Which E-Commerce service should I use.. as a european vendor?

[SonSon]

After reading these forums I came to the conclusion: use Plimus! :)

But after further investigation I discovered that:
-Plimus (USA) sends their monthly payments in USD and charges USD 21 to transfer the money to an non-US account.
-My bank (France) charges 10 EUR to receive a non-EU transfer + 0.05%(min 13 EUR) fee to change USD in EUR. :/

So european vendor what's your advice?
Use Plimus + PayPal?
Find a competitive E-commerce service based in Europe? Share-it?
Something else?

Thanks for reading.

[lakibuk]

I am using Shareit. They are good but charge a 15% fee.
Another important thing for me: I don't have to pay VAT for european sales. US based vendors have to charge VAT for EU orders.

[SonSon]

Another important thing for me: I don't have to pay VAT for european sales. US based vendors have to charge VAT for EU orders.

Is this because you are not VAT registered?

[lakibuk]

Here in Austria you don't have to pay VAT if you are below a certain income. Don't know about the situation in France.

[SonSon]

Here in Austria you don't have to pay VAT if you are below a certain income. Don't know about the situation in France.

Yes this is also true in France.
I choosed to be VAT registered because i'm planning to do some investments and will claim back the VAT. And I won't charge VAT on a big part of my sales because they'll surely be made outside EU.
A tip for EU developers: Register for VAT! :)

I compared Plimus and ShareIt. Their services seem to be similar, the fee rates are slightly different.
With a product sold 19.95 USD Plimus becomes cheaper above 40-45 sales/month even with Plimus's + my bank's charges.

Like Myke Boeh said it comes down to which service is right for you.

[electronicStar]

Have you tried YASKIFO ?
It's based in france and it looks serious enough, but I don't know what it really is worth....

[SonSon]

Have you tried YASKIFO ?
It's based in france and it looks serious enough, but I don't know what it really is worth....

Yes I checked their website. I must say that I hate their name :)
If I remember correctly it seems that the order pages can't be customized.

[SonSon]

I'm having a hard time to figure out and choose the cheapest payment method in my Plimus settings. I came down to the two best options: Wire Transfer (international) and PayPal.
I know precisely all the costs involved by Plimus and my bank. But I'm unable to figure out PayPal's complicated fees. Especially their +2.5% change fee.

So I'd be glad if some of you european or non-US vendor using Plimus could give some advice. Thanks. :)

[Jack Norton]

You can use Paypal, to withdraw funds to your local bank cost 1 eur if under 100euros, if more than 100 euros the withdrawal is free.
If you receive payments with Plimus to Paypal you lose only 5$.
I was using it: but now I've chosen the wire transfer option. It's JUST 21$. Think about how much you save on each sale using Plimus instead of other vendors!
You save 5% on average on most vendors and maybe more (Yaskifo for example ask minimum 1.5 euros + fees), and 5% of 1000$ is already 50$ (if you don't sell at least 1000$ in one month you can just wait and get the transfer until you reach that sum otherwise isn't worth it).

So I really don't understand: you are annoyed to pay 21$ to wire transfer but you want to use another vendor and lose 50+$ every 1000$? :D

[rhm]

I use Plimus and get paid by checks. Plimus charges a $2.50 check processing fee and my bank charges 1% at a $3.50 minimum. I think it's the cheapest solution for smaller amounts (less then $2,000). I doubt though there are many banks with such a low check processing fee in the EU.

[SonSon]

@rhm
I wasn't aware of Plimus's $2.50 check processing fee. And yes my bank charges much much more to process a US check in USD. :(

@Jack Norton
I'm not sure to understand correctly. I already decided to go with Plimus.
I'm just unable to decide whether Plimus should send the money through wire or PayPal. What's the cheapest solution for me?
I'm aware of Plimus's $21 fee + my bank fees. But I don't understand every PayPal fees, especially their exchange rate (+2.5% ?).

