How do I set up a market stall as a hobbyist without an ABN?

Topic summary

Setting up a Shopify market/POS presence in Australia as a hobbyist without an ABN (Australian Business Number).

  • Clarification: Registered businesses (sole trader, partnership, company) require an ABN and an ABN is needed to register a business name. If selling purely as a hobby, an ABN may not be required per ATO guidance.

  • Issue: Shopify store setup (especially for Shopify Payments/POS) prompts for an ABN. The user is a hobbyist and says they’re not eligible for an ABN, asking if there’s a workaround.

  • Payment onboarding: For Shopify Payments, alternative documents may be accepted instead of an ABN (e.g., ASIC Certificate of Registration, ABR Extract, Change of Name certificate, ACNC extract, Incorporated Association extract). The user notes these either require an ABN or apply to charities/associations, so they don’t fit a hobbyist.

  • Outcome/next steps: No definitive in-thread solution. Support advises contacting the accounts team via live chat for a case-specific review and potential alternatives.

  • Status: Unresolved/ongoing. Key question pending: Can a hobbyist without ABN and without the listed alternative documents use Shopify Payments/POS, and if so, what verification path applies?

Summarized with AI on January 12. AI used: gpt-5.

Thanks for the response, at the moment I do not qualify to hold an abn as
I’m a hobbyist currently, but setting up the store is asking for the abn.
Is there a way around this or it is a requirement to use shopify?