

It’s no wonder some people push off legal formalities till the end or never consider it. There are a ton of things you have to deal with when starting an online business.įrom products to platform, inventory, operations, finance, marketing, branding, and the host of other things that need to be in place to kick-start a profitable brand.
