Joy OkoroYou want to start dropshipping with stripe?
Stripe is the most popular gateway dropshippers are using for their dropshipping business to accept payments on their store.
The checkout experience while using stripe for dropshipping on your store is professional and below is how it looks.
Your customers don’t need to leave your store to make payments just like PayPal, it’s automatically embedded on your store checkout, so your customers can easily enter their card details and make payment.
Stripe accepts all major card types including local debit and credit cards.
Important Links (Table of Contents)
- Can I Use Stripe for Dropshipping?
- How to Setup a Stripe Account for Dropshipping.
- Is Stripe Atlas a Better Option?
- How to Form an LLC and EIN/Federal Tax ID.
- Forming your LLC at IncAuthority.
- How to Start Dropshipping with Stripe.
- Conclusions.
Can I Use Stripe for Dropshipping?
This is most asked question from any intending dropshipper and I will give you the answer shortly.
Stripe doesn’t accept dropshipping businesses or dropshipping stores to make use of their payment processor but a lot of dropshippers are using it on their store anyways.
They don’t accept dropshipping businesses because it’s considered as a high risk business, what this means is, you don’t have control over the business and any thing can happen which can result to charge-backs.
Note: Stripe accepts dropshipping business if it’s a low risk business.
How to Setup a Stripe Account for Dropshipping?
To setup a verified stripe account for dropshipping, you’ll need to be a US Citizen because Stripe is only restricted to only US residents.
If you’re a foreigner or a Non US Citizen then you need few things to get started, which are:
- LLC Company Formation.
- EIN/TAX ID.
Stripe requires that you setup a business in the US and get an EIN (employer’s identification number) which is also considered as a TAX ID.
After that, you can take the details and setup your stripe account.
Is Stripe Atlas a Better Option?
Stripe offers an alternative service called Stripe Atlas.
Stripe atlas is for foreigners or non US citizens who needs a stripe account and it costs $500.
They setup an LLC Company and EIN for you and create a stripe account with it for you.
But we don’t recommend, and here are our reasons:
- It’s expensive.
- They might not like your business because they will fully review it.
A client went through Stripe atlas, but stripe atlas rejected him simply because he was dropshipping, we personally formed the LLC and EIN and setup a stripe account for him and he’s still using it for his dropshipping store.
How to Form an LLC with EIN/TAX ID?
We’re going to recommend an affordable way to form your LLC and EIN to setup your Stripe account and we will also include a free guide to use your details to signup for a stripe account that won’t get banned or restricted.
To form your LLC, you need to choose a state in US where you want it formed.
And in the post, we are going to recommend you form your LLC in Kentucky and here’s why:
- $15 annual tax fee.
- Cheap filling state fees.
Do you know, if you form your LLC in California, you are going to pay $800 annual tax fees coupled with the expensive fee to form the LLC?
If you formed your LLC in delaware, you’ll pay $500 annual tax fee with an expensive filling state fee to form the LLC?
And you pay these tax whether you made profit or not.
We have researched and found Kentucky to be the cheapest place to form an LLC.
And in this guide, you’re going to form your LLC and get your EIN/TAX with only $178.
All you have to do is follow our instructions carefully.
Forming Your LLC at IncAuthority
At IncAuthority, you’re going to form your LLC and get your EIN/TAX ID. Follow the simple guidelines below to complete the signup. It’s easy and takes just few minutes. All you have to do is choose your state, enter your business name and form your LLC!
Step 1: Go-to IncAuthority.com
When you arrive at IncAuthority.com, click on the start now for free tab.
Step 2: Select Entity Type and Filling State.
In your entity type, select Limited Liability Company (LLC) and in the Formation State, select Kentucky.
Click on Save & Continue.
Step 3: Enter Your Personal Details
In this step, enter your First and last name, email and contact phone number.
You’ll need a US Phone number, you can use the one on the picture or get a Skype number at $7.99.
Click on save and continue.
Step 4: Enter Your Business Details
Enter your business name and business description (if you have a clothing online store, say you have an online and you sell clothings and apparel).
A brief description of your company, a sentence or two describing your business.
Select your business benefit and click save & continue.
Step 5: Business Address
You need a US Address to continue in this step, go-to Shipito.com and signup.
You’ll get a US address instantly, use it and continue your signup. Takes just 1 minute.
In your US Address, note that CA means California.
Step 6: EIN/Federal TAX ID
The interesting part about IncAuthority is they get an EIN for you at $49, which is considered as the cheapest place to get one. Others charge from $95 and above.
You need to include the EIN/Federal Tax ID which is very important!
