How to Start an Online Store in Australia in 2026: Registrations, Consumer Law, Payments and Costs

Starting an online store in Australia takes an afternoon on a platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy or eBay. Running one legally and profitably takes more thought: the Australian Consumer Law applies to every sale, the Privacy Act and spam rules apply to your customer list, product safety standards apply to what you ship, and payment fees and GST quietly eat into your margin. This guide is for anyone launching an online store in 2026 — selling handmade products, reselling stock, dropshipping or moving an existing shop online. It covers the registrations, the consumer law rules that trip up new sellers, the card surcharge ban, the unfair trading practices ban coming in 2027, and a worked margin example in A$.

Quick answer

To start an online store in Australia, get a free ABN, register a business name if you won't trade under your own name, choose a platform, and register for GST once turnover reaches A$75,000. Online sellers must meet the Australian Consumer Law — consumer guarantees, honest advertising and total prices — and check product safety standards, privacy and spam rules. No general online selling licence exists.

• ABN free; business name A$47 for 1 year

• 'No refunds' policies are illegal — consumer guarantees always apply

• Card surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa banned from 1 October 2026

• Ban on unfair trading practices, drip pricing and subscription traps from 1 July 2027

• Marketing emails and SMS need consent and a working unsubscribe (5 working days)

Do you need a licence to sell online?

There's no general licence or permit for running an online store anywhere in Australia. What you need depends on what you sell. Some products need a licence or approval no matter where they're sold: alcohol needs a liquor licence from your state regulator (and most states have specific rules for online and delivery sales), food needs food business registration (see our guide to a home-based food business), therapeutic goods and many health products fall under Therapeutic Goods Administration rules, and some electrical products must be registered before sale.

Many everyday products also carry mandatory safety or information standards — children's toys, nightwear, products containing button batteries, cosmetics ingredient labelling and clothing care labels are common examples. The fastest way to check your product range is ABLIS, the government's licence finder, plus the ACCC's product safety pages for mandatory standards and bans.

Step 1: Decide what to sell and how

The channel you choose shapes your costs, your control over the customer relationship and your obligations.

Ways to sell online compared

Channel	Up-front cost	Ongoing cost	Trade-off
Own website (Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace)	Low–medium	Monthly plan + payment fees + apps	You own the customer and data, but must drive all traffic
Marketplace (Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Catch)	Low	Commission per sale + listing or subscription fees	Built-in buyers; less control and price competition
Social commerce (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok Shop)	Low	Fees per sale + advertising	Good for discovery; platform rules change often
Dropshipping	Very low	Supplier markup + fees	No stock risk, but you're still the seller under consumer law

Own website (Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace)

Up-front cost

Low–medium

Ongoing cost

Monthly plan + payment fees + apps

Trade-off

You own the customer and data, but must drive all traffic

Marketplace (Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Catch)

Up-front cost

Low

Ongoing cost

Commission per sale + listing or subscription fees

Trade-off

Built-in buyers; less control and price competition

Social commerce (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok Shop)

Up-front cost

Low

Ongoing cost

Fees per sale + advertising

Trade-off

Good for discovery; platform rules change often

Dropshipping

Up-front cost

Very low

Ongoing cost

Supplier markup + fees

Trade-off

No stock risk, but you're still the seller under consumer law

Most successful small sellers start on one channel and add others once their fulfilment works. Whatever you choose, remember that under Australian law you are the supplier to the customer. If you dropship a product from an overseas supplier, the consumer guarantees, product safety duties and advertising rules still fall on your business.

Step 2: Register the business

If you sell regularly with the aim of making a profit, you're carrying on a business. Apply for an ABN through the Business Registration Service — it costs free and is often issued immediately. Payment gateways and marketplaces will ask for it when you set up a business account, and business customers who buy from you without an ABN quoted on your invoice may have to withhold 47% of the payment.

