Starting E-Commerce Website in HK

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 2012
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    21

    Starting E-Commerce Website in HK

    Hello everyone.

    I am about to register my business here in HK and had a couple questions. The employees for the company will be based in Hong Kong, but most of the transactions will be international credit cards, and our partner in the United States will handle most of the processing.

    I was hoping to use a US web-design company, but then payments for transactions would need to be routed through a US bank account, which would get returned to the HK company. Would it be possible to do that, or would it be better to use just a HK bank account?

    I may also just opt to have a HK web-design company build the site. Are there any recommendations for HK website design/e-commerce companies to use?

    Thanks.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    2,711

    Why does the location of your bank account depend on the Web design company?


  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2009
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    6,181

    Not sure anything changed in the last few years, but HK banks seem to be not really interested in online retailers. Might be hard to get a local merchant account.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    You're looking for a payment processor - not a web design company.

    Depending on where your orders may be coming from, a US company may not be easy to deal with or cheap (Exchange rates). Paypal is a good option for low volumes. We use them for our classifieds and other payments. We use Worldpay for ShopInHK.Com.

    Paypal is good for cashflow, you can empty your balance out into your bank account every night (assuming you do over HKD 1000 / day). Their exchange rates are not the best however - most CC companies will extract some additional $$s from you on currency conversions anyways.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2012
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    21

    @cookie - some of the cheap webdesign builders (Squarespace) use their own payment processor (Stripe) which does not work with HK banks.

    It seems like having the bank in HK and using PayPal/Worldpay would be the best option. I don't want to complicate things too much, but if payments are getting processed in the US I thought having a US bank account might make things easier.

    Thanks for the advice!


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    I thought having a US bank account might make things easier.
    Honestly - NO. Having funds processed or kept in a US bank, in the US, will open up a whole new world of pain if you're not a US citizen.

    US citizen / perm resident - no clue.