Selling online without an LLC: what you need to know

Can you sell online without an LLC?

It's the question we get asked most, and the honest answer is: it depends on how you sell. The first thing to be clear about is that the business structure (sole proprietor vs. LLC) is a different matter from your tax obligations and from any local licenses or permits. They aren't the same thing and they don't always go hand in hand.

The general theme is regularity: if you sell on an ongoing basis and with the intention of making money from it, that activity is generally treated as a business, which usually comes with reporting income and, depending on your state and city, sales tax, business licenses or permits. A one-off, isolated sale —getting rid of used belongings, a single sale— sits in a different territory with its own nuances.

And here's the important thing we absolutely have to tell you: we're not tax advisers or attorneys, and the line between "one-off" and "regular" isn't always obvious. Every business has its own context, and rules differ from state to state. So, before you start selling, talk to an accountant or attorney who can look at your specific case. It's a cheap step that saves you big headaches.

Sole proprietor vs. LLC: two different things

To give you a sense of the general picture (again: for guidance, not advice), this is the basic difference between the structures and obligations that come into play when you sell online in the U.S.

We won't give you income limits or "tricks" because there's no universal magic number, and because anyone who promises you "sell up to X without reporting anything" is pushing you onto slippery ground. The safe path is to ask a professional and set the business up properly from the start.

What Zenith DOES do: your store, compliant with the law that affects the website

Here's the part where we genuinely are experts and genuinely help you. Your tax and business-structure situation is one thing (that's for your accountant) and it's a very different matter for the website itself to comply with the rules that affect it. That's what we handle, and it's included in the work:

• Privacy and data protection. Your store collects data (names, emails, shipping addresses), so it needs a properly written privacy policy, consent management and cookie notice.
• Business contact information. Customers should be able to see who's behind the store and how to get in touch.
• Terms of sale. The clear rules of the purchase: prices, payment methods, delivery times and what happens if something goes wrong.
• Returns and refund policy. Online sales call for a clear return and refund policy that the website must reflect.

Important so there are no misunderstandings: we build the website with these texts and mechanisms in place in line with standard practice, but the owner's legal details and the final validation of the terms for your specific case should be reviewed with your adviser. A well-built website, yes; a replacement for your attorney, no.

What do you need to set up an online store? (legal + technical)

So you can see the full picture at a glance, we split it into what's yours (business structure and tax situation, which you handle with your accountant) and what's ours (the website and its compliance). Read it as a checklist.

As you can see, the scary part —the tax side— you sort out with a visit to your accountant. The technical and legal side of the website is handled by us and you don't have to touch a thing.

How do we work on the project at Zenith?

We flip the usual model on its head. Instead of charging you a big quote upfront and disappearing, we do this:

1. We build it for FREE. You pay nothing for us to set up your store. We start with the work, not with your wallet.
2. A tailored monthly fee. It includes the domain, SSL and all the technical side, plus ongoing support for ranking on Google and in AI (ChatGPT, Gemini). It's tailored to your store and has an honest minimum of a few months, because doing things properly takes time. The details live on pricing.
3. No Zenith sales commission. We don't take a cut of what you sell. Your bank's or gateway's commission always exists, in any system, but that one isn't ours.
4. No empty promises. We don't guarantee a number of sales or customers. What we guarantee is the work: a well-built store, fast, legally careful and supported month after month.

What if I sell through a marketplace instead of setting up my own store?

A lot of people looking to sell without forming an LLC think the same thing: "if I do it through a marketplace like Amazon, Etsy or a dropshipping store, do I skip the business and tax side?". It's a reasonable question and worth clearing up, because the honest answer saves you a nasty surprise: the channel you sell through doesn't change your tax situation. Selling regularly and for profit is a business, whether you do it from your own website or from someone else's storefront.

Put another way: the marketplace solves the technical side and the traffic for you, but it doesn't exempt you from reporting your income or, depending on your state and city, from sales tax and any required licenses. In fact, these platforms usually ask you for a taxpayer ID so they can pay you and, above certain thresholds, they're required to report their sellers' activity to the IRS. It's not a legal shortcut; it's just another sales channel.

So which do you choose? It's a business decision, not a tax one. The marketplace gives you immediate reach in exchange for higher fees, rules you don't control and a customer who belongs to "the platform", not to you. Your own store costs more to get going in terms of visibility, but the brand, your customers' data and the ranking are yours and build up over time. At Zenith we work on that second route: your store, your domain and your ranking on Google and in AI month after month.

The key point: whatever channel you decide on, your business and tax setup is still your accountant's business. There's no marketplace that saves you from that.

Taking payment in the store: gateways, fees and why that's not the hard part

In the table above you already saw that we integrate the payment gateway. Here we get into the detail of how it works, because it's usually the next practical question: "so how do I actually get paid?". A store takes card and digital payment methods through a payment gateway, and in the U.S. it's standard to offer card payments plus digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay so customers can pay however they prefer.

It's worth knowing one thing from the start so you don't get any surprises: every gateway charges a fee per transaction. That's true in any system and with any provider; it's not a cost the website invents. As a reference with a public source, Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card transaction on its standard pricing in the U.S. (rates vary by payment method and volume). Square, PayPal or other gateways have their own rates; it's worth checking the one for the specific provider you use before deciding.

What we do is integrate the gateway into your store and leave the payment flow working, secure (with the SSL included) and with the methods that make sense for your business. You don't wrestle with technical configurations. The only fee that exists is your bank's or gateway's, which you'd pay whoever builds your store; Zenith doesn't add any commission of its own per sale.