Most online stores start as a sole trader. If you trade under a brand name rather than your own name, register a business name with ASIC: A$47 for one year or A$108 for three. Registering the name doesn't give you exclusive rights to it — check the trade marks register before you invest in branding, and consider registering a trade mark if the brand becomes valuable. A .com.au domain generally requires an Australian presence, which an ABN or registered business name usually satisfies.

Open a separate business bank account so your sales, refunds and payouts from platforms are easy to reconcile. Our business bank account guide covers what banks ask for and merchant facilities.

Hobby or business?

Not every online seller is a business. Clearing out your wardrobe on a marketplace, or occasionally selling something you made for fun, is generally treated as a hobby or private sale, and the proceeds aren't business income. The signs that you've crossed into business are repetition and intent: buying stock to resell, selling regularly, keeping records, advertising, and aiming to make a profit. Once that's you, register the ABN, keep records for 5 years and declare the income in your tax return.

Step 3: GST for online sellers

GST registration is compulsory once your GST turnover reaches A$75,000 in a 12-month period, and you must register within 21 days of going over. Count all your channels together: website, marketplaces, social media and market stalls. Once registered, you charge 10% on taxable sales, claim GST credits on business purchases (including platform fees and advertising where GST was charged), issue tax invoices for sales to business customers, and lodge a BAS.

A few points catch online sellers out. Your listed prices to consumers must include GST. Most goods sold to overseas customers and exported within the required time are GST-free. And marketplace commissions charged by overseas platforms may or may not include Australian GST, which affects what you can claim. Our GST registration guide and tax invoice guide cover the details.

Step 4: Consumer law for online stores

The ACCC is blunt about it: online businesses have the same responsibilities to consumers as physical businesses. Overseas businesses selling directly to Australians must follow the Australian Consumer Law too. These are the rules that matter most when you set up your store.

Consumer guarantees and refunds

Every product you sell to a consumer must be of acceptable quality — safe, durable, free from defects, with an acceptable finish, and able to do what similar products are commonly used for. It must match its description and any sample, and be fit for any purpose the customer told you about. If a product fails, the customer is entitled to a remedy: a repair, replacement or refund, depending on whether the problem is major or minor.

These rights can't be excluded. The ACCC lists things a business cannot do: display a "no refunds" sign or say refunds aren't available, say refunds aren't available after a set number of days, say it isn't responsible for problems, or suggest the customer must buy an extended warranty to keep their rights. You don't have to offer refunds for change of mind, but if your returns policy offers them, you must honour it. Write your policy to make the difference clear: "We don't offer refunds for change of mind. This doesn't affect your rights under the Australian Consumer Law."

Prices, claims and reviews

Show the total price you can work out at the time — including GST and any mandatory fees — prominently, not just a base price. Product descriptions, "was/now" prices, "Australian made" and environmental claims, and delivery timeframes must be accurate. Reviews are covered too: the ACCC applies the misleading conduct rules to how businesses handle online reviews, so don't write fake reviews, offer incentives only for positive ones, or hide negative ones. Give customers a receipt for purchases over A$75, or on request; an emailed order confirmation that includes the required details is fine.

What changes on 1 July 2027

Parliament passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 on 2 July 2026. From 1 July 2027, it bans unfair trading practices and subscription traps. The government's examples are exactly the tactics online stores are tempted to use: subscriptions that take seconds to start and hours to cancel, "service" or "handling" fees revealed only at checkout, and site designs that nudge or steer people into decisions they wouldn't otherwise make. If you're building a store now, design it to comply from day one: show mandatory fees with the price, make cancelling a subscription as easy as signing up, and avoid countdown timers or pre-ticked add-ons that pressure buyers.

