Setting up an online store without being self-employed: what the law says

Can you sell online without being self-employed in Spain?

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 in Spain there are two separate obligations that people tend to confuse: the tax authority (declaring what you earn) and Social Security (registering with RETA, the self-employed scheme). They aren't the same thing and they don't always go hand in hand.

The general criterion used by the authorities and the courts is regularity: if you sell on an ongoing basis and with the intention of making money from it, that activity is considered economic and will normally require registration as self-employed and with the tax authority. 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 lawyers, and the line between "one-off" and "regular" isn't always obvious. Every business has its own context. So, before you start selling, talk to an accountant or tax adviser who can look at your specific case. It's a cheap step that saves you big headaches.

The tax authority and being self-employed: two different things

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

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 declaring anything" is pushing you onto slippery ground. The legal and worry-free 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 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:

• GDPR and data protection. Your store collects data (names, emails, shipping addresses), so it needs a properly designed privacy policy, consent management and cookie notice.
• Legal notice and owner information. E-commerce regulations (LSSI) require identifying 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 policy and right of withdrawal. In Spain, distance selling has its own return rules 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 lawyer, 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 (registration 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 being self-employed think the same thing: "if I do it through a marketplace like Amazon, Etsy or a dropshipping store, do I skip registering?". 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 economic activity, whether you do it from your own website or from someone else's shop window.

Put another way: the marketplace solves the technical side and the traffic for you, but it doesn't exempt you from your obligations with the tax authority and, if the activity is regular, with Social Security. In fact, these platforms usually ask you for tax details so they can pay you and, above certain thresholds, they're required to report their sellers' activity. 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 commissions, 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 registration is still your accountant's business. There's no marketplace that saves you from that.

Taking payment in the store: gateways, commissions 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 local payment methods through a payment gateway, and in Spain it's standard to offer card and Bizum 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, Shopify Payments in Spain charges from 2.1% + €0.30 per transaction on its entry plan (the rate drops on higher plans and varies depending on the payment method). Stripe, Redsys 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 commission 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.