Example (I sent PayPal the same question): Plimus sends $500 to my PayPal EUR account. Then I withdraw the EUR amount to my bank account in France. What amount of money do I exactly get?

[Jack Norton]

You get what's the dollar value in that moment.
The fee from Plimus to Paypal was always no more than 5$. But I really suggest to spend your time marketing and selling the game... then if you have earnt money you'll be able to think about those small problems... ;)

[SonSon]

But I really suggest to spend your time marketing and selling the game... then if you have earnt money you'll be able to think about those small problems... ;)

This is so true. Thanks. :)

[Sharpfish]

A tip for EU developers: Register for VAT! :)

I compared Plimus and ShareIt. Their services seem to be similar, the fee rates are slightly different.
With a product sold 19.95 USD Plimus becomes cheaper above 40-45 sales/month even with Plimus's + my bank's charges.

Like Myke Boeh said it comes down to which service is right for you.

I am still unsure of how you can be vat registered if you are BELOW the threshold (which surely most of us, and I know I, will be).

Anyway I am already with BMT even thought I have nothing to sell yet (been signed up for ages actually). I also signed up with Plimus and shareit. ShareIT seemed more expensive. I wonder if I have it worked out right though because I figured anything less than a $1000 check is better to come from ShareIT and give the extra 4.9%.

My bank apparently charges a straight fee of £10 per USD check regardless of amount (though she could have been wrong) which didn't sound to bad. I remember when I had checks (cheques) coming in from MP3.com when I used to sell my cds on there. And for whatever reason I never bothered cashing in a $40 check because it would have left me owing them (different bank at the time).

Anyway with ShareIt you get the payment in GBP or EUR without the hassle, but you pay the extra. I worked out that all in Plimus cost + check charge + my bank fee made the whole deduction closer to 30%. So I am probably going with ShareIT.

And as for the VAT thing I will just have to make it up as I go along as I can find no information anywhere other than "WE WILL TAKE CARE OF IT FOR YOU BY CHARGING THE CUSTOMERS WHERE NEEDED AND PASSING IT ON" (that is from e-commerce providers. So why do I need to bother about the worry of VAT - esp if I am going for a flat charge in dollars across all currencies (ie $19.95). This gets coverted down to £11.40 ish (atm) then vat is added back on and the EU customer pays ~ £14/£15 (or whatever).

As much as I would like to think I could break the UK VAT Threshold I can't see it happening any time soon.

Now... TAX ON INCOME (a whole other story to deal with) :(

[patrox]

how about regnow + debit card ? ( yes they can provide you with a debit card to withdraw your money! )

Else i'd go for paypal via plimus ( plimus can pay you on a paypal account, for 2$ i think )

pat.
pc games (http://www.phelios.com)

[cliffski]

AFAIK you can voluntary register for VAT. I did years ago when I earned over the limit as a consultant. Now I'm (way) below it, but still VAT registered. Every quarter I fill out my VAT rebate claim for all the computers, computer spares, games and magazine suibscriptions and web hosting costs associated with my business. Its normally quite a cheerfull sum.
Well worth doing IMHO.

[Sharpfish]

AFAIK you can voluntary register for VAT. I did years ago when I earned over the limit as a consultant. Now I'm (way) below it, but still VAT registered. Every quarter I fill out my VAT rebate claim for all the computers, computer spares, games and magazine suibscriptions and web hosting costs associated with my business. Its normally quite a cheerfull sum.
Well worth doing IMHO.


thanks for the info.. I will look into it for sure nearer the time (of release).

for now... back to programming ;)

[ManuelMarino]

I think the best for small business is Paypal only. Choosing a different one means more costs. Well, these are my two cents.

[Fabio]

I think the best for small business is Paypal only. Choosing a different one means more costs. Well, these are my two cents.Ciao. Are you a company, with VAT, etc..? If so, do you make an invoice for each payment you receive through PayPal?