Running a US business from outside the US

Hello,

I've done some searching but haven't been able to locate the info I'm looking for.

I want to establish a business dropshipping goods to US customers, sourcing the goods from US dropshippers. However I am in Australia and have no US contacts.

Is there a thread or guide here that can advise me on how to proceed?
- How to get a tradingname, sales tax id, and id acceptable to US dropshippers
- How best to approach dropshippers
- Any other advice

I'm not looking at dropshipping in Australia and for simplicities sake don't want to look at sourcing non-US suppliers at this point.

Thanks!

You'll need someone physically in the US to act as an agent or representative -- this will make things dramatically easier on you.

Depending on how far you want to take the business, a US corp with a mail drop, phone number, basic niceties like 411 listing and DUNS number, plus TIN can help you establish credibility and greatly expand the range of things you can do with your company. The costs can run up a bit, but not terribly.


Frank

Thanks fm1234, much appreciated.

Has anyone had any experience with companies that offer to provide a US company to non-US residents (e.g. tax-usa.net)? Any recommendations or warnings?

I think you can get a free US address at myUS.com

Hi
I've have just done this very thing for my internet business and I went through Harvard Business Services,Inc. Delaware.
They provided me with everything I needed to run a business in the US.

I went with the Limited Liability Company to start with. All paper work was professionally handled I am very impressed.

Also ask them to supply an EIN tax number for you ....as I understand it you only need a DUNS no. if you intend to bank or borrow money in the US

I think you can get a free US address at myUS.com

Yes, you can get a US address through mail forwarding companies in the US such as myUS

Google US mail forwarding and you'll find plenty.

Welcome to SaleHoo Cwood and free57 :)

Glad to have you both with us! I see you have met Frank and Marc (aka fudjj), if you need information and help, you can be sure to get them straight from either or both of them!

@free57: Thanks for sharing how you went about it, I'm sure Cwood will find it quite helpful :)

Cheers

Hi CWood,

I'd like to have a definite answer to your questions, because I am sure you are not the only one needing this info. :)

In my understanding, for some drop ship scenarios, the drop ship supplier is actually running the commerce system for you, so they will be collecting the tax. And I assume that if you are running the commerce system, you will need to collect the tax. I will try to confirm how this works, and will get in touch with some USA based drop shippers. Generally, tax gets collected from buyers in the states where the drop shipper has a nexus, but then the rules are ever changing and complex. Will update you as soon I as I learn something. :)

posted by free57:

Also ask them to supply an EIN tax number for you ....as I understand it you only need a DUNS no. if you intend to bank or borrow money in the US

You need the EIN/TIN for banking purposes, and a DUNS for credit -- just to be clear, you generally will find it difficult to establish a DUNS without the TIN, and will find it impossible to open a bank account without a TIN.

Side note: "EIN" and "TIN" refer to the same thing -- the correct abbreviation is EIN (for "Employer Identification Number") but it is interchangeably used with TIN ("Taxpayer Identification Number")

Don't pay someone to get you this number -- you can apply online at the IRS website for free, here [Link no longer available]

Frank