A country list you're not on
Stripe, PayPal and Shopify Payments each serve a set list of countries, and many dropshippers live outside it.
Cleared by the LLC
Built for · Dropshipping
A US LLC for dropshipping from outside the United States
Dropshipping stores are more often blocked by payments than by the product. A US company is how merchants in countries Stripe and PayPal don't serve get onto the checkouts their customers already use.
01 · Why a US company
What it does for dropshippers.
The customer is in the US, the supplier is in China, and you live somewhere Stripe doesn't take.
Read the full explanation
The customer is in the US, the supplier is in China, and you live somewhere Stripe doesn't take. A US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account can apply to Stripe and PayPal on their US terms, and it's a company a supplier will invoice.
Because nothing you sell is ever stored in the United States, the US tax side is as simple as it gets. A foreign-owned LLC selling goods shipped from abroad, with no US office, staff or stock, generally owes no US income tax. It still files every year.
- 01
Stripe and PayPal, on US terms
A US company is on every processor's country list, so the store can take cards.
store sales payout+3,480.00 USD - 02
Invoices to a company
Suppliers and sourcing agents want a company name and an EIN on the invoice.
Bill toAster Studio LLC - 03
Real details behind the account
A processor reviewing a chargeback looks harder at an account with thin details behind it.
Account holderAster Studio LLC - 04
Kept apart from you
A chargeback or a supplier dispute is the company's, not your household's, while its money stays separate.
Store · YouSeparate accounts
02 · What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
A company name and an EIN on the invoice
Suppliers and sourcing agents want a company name and an EIN on the invoice.
Cleared by the LLC
Chargebacks come with the model
Chargebacks are part of dropshipping, and a processor reviewing a dispute looks harder at an account with thin details behind it.
Cleared by the LLC
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that Stripe, PayPal, your suppliers and a bank all accept.
Start a company03 · Your options
Three ways to dropship from abroad.
The products ship from the same supplier either way. What changes is which checkout you can open and who the store's risks land on.
| You, as an individual | Your company at home | A US LLCWhat we set up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe and PayPal | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | Works in your favour: Apply as a US business |
| Shopify Payments | A cost or a limit: Only in the 41 countries it serves | A cost or a limit: Only in the 41 countries it serves | Neutral: Open to apply, with a US business address |
| Supplier invoices | Neutral: To you, by name | Works in your favour: To your company | Works in your favour: To the LLC, with its EIN |
| A chargeback or a lawsuit | A cost or a limit: Reaches you | Works in your favour: Reaches your company | Works in your favour: Reaches the LLC |
| Yearly US filing | Works in your favour: None for the store | Works in your favour: None for the store | A cost or a limit: Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report |
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitEvery parcel shipped into the US owes duty, whichever column you're in.
You, as an individual
- Stripe and PayPal
- Depends on your country
- Shopify Payments
- Only in the 41 countries it serves
- Supplier invoices
- To you, by name
- A chargeback or a lawsuit
- Reaches you
- Yearly US filing
- None for the store
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Your company at home
- Stripe and PayPal
- Depends on your country
- Shopify Payments
- Only in the 41 countries it serves
- Supplier invoices
- To your company
- A chargeback or a lawsuit
- Reaches your company
- Yearly US filing
- None for the store
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A US LLCWhat we set up
- Stripe and PayPal
- Apply as a US business
- Shopify Payments
- Open to apply, with a US business address
- Supplier invoices
- To the LLC, with its EIN
- A chargeback or a lawsuit
- Reaches the LLC
- Yearly US filing
- Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitEvery parcel shipped into the US owes duty, whichever column you're in.
04 · Step by step
From company to first order shipped, in seven steps.
The EIN and the processor's review are the waits. Delivery times are what keep the account open.
Step 1: Form the Wyoming LLC
We file the articles online. Wyoming approves an online filing the same day it is filed.
Same dayWe do itStep 2: Get the EIN
Without a Social Security Number the IRS issues it by fax, which is the slowest step. The expedited EIN, $199, has us file the day the company exists and chase it.
The longest waitWe do itStep 3: Open the US bank account
In the LLC's name. Stripe, PayPal and Shopify Payments pay out to it, and suppliers are paid from it.
Often days, after the EINYou, with the bankStep 4: Make the store reviewable
Real products and prices, delivery times you can meet, a refund policy and a support address, all on the store before you apply. A processor reads them in its review.
Before applyingYouStep 5: Apply to Stripe or PayPal
With the LLC's real details, your real identity and your home address abroad. Both review dropshipping stores closely, and may ask about your suppliers and delivery times.
