Selling on your website 2024 (Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, Shopify etc)

[Post-Crisis D]

Does Payhip serve as the merchant of record or do you need to handle filing and paying all the sales tax (U.S.) and VAT (EU) stuff yourself?

[Lorri Moulton]

Payhip does deal with EU VAT, but they don't do anything for US state sales tax.  Until (if ever) I decide to run Facebook ads directly to my store, it probably won't be a problem.

Lemon Squeezy will have more options in the next few months, so that might be a possibility for the future.  Several states are changing from the 200 sales threshold to the dollar amount.  If all of them do this, it would make things much easier.

I am NO expert on all the "having our own website/store" issues, but I do think there are many options out there.  I believe Shopify tracks state sales tax thresholds (never looked into it that carefully) but there is a lot of information out there if anyone wants to look more carefully into what's available and where.

[Post-Crisis D]

I believe Shopify tracks state sales tax thresholds (never looked into it that carefully) but there is a lot of information out there if anyone wants to look more carefully into what's available and where.

Tracking isn't necessarily the issue.  You can do that with an accounting program or even a spreadsheet.  The problem is filing with all forty-something states and keeping track of how often you need to file and remit.  In my state, you file based on sales volume.  Most businesses will have to file monthly but, if you only have a small number of sales (I don't remember the threshold off-hand), then you only need to file twice a year.  In either event, you file whether you have sales or not.  I don't know the requirements of the other states.

So, even if tracking the sales isn't terribly difficult, if you had to file monthly with forty-something states, even if you don't have sales in certain states in that period, well, that's just a major loss of time.  Even twice a year would be over 80 reports to do each year.

Several states are changing from the 200 sales threshold to the dollar amount.  If all of them do this, it would make things much easier.

I wonder what Kansas will do.  Last I saw, you have to register, file, collect and remit sales tax if you reach a $1 threshold of sales in the state.  My thinking at present is that I'll just leave Kansas off the list of states I will sell to.  It's one thing to have to go through all the filing and collecting and stuff if you have thousands of dollars of sales in a state, but $1?  Um, no.  Easier to be like, you know, if you're in Kansas and want to buy my stuff, find a friend in Oklahoma or Nebraska or another neighboring state and have them buy it for you.

I don't want to lose customers or exclude people, but I'm not becoming a tax collector for $1 in sales.

[Lynn]

For internet sales at least isn't it $100,000 sales for Kansas since 2021? That's the latest information I could find.

[Lorri Moulton]

I am going to blatantly promote the blog on my new store (don't look at my books/promotion is not for me). LOL  That is all.

https://payhip.com/LavenderCottageBookShop/blog/lavender-cottage-blog

ETA:  The blog feature is one reason I went back to Payhip.  I can duplicate the website blog so more readers see it.

[Post-Crisis D]

For internet sales at least isn't it $100,000 sales for Kansas since 2021? That's the latest information I could find.

Yay!  You're right.  The source I found a couple weeks ago must not have been updated.

Now the lowest is Pennsylvania at $10,000 in sales.

Alaska, Arkansas, D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming remain "or" states where you either meet a minimum threshold ($100k-$250k typically) or have 200 or more sales.

As Lorri said in an earlier post, it would make things easier if more states would drop the "or 200 transactions" trigger.  If you have an eBook priced at $5 and sell 200, that's only $1000 in sales.  That 200 transactions trigger certainly doesn't help authors or small sellers.

[Bill Hiatt]

I am going to blatantly promote the blog on my new store (don't look at my books/promotion is not for me). LOL  That is all.

https://payhip.com/LavenderCottageBookShop/blog/lavender-cottage-blog

ETA:  The blog feature is one reason I went back to Payhip.  I can duplicate the website blog so more readers see it.

If I hadn't already invested a lot of time in other approaches, a mere glance at your site would persuade me to use the same approach.

It is one of the most beautiful online stores I've seen. And there's a clear, well-branded vibe there. It makes your books all the more appealing.

[Lorri Moulton]

Thank you, Bill! I spent all day yesterday on it, so that's very nice to read. 

[T. M. Bilderback]

I already had my stuff on PayHip and Gumroads. Now, I'm adding Lemon Squeezy to the list. I only have a few things listed there so far, but I'm working on it!