Starting an Online business selling items. Just a few questions?

zombielion

I have had an idea for a few years now to start selling things online. Im pretty sure that it will be profitable, maybe not so much online but when i can get a store in the location i want it will make money. I also have a little shop i can keep some of my things to sell. I evenually want to start a real business in a building and go all out. But for now I want to start with a website and eBay.
 
Here are some questions I might come up with more after a while or after your answers but here is some for now.
 
1. How do i really get an online website with shopping cart maybe a member login all that jazz?
I know it will have to be set up by a pro, but where do i look? How much would it cost?
 
2. What kind of licences would I need to sell online? Also what licences do you need to be able to buy wholesale?
 
3. How do you do taxes for an online business is it just like a regular one? Not that i know how to do taxes for a real store.
 
Well that is all i can think of for now but i think this will do for the moment. I will ask more im sure.
 links and other info you know to help explain my questions would be great im  looking for detailed answers.
 
Thanx
 
Im new to the site hope it is very useful i will have to look around

jwatkins

Check out Joomla.org. You can build your own website and do just about anything you would need for an online store absolutely free (except for hosting and a domain name). It is opensource so there are new plugins added almost daily. Something else to look into. I am going to start selling using a blog. If you install Wordpress on a server you can use an e-commerce plugin that is free and it comes with a shopping cart. Why a blog to sell products? If you use a standard website then you will need to do a lot of advertising in order to get started (been there and done that), however, if you use a blog you can get immediate results, plus, you will get a higher PR ranking if you use niche keywords to sell your products.

jwatkins

Also check out Amazon.com`s webstore (google it). Be aware though, they are offering a free month offer but it is not a trial, you will be hooked in for 3 months at $59.99 per month. However, if you have something to sell this is the easy way to go.