
Ask HN: I don’t have a company, how can I be paid on the internet? - napolux
As per title. I would like to test some ideas online but I don’t have a registered company. How can I accept payments on a website as an individual with something similar to stripe or more complex e-commerce solutions like Shopify?<p>I would like to avoid crypto if possible<p>Is PayPal.me viable? Or is there something I’m not aware of?
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fghtr
PayPal is dangerous they say [0]...

[0] [https://minifree.org/paypal/](https://minifree.org/paypal/)

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thisisrajat
If you're in a country where Stripe allows account with Sole proprietorship,
then it's the best away ahead. Having access to API and underlying
implementation is game changing if you're doing online ecom.

Otherwise you may look into Gumroad. It hides away all the implementation and
pays you directly into Paypal account. But I am not so sure about the Shopify
integration part.

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napolux
Uh, thanks! I totally forgot about gumroad!

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amerine
Gumroad is pretty great, but definitely check out some of their competitors
[https://www.producthunt.com/alternatives/gumroad](https://www.producthunt.com/alternatives/gumroad)
some of them are also amazing.

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mherrmann
I really prefer Payhip over Gumroad, mostly because I'm in the EU. Thread:
[https://twitter.com/m_herrmann/status/1153387040714711040?s=...](https://twitter.com/m_herrmann/status/1153387040714711040?s=09)

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napolux
Thanks!!!! Looks cool!

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trazire
What do you have against Stripe? Normally, and I believe it does in Italy, it
supports sole proprietors. Otherwise, use Square, Gumroad, Amazon Payments,
Authorize.net, or any other payment processor. Paypal.me would normally be
good, but in the event of refunds, you are still liable for the 2.9% + 30c fee
typically assessed on transactions, and they can freeze your account at any
time. I assume that in Europe, as they are registered as a bank, they are
required to have more accountability, but I'm not sure.

Are you looking for a one stop solution like Gumroad or something more like
Stripe?

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napolux
Nothing against stripe, but in Italy they don’t accept sole proprietors AFAIK

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tenebrisalietum
Before the Internet if you wanted to sell things via mail or other remote
method, money orders were a good way to pay for it. It doesn't carry the same
consumer protections as credit cards or PayPal, and I'm sure it's not workable
for things in the thousands of dollars, but it worked. I bought many things
through mail order in the 90's with money orders before online shopping became
ubiquitous and expected.

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buboard
You can accept payments via paypal as a person too. Check if there is a
threshold of income/year up to which you don't need to register as a sole
entrepreneur or company in your country.

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itake
I use [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/)

I think if you do some research, you can find similar services with lower
fees.

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parliament32
There is a non-zero chance PayPal will steal your money, but if you're just
testing some ideas before registering a proper corp you might as well go that
route.

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PascLeRasc
Can you use Square? A lot of local merchants use it to sell handmade goods,
and I'm sure they aren't registering companies to do this.

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greenyouse
Sounds like you pretty much have it. Set up a Stripe/Shopify/PayPal/etc.
account for free and hack shit. There are no rules. Or there are some rules -
the most important one being that you solve user's problems. If 3.5% vs 2.5%
is a problem for you early on, you probably have other problems...

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egfx
PayPal.me is really easy to integrate. By far the easiest of all, however, you
get no callback. This is a showstopper for most and also recurring payments
aren’t possible either. I used paypal.me for both my apps; gif.com.ai and
2fb.me just because it was the most direct way for a chance to be paid over
the web.

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iDemonix
DON'T. USE. PAYPAL.

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sergiotapia
Qwil is fantastic, take a look here:
[https://www.qwil.co/freelancers](https://www.qwil.co/freelancers)

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stefkors
You can also use Mollie payments, they just transfer the amount to your
account. Similar to stripe.

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roschdal
How about getting a company?

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napolux
In my country is not as simple/cheap as in other countries. Thanks

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mahesh_rm
"Italian web developer."

I was expecting something along the lines of Angola, or Salvador. In your
case, Italy is Europe. Open a UK Ltd, or an Estonian Entity. Before you will
have to worry about anything related to "esterovestizione" you'll already know
whether the company is actually working or not. If you start to have cashflow,
get an accountant, if you file your taxes in Italy, and there's nothing shady
about the Company, you're doing nothing wrong.

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napolux
Nah, dunno if you're italian man, but "esterovestizione" is kinda peculiar.

I would like to experiment (and pay taxes on profits, if any, as a person),
then open a proper italian company.

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saverio-murgia
Then get a "partita Iva". It's free to open, allows you to invoice people and
companies and pay taxes.

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napolux
Plus 3K euros/year for nothing at INPS. Plus 2k/year for an accountant

I did the math already.

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saverio-murgia
Well, you did it wrong then. Unless you already had a partita Iva, we are
talking about 5% tax on 67% of your income (depending on the activity you want
to perform) plus about 25% inps for gestione separata with no ninum. That
means that if you don't have taxable income from the Partita Iva, you are
paying no taxes. The accountant is going to cost you less than 400 yearly if
you pick a decent one (like the guys at fiscozen).

My advice is to do some more math and research and maybe being more open to
advices ;)

By the way, opening an srl in Italy can be done autonomously without the need
of the notary by following online wizards like the one from iubenda. It's kind
of cheap and gives you limited liability. Saying that opening a company is
complex makes me think you kind of don't understand how complex running a
business is.

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napolux
Having opened a company and managed it for years around 2008/09 I’m quite sure
I know how it is. ;)

I want to run some experiments, easily and fast. If not 100% needed I don’t
want to invest time and resources in managing a company, for what probably is
going to fail really fast.

Never really looked into SRLs or similar recently. Thanks!

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arisAlexis
why avoid crypto?

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napolux
I'm willing to sell something to "normal" people and crypto are kinda complex.

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arisAlexis
there are several services that you can use. You can accept fiat from them and
get crypto for you etc. BitPay and others provide these things. Not sure what
the requirements are though. In regards of "normal", 3B will start using Libra
at some point so.. that's another discussion :)

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napolux
I’ll have a look at bitpay, thanks!

