Store Setup

How to Start an Online Shop on BASE: The Complete Setup Roadmap

#BASE #opening an online shop #store setup

Sep 21, 2026

Read time: approx. 7 min

Leap Editorial Team

A team of e-commerce business experts

How to Start an Online Shop on BASE: The Complete Setup Roadmap

Quick Overview: Opening a Shop Isn't Intimidating Once You Know Where to Start

"I want to open an online shop, but I have no idea where to begin" — that's usually the first wall anyone seriously considering BASE runs into. BASE officially describes launching in "4 steps," but once you're actually doing it, the details around the required legal business disclosure and payment setup are where people tend to get stuck. This guide walks through the full sequence — account creation, the required legal disclosure, payment setup, product registration and design, and what's worth checking before you actually go live — so you never have to wonder what comes next.

Step 1: Create Your Account

The first step is creating an account with an email address, password, and shop URL. The shop URL you choose at signup generally cannot be changed later — if you absolutely need to change it, you'd have to close your account and register again under a new URL (though the custom domain App does let you switch your shop's URL to a domain you own). It's worth thinking through your options in advance if you care about getting it right. Your email and password, on the other hand, can be changed afterward — so don't over-optimize at this stage; just get the account created. Once registered, verify your email from the confirmation message and move on to the next step.

Step 2: The Required Legal Disclosure and Payment Setup

With your account created, the next step is filling out Japan's required "Specified Commercial Transactions Act" (特定商取引法) disclosure — a legal requirement designed to prevent disputes between online shops and consumers. You'll need to provide your business information (name or company name), address, contact details, accepted payment methods, delivery timing, and your return policy. If you're operating as an individual, BASE lets you keep the address and phone number in this disclosure private. That said, BASE itself still needs accurate information on file, and situations like a return can require disclosing your address and phone number as the shipping origin — this isn't a way to avoid using your address and phone number entirely.

Next comes payment setup. BASE offers a bundled system called "BASE Easy Payment," which lets you accept credit cards, convenience store payment (Pay-easy), bank transfer, carrier billing, PAY ID deferred payment, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and PayPay. BASE doesn't run a pre-screening review before you open your shop, so you can get most payment methods running smoothly right after applying. That said, not every method is available the instant you apply: for individual shops, JCB and American Express can take a few business days to activate, Amazon Pay approval isn't guaranteed and may be denied, and PayPay requires passing its own separate review. Depending on how your shop operates, BASE may also later require identity verification (eKYC), which takes about 2-3 business days to process once you've uploaded your ID. "No pre-screening" doesn't mean "everything works instantly" — worth keeping in mind.

Step 3: Register Your Products

Once payments are set up, it's time to register your products — name, description, images, price, and shipping. BASE U, BASE's own official media outlet, has previously published an analysis finding that well-performing shops tended to have product descriptions around 650-1,000 characters and five or more images. That's a historical pattern from past analysis, not a current requirement, but it's a reasonable benchmark to keep in mind. Under the current spec, you can upload up to 20 images per product, with a recommended size of 1280×1280 pixels (gif, jpg, or png, 10MB or less per file). BASE also offers AI-assisted tools that can help speed up writing product descriptions. If you have a large catalog, it's not necessary to register everything before launch — a practical approach is to start with a handful of flagship products to get published, then add the rest gradually afterward.

Step 4: Set Your Design and Do a Final Check Before You Go Live

With products registered, it's time to set your shop's design. BASE offers three options: a free official theme, a paid theme for a more polished look, or the HTML editing App for full customization. The HTML editing App only works on a computer, comes with no technical support from BASE, and doesn't automatically receive shop-page updates — new features, bug fixes, and so on — so you're responsible for maintaining it yourself going forward. Treat it as an option for people who already know HTML and CSS. For a first launch, going live with the free official theme and considering a paid theme later once you're comfortable running the shop is a perfectly reasonable path.

Once your design is set, before you actually publish your shop, it's worth checking your product page previews, the flow from adding to cart through checkout, how shipping fees and payment methods display, and whether the layout holds up on a phone. One important caveat here: BASE doesn't offer a dedicated "test purchase" feature — if you buy from your own shop, it's processed as a normal order like any other. BASE's own guidance recommends using bank transfer or convenience store payment if you buy from your own shop, and advises against using credit card, PAY ID deferred payment, carrier billing, Amazon Pay, PayPal, or PayPay for that purpose. And once a payment actually goes through, BASE Easy Payment's processing fee and service usage fee aren't refunded. So rather than treating "place a real test order and walk it all the way through checkout" as a must-do before launch, focus your pre-launch check on previews and the purchase flow's appearance — and if you do place a self-order, follow BASE's official guidance on which payment method to use.

FAQ

Q. How long does it take to set up an online shop on BASE?

A. The account itself can be created quickly. That said, the time it takes to gather what you need for the legal disclosure, prepare product images and descriptions, and settle on a design varies a lot from person to person, so there's no single answer for how long it takes to get to launch. Many first-time sellers spend a few days getting everything ready carefully.

Q. Do I need to pass a screening review to use BASE Easy Payment?

A. There's no pre-screening review when opening a shop, and most payment methods are ready to use right after you apply. That said, some — like JCB and American Express for individual shops — can take a few business days to activate, and others, like Amazon Pay and PayPay, require passing their own separate review. Depending on how your shop operates, BASE may also later require identity verification (eKYC), which takes roughly 2-3 business days to complete.

Q. Do I have to register every product before launching?

A. Not necessarily. Registering a handful of flagship products and launching with those, then adding the rest gradually as you run the shop, works fine. Launching earlier and building out your catalog based on customer response is a practical approach too.

Summary and Key Takeaway

Opening a shop on BASE isn't difficult if you follow the sequence: account creation, the legal disclosure and payment setup, product registration, and design. That said, because there's no pre-screening review, it's on you to carefully check the details that are easy to overlook — when each payment method actually becomes usable, gaps in the required legal disclosure, and so on. The fact that BASE has no dedicated test-purchase feature is another detail that's easy to miss before launch.

That said, handling the legal disclosure, writing product descriptions, and choosing a design all on your own can feel like a lot for a first-time seller. Leap offers an AI E-Commerce Agent that supports building and running an e-commerce site entirely through conversation with AI. If you're feeling uncertain about getting your shop ready to launch, take a look at what Leap offers.

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