Rules for online sellers — key dates

25 February 2026

End of transition for old-style allergen labels on packaged food

1 October 2026

Card surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa banned

1 July 2027

Ban on unfair trading practices, drip pricing and subscription traps starts

A$75,000 turnover

Register for GST within 21 days

Step 5: Privacy, customer data and email marketing

An online store collects personal information from day one: names, addresses, emails, phone numbers and order histories. Under the Privacy Act, businesses with annual turnover over A$3 million must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, including having a clear, current privacy policy and following the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. Some smaller businesses are covered regardless of turnover, including businesses that sell or buy personal information, private health service providers and contractors to the Australian Government.

Even if you're under the threshold, publish a short privacy policy. Payment providers, marketplaces and app stores typically require one, it builds trust at checkout, and it prepares you for growth. Collect only what you need, keep it secure, and destroy or de-identify it when you no longer need it — business.gov.au recommends this for every business.

Email and SMS marketing are regulated by the Spam Act, enforced by the ACMA. You need consent before you send a marketing message — express consent (a ticked box or a sign-up form, with a record kept) is safest; inferred consent from an existing relationship is less reliable. Each message must identify your business, include your contact details, and contain an unsubscribe option that works and is honoured within 5 working days, without requiring a login or extra personal details. Buying an email list doesn't transfer consent — you're still responsible for every address you message.

Pages your store needs before launch

0/6

• Returns and refunds policy that preserves consumer guarantee rights
• Privacy policy explaining what you collect, why, and how to contact you
• Shipping policy with costs, carriers and realistic delivery times
• Business name, ABN, email and phone number visible on the site
• Email sign-up form with an unticked consent box and a working unsubscribe
• Prices shown including GST and any mandatory fees

Share Print

Step 6: Payments, platforms and fees

Choose a payment gateway that settles in Australian dollars to an Australian account and supports the methods your customers use: cards, digital wallets, PayPal and buy now, pay later. Read the fee schedules carefully — percentage fees, fixed per-transaction fees, international card and currency conversion fees, and chargeback fees all add up.

From 1 October 2026, surcharging is banned on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa debit, prepaid and credit cards, alongside lower caps on the interchange fees banks charge. Remove any card surcharge from your checkout and build payment costs into your prices or shipping instead. American Express and buy now, pay later services aren't covered by the ban, but they can be expensive to accept.

Compare payment fees per orderSee what each payment provider costs you on a typical order value.

Step 7: Product safety, shipping and returns

If you supply products to Australian customers, whether in a shop or online, you must comply with mandatory safety and information standards and with bans and recalls. Those rules apply to local businesses and to overseas businesses selling to Australians. Build safety into your sourcing: ask suppliers for test reports against the relevant Australian standard, keep records of what you sold and to whom, and have a recall plan. In some cases you're legally required to notify the ACCC about a product safety problem, such as a serious injury linked to a product you supplied.

Shipping is where online margins quietly disappear. Weigh and measure your typical parcels, compare carriers, and decide whether to charge actual shipping, a flat rate or offer free shipping above a threshold — then build the cost into your pricing. Insure high-value items. For returns, set out how customers start a claim, who pays postage for faulty items (you do, when the product has a major failure) and how quickly you'll process refunds.

Worked example: pricing an order in A$

Sam sells handmade leather wallets through her own Shopify store. She's registered for GST. A wallet retails for A$110 including GST. Here's where the money goes on one order:

If Sam spends 1.5 hours making and packing each wallet, she's earning under A$27 an hour before her monthly platform fees, apps and tax. Raising the price to A$129, cutting the advertising cost per order or charging for shipping would each change the picture. Fees shown are illustrative; check your own provider's rates. Run your own numbers in our marketplace profit calculator and GST calculator.

Start-up costs for an online store

These are our estimates as at October 2026, based on typical published plan prices for common Australian e-commerce platforms and small-business service quotes; the registration fees shown as fact figures are official. Stock is the biggest variable — dropshipping avoids it, while a handmade or private-label brand needs inventory before the first sale. Use our startup cost calculator to build your own budget.

