How to incorporate a US Corporation from outside the USA? • Hacker News Board

Re: How to incorporate a US Corporation from outside the USA?

#41

Post by skyhook_mockups » Fri, Jun 22, 2012, 7:21 AM UTC

inopinatus wrote: post #39

skyhook_mockups wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also from Australia and have recently gone through the process of getting a merchant account (from St.George bank). From stories I heard in the past, I was expecting a horrible experience (banks not being able to grok the concept of digital goods etc). Turns out that either the stories were a furphy or banks have gotten a lot better. Here's the process I went through. 1. Application 2. Set up a single page websit…

Ok, but to the topic at hand - are you able to bill directly in USD with St George without the buyer wearing the exchange risk and overseas transaction fee? I ask because merchant accounts denominated in AUD are widely available, but for USD it still appears that only the NAB have multi-currency support.

Sorry.. I'm not sure what you mean by 'exchange risk'.

To your question though.. no I cant bill directly in USD. I am very new (and ignorant) to receiving online payments, so I'm really curious what the issues for Americans are. The on-line currency converters are accurate to (I would guess) +- 1hour currency fluctuations so would give a very accurate estimate (to within cents) of the cost of a transaction... Wouldn't this be good enough?

Otherwise if this is an issue then paypal should do the job... 2 mins to set up and gives an alternative option.

Would be good to hear your own personal experiences.

Re: How to incorporate a US Corporation from outside the USA?

#42

Post by inopinatus » Fri, Jun 22, 2012, 8:12 AM UTC

skyhook_mockups wrote: post #41

inopinatus wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but to the topic at hand - are you able to bill directly in USD with St George without the buyer wearing the exchange risk and overseas transaction fee? I ask because merchant accounts denominated in AUD are widely available, but for USD it still appears that only the NAB have multi-currency support.

Sorry.. I'm not sure what you mean by 'exchange risk'. To your question though.. no I cant bill directly in USD. I am very new (and ignorant) to receiving online payments, so I'm really curious what the issues for Americans are. The on-line currency converters are accurate to (I would guess) +- 1hour currency fluctuations so would give a very accurate estimate (to within cents) of the cost of a transaction... Wouldn'…

No, not good enough. Each bank chooses different exchange rates. Using a converter gives you a spot price from one institution. There's no telling what the customer will actually be billed. Indeed there's no certainty that the transaction will even be journalled that day. Moreover, they'll be slugged for an "overseas transaction fee". Finally, it means you're unable to use any kind of collateral that quotes a price, because you can't guarantee it.

It's a marketing disaster, in fact, and would look completely amateurish.

Paypal is never Plan A.

Re: How to incorporate a US Corporation from outside the USA?

#43

Post by skyhook_mockups » Fri, Jun 22, 2012, 8:23 AM UTC

inopinatus wrote: post #42

skyhook_mockups wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry.. I'm not sure what you mean by 'exchange risk'. To your question though.. no I cant bill directly in USD. I am very new (and ignorant) to receiving online payments, so I'm really curious what the issues for Americans are. The on-line currency converters are accurate to (I would guess) +- 1hour currency fluctuations so would give a very accurate estimate (to within cents) of the cost of a transaction... Wouldn'…

No, not good enough. Each bank chooses different exchange rates. Using a converter gives you a spot price from one institution. There's no telling what the customer will actually be billed. Indeed there's no certainty that the transaction will even be journalled that day. Moreover, they'll be slugged for an "overseas transaction fee". Finally, it means you're unable to use any kind of collateral that quotes a price,…

Thanks for your insight. I guess as an Aussie I'm used to seeing a slightly different amount (usually within $1) of the quoted USD for a transaction... however maybe US users are different. In any event, I think given that my own business is only just launching I'll have to go the less than pro route of offering paypal along with direct payment (in AUD) and hopefully that will garner me enough business to start looking into direct USD transactions.