I’m currently running a drop shipping store on Shopify, and I’ve encountered an issue during the verification process. Shopify has asked me to provide details about my physical presence in the United States to qualify for Shopify Payments. However, since I’m running a drop shipping business from outside the U.S., I don’t have a physical warehouse or office in the U.S. My vendor, handles all warehousing and shipping directly to my U.S.-based customers.
Given that drop shipping typically doesn’t require the business owner to hold physical products or maintain a warehouse, I’m unsure how to meet Shopify’s physical presence requirement. Has anyone else faced a similar situation? How did you resolve it? Any guidance on how I can comply with Shopify’s requirements or any alternative solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Can you use your home country for your physical presence? Shopify has customers all over the world, that have customers all over the world, I’m not sure why you would need to sign up for the US account if you’re not a US citizen.
I set up my Shopify store targeting the U.S. market because my customers are primarily based there. However, I am not a U.S. resident, and I don’t have a Social Security Number (SSN). When I entered my business information, such as my LLC and EIN number, Shopify asked for an SSN, which I can’t provide since I’m not a U.S. citizen. I submitted my passport and government-issued ID instead, but it seems this isn’t sufficient.
Shopify has informed me that:
If you are a Sole Proprietor, the business owner must personally live in the country.
If you are a Company, LLC, or similar business type, you must be registered with the government of that country, and also be able to provide evidence of substantial operations physically happening there.
Since my business operates without a physical presence in the U.S., I’m unsure how to meet these requirements. I’m trying to understand how to satisfy these conditions or if there’s another approach I should take.
Any advice or guidance from others who have faced similar situations would be greatly appreciated!
You need to establish an operational presence (plus a real US bank account, which requires travel and both a business and personal utility bill (an expensive process), which means either leasing or owning a warehouse in the name of your US LLC. Shopify Payments needs to verify your presence to reduce its risk. Here is a good article that goes into more detail: https://nvinc.com/shopify-payments-u-s-for-non-resident-sellers-a-step-by-step-guide/.
Hi, thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to resolve the issue yet. I’d love to hear your solution or idea if you don’t mind sharing it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!