German Uberwisung/bank wire collention

[michael]

Hello Bees,

Is there any idea how to collect payments from German customers? I mean how to get Uberwisung/bank wire? Is there any well known services? or the only one solution is to open bank account in Germany?

Any ideas?

[wakabayashi]

In don't get your question. Are you asking which payment methods are popular in germany?

[MockoB]

I read that most common payment method in Germany is invoice payment. Which I personally can't understand how is working. Sofort some kind of direct payment like bank transfer also is preferred payment method. I wonder if modules like payone module by silbersiten covers all those payments and are there any drawbacks using it?

[michael]

I am looking if there is any other possibilities then open bank account in Germany to provide German customer a bank wire payment method (I can send IBAN where customer need to sent money).

Is there any?

Btw. which payment method is the most popular in Germany?

[wakabayashi]

As @MockoB said, it's "Rechnung". This payment method is super ugly for us merchants. You send your goods without any payment. You add an invoice to it. When the customer is happy with the products and dont ship them back, he can pay it with bank transfer. The risk is all at merchant. If the customer doesn't pay the invoice it's very hard to do something. We lose quite a lot money that way.

Other payment methods are: SofortÜberweisung Paypal CreditCard

[michael]

Rechnung it is the same like Lastschrift? SEPA Direct Debit (Private Beta) - from stripe Giropay Überweisung SofortÜberweisung Paypal Amazon payment

[wakabayashi]

No it's not the same. If you aren't from germany you should stay away from "Rechnung".

[Traumflug]

Distinction between "Rechnung" and the other methods is order of execution. With Rechnung, a customer gets the goods first, then he pays. With the usual prepayment he pays first, then receives the goods.

Paying a Rechnung (Invoice) can still happen by various methods, e.g. bankwire, PayPal, whatever. A merchant notes his acceptable payment methods on the invoice and then watches all of them for money incoming. Obviously all the offered methods are ones which can be initiated by the customer, so SofortÜberweisung, credit card and similar don't work, bankwire and PayPal are fine.

Lastschrift is yet another one. Lastschrift is a bankwire initiated not by the customer, but by the merchant. Shipping happens after payment received. In effect it's similar to payment by credit card. Slower (takes a day), but works for customers without credit card, too. IIRC, only about 60% of germans own a credit card.

For offering bankwire and Lastschrift you need a bank account inside the European Union. A bank account inside Germany is no longer necessary.

[MockoB]

I do plan to open eshop for the Germany market but I will definitely stay away from invoice payment. I know that my sales will automatically drop by 30% but it is not convenient for me especially with the shipping price I have to pay ... I have read somewhere that there are companies that you use for payment and they will handle all the merchant looses if the customer doesn't pay the invoice. What do you think about it, are their taxes too high?

[MockoB]

What if the customer takes the product but "forgets" to pay? Are you @Traumflug using invoice payment also? And what payment methods are you guys using?

[wakabayashi]

@MockoB I am not from germany, but in switzerland situation with "Rechnung" is very similair. Well if he forgets, you remind him. We do this first by email and later own with a letter. When we finally switched to TB we will add Paypal and CreditCard. At the moment we only have Rechnung and two swiss methods.

[michael]

For offering bankwire and Lastschrift you need a bank account inside the European Union. A bank account inside Germany is no longer necessary. I think that countries with euro.

In which country is the easiest way to open a bank account?

@MockoB you can use your company. After about 100k € you need register a VAT in Germany. VAT not company. This is no necessary to register company there. German address would be helpful to increase a sales and trust.

@wakabayashi What is TB? Which payment methods are popular in Switzerland?

[MockoB]

@wakabayashi thsnks for the explanation I would definitely stay away from invoice payment :) aaand 30% drop of sales ... @michael to increase sales and trust you need German registered company, because that is what will customers see at first. And it should be stated on the front page where everybody could clearly see it. Germans even have a word for non natives - "auslander" ... aaaand another 30% drop of sales :) About the VAT, you need to register it according the country where you pay your taxes. In my case I need to register VAT about 25k euro so it would be far away from €100k.

[Havouza]

Where you payVAT depends on your sales in that country. If you live in f.ex Bulgaria but sell a lot to Germany you will have to register for VAT there if you come over a certain amount. This amount differs depending on the country.

[MockoB]

I should consult with my accountants about that but it makes sense what you say.

[Havouza]

For Cyprus where I live the amount is 30000€ before a seller from another EU member state has to register for VAT here

[MockoB]

It looks I don't even know it in my country :) @mdekker how do you find time for everything blog articles, coding, laws, forum etc.? You are my hero :)