Click save and continue.
Step 7: Operating Agreement
Operating agreement is important because it provides proof you own the business.
In case any problem occurs in future, you can be able to correct them with your operating agreement and in case Stripe requires it.
Select the operating agreement and proceed with the form.
Step 8: Addons
The next pages contains Addons and they include the following:
- INC Protection Advisor. $27/month.
- LawSuit Protection. – $99.
- Express Delivery – $49.
- Domain Name – $29.95
- Business License Package – $99
All these ad-dons are not important, so you can skip all of them until you get to the payment stage.
Step 9: Make Final Payments
At the end, you’ll only be paying for State Filling Fee, EIN and Operating Agreement.
Other formation companies charge a lot for offering this service but IncAuthority Charges $0 Service fee.
Now you need to make payment using either Debit/Credit Card or PayPal.
For the Delivery Option, you can select $0 free delivery (Electronic Delivery) and they will be delivered to your email.
Finally, that is all. You’ve successfully created your LLC Business Name and EIN/Federal Tax ID.
Next, you’ll need to setup a stripe account with the details they’ll deliver to you within 7 days since the Kentucky Delivery Time is 7 days.
How to Start Dropshipping with Stripe?
After you must have formed your LLC and EIN/Federal Tax ID and they have been delivered.
You’ll need to use the details to setup a verified stripe account and you need to be careful while doing this because their bots are intelligent enough and conversant to detect any mistake you make.
Conclusions
After following the guides on this post, you can start dropshipping with Stripe and use it at your store checkouts.
Here’s the summary:
- Form your LLC and EIN at IncAuthority.
- Start using Stripe for dropshipping!
If you have any questions and confused at any process, do let us know by dropping it at the comment box.
Popular Q&A
Updated recently in 2020.
1. Can I use my Country ID to verify my Stripe identity without using a US ID?
Answer: Yes, stripe gives the option to select your home country and upload your ID.
2. After forming my LLC at Inc Authority, they sent me additional forms to fill, how do I fill them?
Answer: After forming your LLC, they will send you an EIN form to fill and another form to enter the list of members.
Filling the EIN form is easy, enter your full name where they needed it, enter your US address where it’s wanted.
In the SSN section, enter FOREIGN in the box. This means you’re a non US citizen and has no SSN or EIN yet.
In the members form, enter your full name and enter your US address.
If you’re a team, enter their names and US address.
(US address can be the address you got from shipito or the one you bought).
For further questions, please mail me from the contact form in menus.
Thanks for the great work Joy, keep up the good work.
Hello, thank you for your article that I find very interesting and that helped me a lot.
I have a question.
I see you don’t say anything about Registered Agent. I read somewhere that it’s important and even imperative for the LLC. If so, can you provide us with a cheap and reliable agent.
Good work.
Hey Georges, the IncAuthority comes with a Free Registered Agent. That’s why I didn’t bother to talk about it.
Go-to IncAuthority.com to get started.
Good luck 🙂
Hi Joy,
Thank you for quick response!
What about the Business representative part?
I am in nigeria, if i open stripe account how do i recieve my money to my local bank
Hi, sign-up for an account at Payoneer.com.
You will get a US bank account, add the details to Stripe for withdrawal when signing up.
Your money are sent every 7 days to your Payoneer account.
Hi joy my stripe account have already verified but I can’t find stripe payment gateway in US shopify store. Why ?
Please, contact them.
Hello Joy,
The 5 page free guide link to set up a stripe account is broken.
Can you please provide another link?
You made in your site linking. Instead of putting the link to the 5 page guide, you inserted a link to getresponse. I would like you to correct that pls.
Hey there Joy I just sent you an email regarding Stripe wouldn’t know unless if let them know!! How is that?? as the URL that you register your LLC with is a dropshipping store!
Can you help with that or what do you mean by unless I let them know?
I have updated the post. Stripe accepts dropshipping (I have seen numerous dropshippers using it) but if it’s a high risk business.. it might not be accepted.
While setting up your dropship website, you should pay attention to the words in there, because when you start your registration at stripe and enter your website, they scan your website to see if they can find any high risk related business words, which in turn will automatically reject your application.
Hi there thanks for the fast reply. Can you help me out setting up a stripe account? and what words should I avoid? Do I have to lie to Stripe or what? I really don’t get it!! How to apply and what to tell them about my business? Can you give me your Facebook for business inquires please? am really wasting time and money in my store and the payment gateways!
How do I pay tax or file tax return. I have been receiving payment by stripe for some time now. Can this be deducted automatically? or how is it done?