This means nothing for me (and should also mean nothing for the targeted audience of the post).
I've been constantly ignored from Stripe since they launched their beta in Mexico (actually way before that, I subscribed years before, when Stripe launched in the US). I can't do business with them because I'm not part of their secret club, while at the same many businesses here somehow get access and start using them. That feels like some kind of unfair competition.
I know, you are going to say, they are not obliged to provide service with you, but then, after reading the kind of PR they publish (like this one) you would feel like it, at least they should be morally obliged to stand by their word.
"Stripe Atlas is invite-only to start. ... You can apply directly or get a referral from one of our partners."
Oh ok, so another secret club, and this time the gatekeepers in Mexico are some guys named Antoni and Lelo de Larrea , which for you outside of Mexico, the Larrea family are a powerful group in Mexico that came to be through corruption, government favors and pretty much all the things you usually hate from Mexico. Remember when the miners in Chile were trapped and then rescued? The same thing happened at more or less the same time in Mexico, a lot of media coverage here in Mexico, the mining company owned by them, it was relatively cheap to rescue them but they decided not to do it, they let them die because it was not worth the money. And now I have to do business with those people if I want to process my payments?
Yeah, thanks Stripe, but no thanks.
The whole purpose of Stripe is to make basic tools for starting an internet business more broadly available and without barriers. The core of our strategy is to eliminate gatekeepers and secret clubs. We’re openly available in 18 countries today (you can see the complete list stripe.com/global) and hundreds of thousands of businesses use Stripe after openly signing up.
Because businesses’ livelihoods and revenue are at stake, we start new products and countries in an invite-only beta so that we can fully test things and fine-tune the details before rolling them out more broadly. We don’t think it’d be responsible to try to maximize the initial product experience at the expense of doing’s what’s best for the businesses who’ll build on it. So with Atlas (and in Mexico), we’re starting in invite-only mode with the goal of expanding access (and making it openly available!) as soon as we can.
I'm sorry we weren't able to get you signed up sooner, but we’d love to have you on board with the beta in Mexico. If you drop me an email (tmf@stripe.com) we’ll send you an invite.
"The whole purpose of Stripe is to make basic tools for starting an internet business more broadly available and without barriers."
Well, I didn't have to publicly shame PayPal and wait for years to get invited to use their platform. So I guess they fill better the whole purpose of your company.
Stripe was appealing to me (and a whole lot of other developers) because of the developer experience you introduced back then, you kind of felt that Stripe was cool and was made with you in mind. After this experience I felt betrayed (and many others I know).
Taking a step back an evaluating all the choices I currently have Stripe is the most expensive one (no volume discounts). PayPal improved their APIs and are now easier to use, and the things you can implement with them are amazing (chained payments, subscriptions, reserved charges, preauthorizations, etc...) I know you can do some of those things with Stripe too, but not all. And your newer product has the amazing feature of being taxed on another country and then deal with double taxation schemes and all the fiscal issues that come attached?
No thanks Stripe, you've lost your cool.
> no volume discounts
This is false. They have volume pricing breaks starting at 80k USD, 30k GBP, 30k EUR, etc processed. Check your country's pricing page.
US example: https://stripe.com/us/pricing
https://memberful.com/blog/stripe-vs-paypal/
Obviously depends on your use case but with PayPal you break even at $5,000. Way lower than 80k month. And "get in touch", yeah I know what happens when you try get in touch with them.
Also consider adding: [Disclaimer: I write books about integrating Stripe with your business]
They respond quickly if you're doing $80k a month in business with them, in my experience. Besides which, PayPal has way too many caveats, including a different rate for Amex and an additional 1% for international cards, according to the page you linked.
Why should I add a disclaimer that's already in my profile?
"They respond quickly if you're doing $80k a month in business with them"
If I were asked to put into words Stripe's attitude towards its users I wouldn't have come with a better example. Thanks.
"PayPal has way too many caveats"
IKR, like, "setting up a merchant account in minutes".
"Why should I add a disclaimer that's already in my profile?"
Because most people here would assume that you provide an unbiased point of view and wouldn't bother to check your profile. Didn't say you were hiding that, but that's what disclaimers are for.
Btw, disclaimer: I do not work for PayPal I just settled with them and I'm okay. Also (if you're from Mexico) check out PayU (formerly DineroMail), they are really cool too because they also process "offline" payments through banks and convenience stores.
Re: your link I organize once-yearly events (in de US) with up to 1000 attendees, incl. 30% Western-European cc holders (not from the fraud-prone countries in Europe).
In addition to the higher fee structure for international cards, Paypal's refusal rate of international cards was atrocious.
The final drop in the bucket was that after 5 years (same event, same time-frame, same number of attendees, same volume), Paypal froze all funds 3 days before the event was to take place.
Switched to Stripe 3 years ago rarely have a problem. Great interface, great support, no penalty-for-amex rates, low 'card declined' rates, proper handling of disputes (unlike paypal who typically found in favor of the person paying) Daily automated deposits (after 7 days) are a major plus too. Definitely worth the extra money ($500 on 75k volume as per your table shouldn't make anyone pick Paypal)
Hey bro, quick question... What's the story with African countries? Any chance we can get in on this? Also, how does taxation work with this?
Atlas is suited for entrepreneurs anywhere in the world, including in African countries. You can apply here: https://stripe.com/atlas
The tax requirements will vary for each company. At a minimum, you'll need to pay US federal income taxes on your US income, and pay the Delaware Franchise Tax each year. Since we know this is a nuanced topic, we've partnered with PwC to give you guidance from a US perspective when you are invited to Atlas.
Nothing personal, just business: when they launch a private beta, they want to select the businesses with most cash flow. I believe this is connected to the fact many things may be manually reviewed at a time. And how did you arrive at a conclusion that de Larrea are involved in Atlas? A quick search didn't show anything relevant.
Check out their only Mexican partner.