Setup/payment issues for Canadian selling ONLY in US

Shopify Discussion
1

Any tips or best practices for setting up my Shopify account/store for the following scenario:

  • Business Overview: Large social media brand launching a physical product (dropshipping)
  • My supplier is US-based
  • My customers will be 100% US-based
  • I live in Canada and my business has no physical address (apart from my home address). I do have a US EIN.
  • I’m setting up a US dollar bank account (from a Canadian bank) and US dollar credit card

If I recall, I think Shopify will let me restrict my market area to be US-only even if I setup my Shopify account through Shopify Canada. But will I or my customers be forced to pay extra fees somehow? I’ve heard conflicting information about Shopify Payments US, and how this may impact things. Any advice on overall setup?

2

Great question you’re already on the right track by setting up a USD account and EIN. Here are some tips:

1: Shopify Payment

•Since you live in Canada, your Shopify account will be registered as a Canadian business, which means you’ll need to activate Shopify Payments Canada (not US). That’s fine, you can still sell exclusively in USD.

•Shopify will let you set your store currency to USD, but your payouts will go to your Canadian bank account (even if it’s a USD account). You won’t be forced into extra customer fees, but there may be FX (conversion) or bank fees depending on how your bank handles USD payouts.

2: Limiting to the US market:

•Yes, you can restrict your shipping zones to United States only in your Shopify shipping settings. Customers outside the US won’t even see shipping options

3: Taxes & EIN:

•Having a US EIN is great for future tax compliance if you scale. At the start, Shopify will still treat you as a Canadian merchant, so most tax setup will be under your Canadian business info. If your sales grow large in the US, you may need to consider registering for US sales tax in some states

4: Payments strategy:

•If you want to avoid cross-border headaches, another option is using a payment gateway like Stripe Atlas or opening a US-based business bank account (e.g., Mercury, Wise Business). That way, payouts go directly to a true US account.

Bottom line: You can run a US-only dropshipping store while living in Canada without customers facing extra charges the only thing to watch is payout conversion fees depending on how your bank handles USD from Shopify Payments Canada.

If you want, I can share the exact step-by-step setup flow I recommend for cross-border dropshippers (currency, taxes, payments, shipping zones) so you don’t run into surprises later. :rocket:

3

Wonderful answer, thank you! Any step-by-step setup flow you could share would be greatly appreciated!

To check my understanding, is the following true?

  1. My US customers won’t pay any additional fees because I have a ‘Canadian Shopify store’.
    1. Will my US customers even realize my Shopify store is Canadian?
  2. I won’t pay any unique fees per transaction because I’m selling in the US. It will just be a standard credit card fee that I’d be paying anyway if I was US-based.
4

You got it right! Let me clear up your points one by one:

  1. Will US customers pay extra fees?
    – No, your customers won’t see or pay any “Canadian” fees. Since your store currency is USD, they’ll just pay like they would in any US store. They won’t even know your Shopify account is Canadian.

  2. Will they realize the store is Canadian?
    – Not at all. The storefront looks exactly like a US-based store. The only place Canada shows up is in your Shopify admin (and behind the scenes for payments/taxes).

  3. Will you pay extra transaction fees?
    – You’ll pay the same standard Shopify Payments credit card fees that US merchants pay (around 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction). The only potential extra cost is if your Canadian bank applies an FX fee when Shopify deposits USD into your USD account. Some banks do, some don’t — so it’s worth confirming with your bank.

Step-by-step flow (recommended for your setup):

Store currency → Set to USD in Settings > Store Details.

Shipping zones → Restrict to United States only under Shipping and Delivery.

Shopify Payments → Activate it using your Canadian business info + EIN (EIN helps later if US tax comes up).

Bank account → Add your Canadian USD account for payouts (or open a US-based account like Wise/Mercury to avoid possible bank FX fees).

Taxes → Start simple: collect only US sales tax if Shopify prompts you (usually only once you cross thresholds). Canada side is already handled since you’re the account owner.

That’s it with this flow, your US customers won’t face anything unusual, and you can scale smoothly. :rocket:

5

Great, thank you again! I’ll go ahead and get started using this direction.

6

Awesome, glad that helped! :raising_hands: If you get stuck at any point while setting things up like payments, taxes, or even just making sure the checkout runs smoothly feel free to reach out. Sometimes the little technical steps can be tricky, but once they’re in place, you’re set to scale.