The processor's reviewYou, with the processorStep 6: Ship on time, or ask first
The FTC's rule covers online orders: ship within the time you state, or 30 days if you state none. If you can't, the buyer must agree to the delay or get a refund.
Every orderYou, with your supplierStep 7: Watch disputes, and diary the filings
Stripe says dispute activity above 0.75% is treated as excessive, so refund fast and answer every complaint. Form 5472 is due each 15 April, and Wyoming's annual report on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in.
Every monthOn your calendar
05 · The honest part
What to know before you order.
What changes if I hold stock in the US?
Keep the stock outside the United States
Shipping from abroad to US buyers keeps the company clear of the US trade or business question. Once you hold stock with a US fulfilment company to speed up delivery, you're in the same position as an FBA seller, and the answer stops being simple.
Read more
Shipping from abroad does mean duty: since 29 August 2025 the $800 exemption has been suspended, so every parcel owes US duty whatever its value.
When does a dropshipper owe sales tax?
Sales tax follows the sale, not the stock
You owe sales tax in a state once your sales into it pass its economic nexus threshold, usually $100,000 a year.
Read more
Most dropshippers stay below that in every state in their first year. Track the number rather than guessing.
What does the FTC expect on delivery times?
Ship on time, or ask first
The FTC's rule on online orders says you ship within the time you state, or within 30 days if you state none. If a supplier runs late, the buyer must agree to the delay, or you refund them without being asked.
Read more
Long, honest delivery times beat short ones you miss.
Will Stripe and PayPal approve my store?
Processors review, they don't promise
A US LLC lets you apply.
Read more
Stripe and PayPal still review the business, its dispute rate and the person behind it, and they look harder at dropshipping stores than most. Stripe says dispute activity above 0.75% is treated as excessive. A clean store, honest delivery times and a real support address count for more than the company does.
Sources: Stripe, pricing; Stripe, global availability; FTC, business guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule; Federal Register, indefinite suspension of the de minimis exemption (2026); Stripe Docs, measuring disputes; US Supreme Court, South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018); IRS, Instructions for Form 5472.
06 · What it costs
What the first year costs, line by line.
Ours from our price list, the processor's from its own page. Nothing here is a bundle.
| Cost | Amount | When | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch, with Wyoming's fee | $351.40 | First year | $249 to us and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. The LLC, the EIN and the registered agent. |
| Expedited EINOptional | $199 | Once | Gets the processor application in sooner. |
| Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ | Each sale | A US card. An international card costs 1.5% more. |
| A store on ShopifyOptional | $39 a month | Monthly | Basic, or $29 a month billed yearly. A third-party gateway such as Stripe or PayPal adds Shopify's 2%. |
| Sales tax registrationOptional | $149 a state | When you pass a threshold | Most states start at $100,000 of sales a year into the state. |
| From the second year | $309 | Every year | $249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. Form 5472 is an accountant's fee on top. |
Duty on each parcel, and the carrier's fee for clearing it, depend on the product and where it ships from.
The plan that fits
Launch, usually.
Most stores apply to Stripe the week the EIN arrives.
Launch
Fits dropshippingFor your first company, when it needs to exist and nothing more yet.
What it covers
- Your Wyoming LLC, filed, with the state fee at cost
- The EIN Stripe and PayPal ask for, without an SSN
- Form 5472 and the annual report on your calendar
What the processors ask for before they review the store.
07 · Questions
Questions from dropshippers.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Generally not, if the company has no US office, staff, agent or stock and the goods ship from abroad. It still files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year. Confirm your own position with an accountant.
You can apply as a US LLC, but Shopify asks for the US address where the business operates, with a document from the last six months. Many dropshippers abroad use Stripe or PayPal through Shopify instead, which costs Shopify's extra 2% on the Basic plan.
Yes, on every parcel. The $800 duty exemption has been suspended since 29 August 2025, and US law ends it for good on 1 July 2027. Either you or your supplier pays it when the parcel ships, or the buyer pays it, with the carrier's fee, at delivery.
As long as you say on the store, as long as you can meet it. With no stated time, the FTC's rule expects you to ship within 30 days. If you can't, the buyer must agree to the delay or get a refund.
Wyoming, for most founders abroad. It costs $60 a year to the state, keeps your name off the public record, and is the state processors and banks are used to seeing on a non-resident's application.
A Wyoming LLC on Launch is $351.40 for the first year: $249 for Launch and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. After that it is $309 a year, $249 to us and $60 to Wyoming.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, Wyoming fee included, before anything is charged.
Step 1 of 10 · About four minutesNothing charged yet
You're startingLLC · WY
Start a companyLaunch · $351.40 · Wyoming fee included