Common mistakes new online sellers make

A "no refunds" or "all sales final" policy. It's illegal under the consumer guarantees. Fix: offer what the law requires and state your change-of-mind policy separately.

Adding a card surcharge at checkout. Banned for eftpos, Mastercard and Visa since 1 October 2026. Fix: build fees into prices.

Hidden fees at the last step. Fix: show mandatory fees upfront now — it becomes a specific prohibition from 1 July 2027.

Emailing people who never opted in. Fix: use a sign-up form with an unticked consent box and keep records.

Dropshipping products that don't meet Australian standards. Fix: check mandatory standards and bans for every product before you list it — you're the supplier, not your overseas source.

Forgetting GST across channels. Fix: track total turnover from all platforms monthly so you register in time.

Official links

• Business Registration ServiceABN, business name and GST
• ACCC — Selling onlineConsumer law for online businesses
• ACCC — Consumer rights and guaranteesWhat 'no refunds' rules break
• Treasury — Unfair trading practices banStarts 1 July 2027
• business.gov.au — Protect your customers' informationPrivacy Act coverage
• ACMA — Avoid sending spamConsent and unsubscribe rules
• business.gov.au — Product safety rules and standardsMandatory standards, bans and recalls
• ABLIS — licence finderProduct and activity licences

What to do next

Apply for your ABN, cost a typical order with the payment fee calculator, and write your returns and privacy policies before you launch. For structures, tax and support programs, read our guide to starting a business in Australia.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an ABN to sell online in Australia?

If you're selling online regularly to make a profit, you're carrying on a business and are entitled to an ABN — it's free to apply. You'll need one to register a .com.au domain in most cases, to set up most payment gateways and marketplaces as a business, and to quote it to business customers so they don't withhold 47% of payments. Occasional sales of your own second-hand goods are generally not a business.

Do I need a licence to sell products online?

There's no general licence for online selling. Some products need their own licence or approval wherever they're sold — alcohol needs a state liquor licence, food needs food business registration, therapeutic goods have TGA rules — and many products have mandatory safety or information standards. Check your products in ABLIS and the ACCC's product safety pages before you list them.

Do I have to give refunds if I sell online?

You must provide the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, just like a shop. If a product is faulty, unsafe or not as described, the customer is entitled to a repair, replacement or refund depending on how serious the problem is. You don't have to refund for change of mind unless your policy says you will, but a 'no refunds' statement is illegal.

Do I need a privacy policy for my online store?

If your annual turnover is over A$3 million, the Privacy Act applies and you need a clear privacy policy. Smaller businesses are covered too if, for example, they buy or sell personal information or are health service providers. Even when exempt, payment providers, marketplaces and app platforms usually require a privacy policy, and customers expect one.

When do I need to register for GST as an online seller?

Register within 21 days of your turnover reaching A$75,000 a year, counting sales from your website, marketplaces and social media together. Once registered, you charge 10% on taxable sales, issue tax invoices to business customers and lodge BAS. Exports to overseas customers are generally GST-free.

Can I add a surcharge for card payments at checkout?

Not for eftpos, Mastercard or Visa. Surcharging on those cards ended on 1 October 2026. Build payment fees into your prices or shipping instead. From 1 July 2027, new rules also require mandatory transaction-based fees to be shown alongside the base price, rather than added at the end of checkout.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 13 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Selling online — ACCC (Wayback capture 16 June 2026) · accessed 13 October 2026
2. 2.Consumer rights and guarantees — ACCC (Wayback capture 13 September 2026) · accessed 13 October 2026
3. 3.Unfair trading tricks and traps to be banned — Treasury Ministers (2 July 2026) · accessed 13 October 2026
4. 4.Protect your customers' information — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026
5. 5.Avoid sending spam — ACMA · accessed 13 October 2026
6. 6.Product safety rules and standards — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026
7. 7.Legal obligations of marketing — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026
8. 8.Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026