Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Samwers Clone Stripe

paymill.de

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 167 posts

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#31

Post by Gring »

niyazpk wrote: post #30
Gring wrote: post #28

I don't get it. Why do US net startups very often make the same mistake of not expanding into the whole world quickly? It took eBay something like 4 years to go to Germany, by which time there was a local clone there that proved to be uncatchable. The expensive result was that eBay had to buy the clone (Alando) for 43 million dollars to become relevant. Kickstarter is still US-only. Stripe as well. So are countless o…

You are vastly underestimating the effort required in setting up a payment gateway in a country.

Why? It's just some contracts and APIs. And it doesn't explain all those other startups that deliberately limit themselves (and then later have to buy local clones because they did not expand quickly enough).

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#32

Post by emilw »

methodin wrote: post #25
andreasklinger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason why you might consider it: Payments are still a very annoying topic in Europe. (imho)

I think that's an important point. They are successful because the American-only companies typically take a while to move into foreign markets, if ever.

I don't mind comments getting down voted, I understand it.

But this comment is down voted while it conveys a valid point. Please take a step back and try to take view this from a European (non UK) standpoint.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#33

Post by mmcnickle »

Gring wrote: post #28

I don't get it. Why do US net startups very often make the same mistake of not expanding into the whole world quickly? It took eBay something like 4 years to go to Germany, by which time there was a local clone there that proved to be uncatchable. The expensive result was that eBay had to buy the clone (Alando) for 43 million dollars to become relevant. Kickstarter is still US-only. Stripe as well. So are countless o…

The founders don't have the local knowledge and contacts to get through the regulatory hoops involved in launching a new payment gateway in dozens of countries.

I think there was an article on HN where someone was talking about how these kinds of startups (the ones with difficult regulatory barriers) are the only ones that you should consider cloning in other countries for this very reason.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#34

Post by simonbrown »

rmoriz wrote: post #23
helipad wrote: post #21

Only seems to support German bank accounts at the moment (not any European) - though they're not terribly difficult to open.

consider alternatives: - http://recurly.com/ - http://spreedly.com/ + WireCard.com as gateway/acquirer. Works for all EU countries.

also:

http://chargify.com/

https://cheddargetter.com/

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#35

Post by tzaman »

rmoriz wrote: post #27
tzaman wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but the problem is you still need a gateway, whereas with Stripe/Paymill, everything is included. Luckily, Braintree now supports EU as well.

You want a local, independent gateway and acquirer anyway (same jurisdiction, language, support…) which both Spreedly.com and Recurly.com support with http://www.WireCard.com/ In bad circumstances you don't want to lose all your payment infrastructure e.g. if paymill or stripe go out of business/have issues. That's why dealing with 2 parties may look odd but in the end it is worth the effort. If you have problems pay…

I agree with the last statement, however, the chance of Stripe/Paymill going out of business pretty much equals that of Wirecard going haywire.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#36

Post by lacerus »

eddie_the_head wrote: post #20
aristidb wrote: post #2

That's a bit bizarre, because one would expect a German clone to support the payment variants that are far more popular than credit cards in Germany. EDIT: The biggest payment variant I was thinking of is direct debit (German: Lastschrift), which is highly convenient. However, wiring the money before getting the goods is also surprisingly popular here. Many people just don't have credit cards. (I do, but I also use s…

I am curious what the alternative but far more popular payment variants in Germany to credit cards are.

Direct debit and instant wire transfer are very big in Germany. Many places, especially supermarkets, do not even accept any credit cards but only debit cards. Our checking accounts have evolved very differently to the US - nobody has been using cheques here for years, even before the internet is was all debit and wires.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#37

Post by JCB_K »

Gring wrote: post #28

I don't get it. Why do US net startups very often make the same mistake of not expanding into the whole world quickly? It took eBay something like 4 years to go to Germany, by which time there was a local clone there that proved to be uncatchable. The expensive result was that eBay had to buy the clone (Alando) for 43 million dollars to become relevant. Kickstarter is still US-only. Stripe as well. So are countless o…

Funny that all 3 companies you mention are money-related, which is a tough nut to crack in most countries. There's so many rules and regulations which all differ from country to country that I think it's quite understandable for companies like these to focus on 1 country first.

BTW, obviously all startups handle money in some way, but for these 3 it's a bit more complicated, as they're providing financial services to third-parties. (Ebay+Kickstarter to sellers/buyers, Stripe to sellers.)

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#38

Post by niyazpk »

Gring wrote: post #31
niyazpk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are vastly underestimating the effort required in setting up a payment gateway in a country.

Why? It's just some contracts and APIs. And it doesn't explain all those other startups that deliberately limit themselves (and then later have to buy local clones because they did not expand quickly enough).

>> just some contracts and APIs

Again, you sound like a very optimistic person. :)

In reality, contracts make forever to set up, and it's better not to talk about APIs from commercial banks. Whenever monitory transactions are involved, you will have to confirm to a huge amount of regulations and conditions to meet which you will have to get involved with even more bureaucracy.

Coming from India, I am sad to say that I have got a fairly grim perspective about these things.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#39

Post by Tichy »

Gring wrote: post #28

I don't get it. Why do US net startups very often make the same mistake of not expanding into the whole world quickly? It took eBay something like 4 years to go to Germany, by which time there was a local clone there that proved to be uncatchable. The expensive result was that eBay had to buy the clone (Alando) for 43 million dollars to become relevant. Kickstarter is still US-only. Stripe as well. So are countless o…

Why bother - they know the Samwers will do it for them and are very happy to sell.

Re: Samwers Clone Stripe

#40

Post by phereford »

Gring wrote: post #31
niyazpk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are vastly underestimating the effort required in setting up a payment gateway in a country.

Why? It's just some contracts and APIs. And it doesn't explain all those other startups that deliberately limit themselves (and then later have to buy local clones because they did not expand quickly enough).

It's more than just contracts and APIs. It's ensuring that your practices follow that specific country's rules and regulations. Every country has a different set of regulations for handling money.

The US has something called PCI compliant and I would assume that every other country has something similar but with a different subset of rules.

Post reply on HN