Most small shops in Bulgaria start selling through Facebook, Instagram or a counter, and the first real online shop raises the same questions every time: which couriers, which payments, what the tax authority expects, and which pages the law requires. This checklist goes through what a Bulgarian online shop needs before launch, in the order in which it usually goes wrong. It applies to WooCommerce, PrestaShop or OpenCart alike; the platform matters less than the setup.
A note before we start: this article explains how shops are commonly set up, not what your tax position is. Ordinance H-18 has several regimes, and which one applies depends on how you accept payments. Decide that with your accountant before launch.
#1. Delivery with Econt and Speedy
Bulgarian buyers expect to choose how they receive a parcel: to a courier office, to a parcel locker, or to their address. Offer the choice from both couriers if you can; many customers have a favourite office near home or work.
- Office and locker pickers. The checkout should let the buyer search for the office or locker by town and pick it from a list or a map, not type it in a free text field. Typed office names are the most common reason a parcel goes to the wrong place.
- Shipping price. Decide whether the shop calculates the courier price live, charges a flat fee, or offers free delivery above an order amount. Live prices are fair but need the parcel weight on every product.
- Waybills from the admin. Creating the waybill from the order, instead of retyping the address in the courier's site, saves minutes per order and removes typing errors. Both Econt and Speedy publish developer APIs for this, and integrations exist for the common shop platforms.
- Tracking. Put the tracking number in the shipping email, so customers do not have to call you to ask where the parcel is.
#2. Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery is still a very common way to pay in Bulgaria. The courier collects the money and pays it to you later. Before launch, agree with each courier how and when the collected money reaches you, and ask your accountant how these payments are recorded in your case, because the answer affects whether and how a receipt is issued.
Add a clear line at checkout about who pays the return shipping when a cash-on-delivery parcel is refused, and keep it the same in your terms.
#3. Card payments
Card payments online need a merchant agreement with a bank or a payment provider, and their plugin or module for your platform. The agreement takes time to sign, so start it early. Test a real payment and a refund before the shop goes live, and check that a declined card shows the customer a clear message in Bulgarian.
#4. Ordinance H-18
Ordinance H-18 governs how sales are registered and reported. For online shops the National Revenue Agency describes an alternative regime for sales paid by card online (a "card-not-present" payment): instead of a fiscal receipt, the shop issues its own document for the registration of the sale and sends it to the customer electronically, and every month it submits a standardised audit file with the orders of the previous month, through the NRA's e-service, by the 15th of the following month.
In practice this means the shop software must produce the sales document with the required data, keep the order records consistent, and export the monthly file in the required format. The audit file is checked when you submit it, so errors show up immediately; test a full month of orders on a copy of the shop before you rely on it. Your accountant decides which regime applies to you.
#5. Prices in euro, and the lowest price in 30 days
Since 1 January 2026 prices are in euro, and the period of dual display in leva and euro ended on 8 August 2026. A new shop can show euro only. Check every place a price appears: product pages, the cart, the checkout, order emails and invoices.
When you announce a discount, the Consumer Protection Act requires the shop to show the prior price: the lowest price in at least the 30 days before the reduction. Most shop platforms do not remember old prices on their own, so the history has to be recorded from day one. We explained the rule in the lowest 30-day price in WooCommerce and the setup in a step-by-step guide.
#6. The legal pages and consents
- General terms, with the company details, delivery, returns and the 14-day right of withdrawal for distance purchases.
- A privacy notice that names what data the shop collects at checkout and why.
- A cookie notice and, where needed, a consent banner; see GDPR and cookies for a small website.
- A checkbox to accept the terms at checkout, and a separate, unticked one for newsletters.
Have a lawyer approve these texts. Templates are a starting point, not a finished legal document.
#7. Before you launch
- Place test orders with every delivery method and every payment method, including a refused cash-on-delivery parcel and a card refund.
- Read every order email in Bulgarian on a phone.
- Check the speed of the product and category pages on a phone; our checklist for a slow website lists what to look at.
- Make sure backups run and that someone updates the shop after launch.
#How we set up a shop
Our online shop for Bulgaria package starts at €1,290. It is a WooCommerce shop you manage yourself, with up to 50 products entered from your spreadsheet or a CSV import in one prepared format, prices in euro, Econt and Speedy with offices, lockers, addresses and cash on delivery, card payments through your bank or provider plus bank transfer and cash on delivery, the H-18 sales document and monthly audit file checked over a test month, the lowest price in 30 days for discounts, order and GDPR consents, legal page templates for your lawyer, order emails in Bulgarian, a checklist for your accountant and 1 hour of training. It takes 4 to 6 weeks once products and payment contracts are ready.
Already selling online with a slow or outdated shop? A rescue for WooCommerce shops starts at €290, and monthly care costs €39 or €79 a month. If you are not sure where your shop stands, start with the free website check.
#Frequently asked questions
Do I have to offer both Econt and Speedy?
No, but many buyers have a preferred courier and office. Offering both usually costs little extra in setup and removes a reason to leave the checkout.
Does an online shop always need a fiscal device?
Not always. Ordinance H-18 has different regimes depending on how customers pay, and for card payments online there is an alternative regime with a sales document and a monthly audit file. Your accountant decides which applies to your shop.
Can I import my products from a spreadsheet?
Yes. A spreadsheet with names, prices, descriptions, weights and photo names is the fastest way to start. Weights matter if the courier price is calculated live.
How long does it take to open a shop?
The longest wait is usually not the build but the contracts: the merchant agreement for card payments and the business accounts with the couriers. Start those first.
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