Starting an Online Shop in Turkey: Costs, Requirements and Paperwork

1. A company and a tax certificate

To take card payments you need a payment gateway, and payment providers usually ask for company details and a tax certificate when you apply. A sole proprietorship is enough; you do not have to set up a limited or joint-stock company.

Which type of company suits you and how you invoice are questions to settle with an accountant. In Turkey, businesses selling online have to issue e-archive invoices; discuss that at the start too.

2. Payment gateway

Card payments are taken through payment providers such as iyzico and PayTR or through your bank's virtual POS. Applying to a payment provider is usually quicker; a bank may offer a lower commission rate. Either way, a commission is paid on each sale.

You apply in your company's name; once approved, we connect the payment gateway to the site.

3. ETBİS registration

Businesses selling through their own website in Turkey have to register with the Ministry of Trade's Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBİS). Registration is done through e-Devlet, and the code issued after registration has to be shown on the site.

4. Legal texts

The main texts a Turkish online shop needs: a distance sales contract, a pre-information form, return and withdrawal terms, a privacy notice under the KVKK data protection law and a cookie policy. For most products the consumer has a 14-day right of withdrawal; write your return terms accordingly.

These texts should be written for your business; if you use a template, it is wise to have a lawyer look at it.

5. Shipping and delivery

A business agreement with shipping companies lowers the cost per parcel. On some platforms the carrier's system connects to the site and the tracking code is added to the order automatically.

Decide who pays for shipping (a free shipping threshold, a flat fee) before the site is built; it affects your prices and cart rules.

6. Platform: WooCommerce, Shopify or a packaged service

With WooCommerce the shop lives on your own server and there is no monthly platform subscription; hosting and upkeep are yours. With Shopify there is no server to manage, but you pay a subscription every month. There are also packaged shop services rented by the month; they start you quickly but can tie you to that company for design and for moving away.

We build shops on WooCommerce and Shopify; we moved the Shopify store of Avrosis to WooCommerce with its products and blog posts.

7. Cost items

Paid once: the design and setup of the site (with us an online shop starts from $300), uploading the products and their photos. Paid every year or month: the domain, hosting or the Shopify subscription, and paid plugin licences if any.

Paid per sale: the payment gateway commission, shipping and, if you also sell on marketplaces, the marketplace commission. An advertising budget is a separate item for most shops; in the first months it is usually the quickest way to bring in visitors.

Where to start?

First the company and tax certificate, then the payment gateway application; the site can be built in the meantime. With us an online shop usually goes live in 2-3 weeks. Tell us how many products you have and where you sell, and we will pin down the scope and price together.