Polar

Polar is a billing and payments platform that acts as the merchant of record for the seller. Polar Software, Inc. registers as the reseller in the relevant jurisdictions, so it, not you, collects and remits VAT, GST and US sales tax. EU business-to-business sales with a valid VAT ID are handled under the reverse charge rule. You remain responsible for income tax on your own revenue in your own country. Signing up is free and needs no credit card, but account approval goes through a merchant of record and KYC review that usually takes about a week.

What a sale costs is built from several parts rather than a single rate, and the headline percentage falls as the monthly fee rises. Starter has no monthly fee and charges 5 percent plus 0.50 US dollars per transaction. Pro costs 20 US dollars a month and charges 3.8 percent plus 0.40. Growth costs 100 US dollars a month for 3.6 percent plus 0.35. Scale costs 400 US dollars a month for 3.4 percent plus 0.30, and is the only tier with a shared Slack channel and prioritised support. Surcharges then stack on top: cards issued outside the United States add 1.5 percent, cross-border currency conversion costs 0.25 percent within the EU and 1 percent elsewhere, and a dispute or chargeback costs 15 US dollars whatever the outcome. Transaction fees are not returned when an order is refunded, in full or in part.

Payouts run through Stripe Connect Express or a manual withdrawal, and Polar never moves the balance automatically. Stripe payouts cost 2 US dollars per month per active payout, plus 0.25 percent and 0.25 US dollars per payout, and Stripe's minimum payout amount per currency means anything below it stays on the balance until next time. More than 130 currencies are supported and checkout picks the currency from the buyer's location, with orders converted to US dollars at the time of the transaction.