E-commerce · 12 min read · Updated: 2026-10-26

What you need to start an online store in Türkiye: documents, legal texts, ETBİS and cost

Choosing a store theme is the easy part. We've put the registrations, documents and texts you need before you start selling into one list.

In short

• A business selling from its own site needs a tax registration, an e-Arşiv invoicing setup, distance selling and pre-information texts, a KVKK privacy notice and a payment provider.
• Service providers selling on their own e-commerce site must register with ETBİS before starting, complete their notification details within 30 days of registering, and report changes within 30 days.
• Under the Distance Contracts Regulation, consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal and orders must be delivered within 30 days at most.
• The cost of an online store isn't a single figure: the site and store subscription, domain, payment commission, shipping, e-document credits and accountant fees are separate items.
• In Heyşirket, the store (products, orders, card payments, shipping and marketplace connections) and pre-accounting come together on the Professional plan, at 699.99 TL a month or 6,999.90 TL a year, VAT included.

You've decided to sell online. Your products are ready, you've taken the photos and you like a store theme. Then the questions start: Do I need to set up a company? Which contracts must be on the site? What's ETBİS? How do I take card payments? And how much does all this cost?

In this article we've gathered what you need to start an online store in order: the tax and company side, the documents, the legal texts your site must have, ETBİS registration, payments and shipping, and finally the cost items. We cover the panel steps for setting up the store in starting to sell on your website.

1. Tax registration — Sole trader or company
2. Documents — Certificate, signature, IBAN
3. Legal texts — Distance selling, KVKK
4. Payments and shipping — Virtual POS, agreement
5. ETBİS — Register before selling

Part 1 · Tax registration Do you need a company to sell online?

If you sell online regularly, you're carrying out a commercial activity and need a tax registration. It can be a sole proprietorship, or a limited or joint-stock company. Which type suits you depends on your turnover, partnership structure and appetite for risk.

For people selling handmade products they make at home online, Article 9 of the Income Tax Law has a conditional artisan exemption. It doesn't fit every seller; buying in products to resell or employing staff, for example, can remove the exemption. For a comparison with figures, see sole trader or limited company and make the decision with your mali müşavir (certified accountant).

Part 2 · Documents Which documents do you need for e-commerce?

Applications for a payment provider, a shipping agreement, an e-document provider and ETBİS registration largely ask for the same documents. Collecting them in one folder from the start speeds things up.

Documents to keep ready

• Tax certificate (vergi levhası)
• For a company, the trade registry gazette and signature circular; for a sole proprietorship, a signature declaration
• A copy of the authorised person's ID
• The IBAN of a bank account in the business's name
• MERSİS number (for companies) or artisan registry details
• A registered electronic mail (KEP) address
• A domain and a working website address
• A financial seal or e-signature (for e-Fatura and e-Arşiv, as your provider requires)

Part 3 · Legal texts Which legal texts must your site have?

Selling online to consumers counts as a distance contract, which has its own rules. Before confirming an order, the customer must have seen and accepted certain information. Your site needs the following texts.

• Right of withdrawal: the consumer can withdraw from the contract without giving a reason within 14 days of receiving the goods. Exceptions, such as made-to-order or perishable goods, are listed in the Regulation.
• Delivery time: the order must be delivered to the consumer within 30 days at most. If you can't deliver, the consumer gains the right to cancel the contract.
• Refund time: once the withdrawal notice reaches you, you refund the payment within 14 days at most.
• Showing prices: prices shown to consumers must include taxes. If shipping is charged separately, it must be clearly stated before payment.

If you'll send marketing emails or SMS, there's one more step: commercial electronic messages require the recipient's prior consent, and consents are recorded in the Message Management System (İYS). Order and shipping notifications don't count as commercial messages.

Part 4 · ETBİS What is ETBİS registration and when do you do it?

ETBİS is the Ministry of Trade's Electronic Commerce Information System. Service providers selling in their own e-commerce environment, meaning their own site or app, and intermediary service providers must register with it. Registration is done through e-Devlet (the Turkish government portal).

Once registration is complete, you get an ETBİS QR code you can add to your site's footer. If you only sell on marketplaces, the registration duty lies with the marketplace as the intermediary service provider; but once you start selling the same products from your own site, you need your own registration. Confirm your situation with your mali müşavir.

Part 5 · Operations Payment infrastructure and shipping

You need to offer customers at least one convenient way to pay. Card payments need a bank virtual POS or an account with a licensed payment institution; the application asks for the documents above and a live site. We explain how a virtual POS works and what the commission depends on in what is a virtual POS.

• Card payment: with 3-D Secure, single payment or instalments. Commission and how long the money takes to reach your account depend on your agreement.
• Bank transfer: no commission, but you have to check the payment manually and confirm the order.
• Cash on delivery: reassures customers; factor in the courier's extra fee and the return risk.
• Shipping agreement: pricing by volumetric weight and region, delivery time, return shipping and the damage process should be in writing.

Part 6 · Cost What makes up the cost of an e-commerce site?

The cost of setting up an e-commerce site isn't a single price. Some of it is fixed and annual, some grows with every sale. Writing the items separately when budgeting shows you which costs depend on sales.

In Heyşirket, setting up a site is free, but the free Starter plan has no store. Products, orders, card payments, shipping and marketplace connections are on the Professional plan, and pre-accounting is included in the same plan; you don't need a separate accounting subscription.

Prices include VAT. e-Document credits, payment commission, shipping and domain fees are not included in the plan.

We cover the general cost items of a website, including design and maintenance, in detail in how much a website costs. The plan comparison is on the Pricing page.

Part 7 · Panel Which parts of this list come ready in Heyşirket?

In Heyşirket, the store is a module of the website in your company panel. The panel takes care of part of the list above for you, and part of it is up to you. It's important to tell the two apart.

For card payments, you set up the Heyşirket connection on the Settings › Integrations screen; payments are verified by the cardholder's bank with 3-D Secure. If you also sell on Trendyol, Hepsiburada, N11 and Amazon, the marketplace connections are in the same plan; details on the marketplace integration page. Step-by-step guide in the panel: Help › Store setup: products, payments and shipping.

Complete your store settings Enter your seller details, payment methods and legal texts, and let the panel show you what's still missing. Open store settings

If you don't have a site yet, start for free; when you're ready for a store, upgrade your plan to Professional from the panel.

Author: Heyşirket Editorial Team