Starting a mail order, what are do’s and don’ts?

[Minus1]

Well, I guess I'm a visual person! I won't respond well (or at all) to a list. (And in fact - I shop where the images are!)

Clearly I have no clue about doing this, but my 2 cents (and we round down in Canada!) would be:

Make sure that everyone who is needed to support such a venture fully understands exactly what it is! ie It ain't Disney.

[NocturnalLibrary]

Yes, there will definitely be images in my mail order. On the subject of what to stock it looks like there's especially interest in US labels since some releases are harder to get here in The Netherlands / Europe. I'll get some releases from Helicopter to start with but what other labels / artists you'd like to see specifically in my mail order? Just investigating what people would like to get and is currently less available around here.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

But don't (hilariously) hide the "naughty" ones, like discogs / rym.

I would say the opposite. Many stores lost their electronic payment options due graphics or even titles. I think it is the real album that is the ART. List is just a list of things and I would expect anyone to be smart enough to find sustainable way of running distro and not getting kicked out of their store system and funds frozen just because insisting free expression. Hah... it is the album itself that matters. No need to have explicit things visible for random windowshoppers or even rats.
It seems all very much gamble. Biggest dealers get away posting full frontal nudity to meta social media or selling items genocidal items. Small dealer may see himself booted out instantly.

Yikes. Forgive my naivety, but who plays god here? Financial institutions? I mean, this isn't Disney. It's Noise/Experimental/etc.

If one is using external services like indeed, financial institutions, webstore services, social media, etc. It all is vulnerable. Any notion of "free speech" or "artistic freedom" is void of meaning if some of these decide to kick you out simply for putting wrong kind of album cover with their company name on same page or check out processing includes all sorts of flagged words, that may indicated into forbidden content. Our arguments about "its just art" are usually useless, if terms of services flat out bans something you are doing. I have seen so many times people losing accounts, sites, stores, online payment systems, and it seems odd that how they would have not had little cautiousness and sort of self sabotage from beginning. You know, even as independent as SI forum is, there has been attempts to shut it down simply because it allows any types of noise being sold or discussed and not everybody likes that.