INVINCIBLEJELLYSQUID
Newbie
- Jan 3, 2024
- 14
- 8
About me & my ecom dream
Hullo everyone. A little about me, i'm based in China right now, and I've lurked here since i've created my account in Jan 2024
Past notes:
- In Jan 2024, wanted to start an ecom business, but never got around to doing it
- In Jun 2024, wanted to start making AI videos, bought hardware but same as above
Decided to really make 2025 the start point, start somewhere. Maybe I will make $0, but I will try or die trying.
I want to make several shops and explore ecom. As someone starting from 0, I will be learning from scratch, i think the toughest part (other than getting customers) will be doing the logistics and understanding the system.
I'm creating a shop on shopify, and will focus on beauty or fashion products. Why shopify? I believe it is a great start point, and it has a lot of integrations with payments.
Why start now? I will be in China until 2028, so there's around 3 more years for me to make something out of it. Hope that this journey will motivate myself, and motivate others to try as well.
The start: Setting up a company in the USA
Because im in China, I have many issues with vpn. So i've read all the horror stories about accounts being banned, and that really discouraged me from many stuff. So i spent alot of time researching on ideas and execution. After many months of research and breaks in between, I've decided on setting up an LLC in Wyoming.
Pros:
- Cheap to set up + not expensive renewal fees
- Fast, can be done virtually
- Registered agents can hide your name
With this in mind, I found a few providers (not going to name them all, but a simple google search and bhw search can find most). I spent a week checking reviews on reddit, google, and bhw. Turns out its not that simple, some are cheap, but do not give a quick turnaround (4-8 weeks or more for everything i wanted). I needed speed, I do not want to sit and wait and start in 2026.
I found that fiverr offers some services for fast, but not cheap. I tried searching for more providers, but finally decided not to wait anymore. I found someone on fiverr that promised 2-3 working days.
Turns out it was really possible, just that the registered agents may not want to advertise as much as they might have huge volume, but fiverr 1-to-1 service can.
For shopify, if you set up from your home country, your reach might be affected (at least, this was my mentality), so I was adamant on setting up in USA, getting everything right from the start.
To make everything have a good flow, in my mind it was like this:
[1] Shopify Setup >
[2] Needs: Company Registration, +1 USA phone number, US bank account, EIN, website, finally products
[3] Start operating the store, set up IG + tiktok + ads
[4] Move to amazon, and ebay
I engaged the fiverr person, and they quoted me $500 for the entire set up (doesn't include the phone)
I decided that I will share the costs upfront, some things i will not share yet, but I want to motivate more people with numbers, and also learn from the seniors if there's anything I could improve or do next. I really learnt alot from bhw.
If I had engaged some other cheaper services, it will cost me lesser. Other service providers cost: $200 + $104 state fees. = $300, but I will have to wait 1-3 weeks for the registration, and another 3-4 weeks for the EIN, and setup my bank account myself. It will not be easy, so I want to pay an expert, I consider it express fees.
Some expert threads I followed for those trying to follow, I recommend reading them for a start:
1. https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/how-to-set-up-a-llc-in-usa-for-non-residents-us-bank-account-all-sources-shared.1417514/
2. https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/journey-get-rich-or-die-trying-my-long-journey-from-0-to-10-000-000-yr-on-ebay.1451081/
Progress outcomes: LLC done, EIN received
I received the LLC registration in 1 day. I also received the EIN in 2 days. Even though the fiverr guy ultimately used one of the service providers as registered agent (i'm not surprised), I was happy because I did not have to wait for so long. I suspect if I contacted them myself I could have done it on my own too. Now, I have applied for a bank account (its an e-bank). Hopefully it will be approved for use, and I can start updating the second part of my journey. See you next week.
Hullo everyone. A little about me, i'm based in China right now, and I've lurked here since i've created my account in Jan 2024
Past notes:
- In Jan 2024, wanted to start an ecom business, but never got around to doing it
- In Jun 2024, wanted to start making AI videos, bought hardware but same as above
Decided to really make 2025 the start point, start somewhere. Maybe I will make $0, but I will try or die trying.
I want to make several shops and explore ecom. As someone starting from 0, I will be learning from scratch, i think the toughest part (other than getting customers) will be doing the logistics and understanding the system.
I'm creating a shop on shopify, and will focus on beauty or fashion products. Why shopify? I believe it is a great start point, and it has a lot of integrations with payments.
Why start now? I will be in China until 2028, so there's around 3 more years for me to make something out of it. Hope that this journey will motivate myself, and motivate others to try as well.
The start: Setting up a company in the USA
Because im in China, I have many issues with vpn. So i've read all the horror stories about accounts being banned, and that really discouraged me from many stuff. So i spent alot of time researching on ideas and execution. After many months of research and breaks in between, I've decided on setting up an LLC in Wyoming.
Pros:
- Cheap to set up + not expensive renewal fees
- Fast, can be done virtually
- Registered agents can hide your name
With this in mind, I found a few providers (not going to name them all, but a simple google search and bhw search can find most). I spent a week checking reviews on reddit, google, and bhw. Turns out its not that simple, some are cheap, but do not give a quick turnaround (4-8 weeks or more for everything i wanted). I needed speed, I do not want to sit and wait and start in 2026.
I found that fiverr offers some services for fast, but not cheap. I tried searching for more providers, but finally decided not to wait anymore. I found someone on fiverr that promised 2-3 working days.
Turns out it was really possible, just that the registered agents may not want to advertise as much as they might have huge volume, but fiverr 1-to-1 service can.
For shopify, if you set up from your home country, your reach might be affected (at least, this was my mentality), so I was adamant on setting up in USA, getting everything right from the start.
To make everything have a good flow, in my mind it was like this:
[1] Shopify Setup >
[2] Needs: Company Registration, +1 USA phone number, US bank account, EIN, website, finally products
[3] Start operating the store, set up IG + tiktok + ads
[4] Move to amazon, and ebay
I engaged the fiverr person, and they quoted me $500 for the entire set up (doesn't include the phone)
I decided that I will share the costs upfront, some things i will not share yet, but I want to motivate more people with numbers, and also learn from the seniors if there's anything I could improve or do next. I really learnt alot from bhw.
If I had engaged some other cheaper services, it will cost me lesser. Other service providers cost: $200 + $104 state fees. = $300, but I will have to wait 1-3 weeks for the registration, and another 3-4 weeks for the EIN, and setup my bank account myself. It will not be easy, so I want to pay an expert, I consider it express fees.
Some expert threads I followed for those trying to follow, I recommend reading them for a start:
1. https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/how-to-set-up-a-llc-in-usa-for-non-residents-us-bank-account-all-sources-shared.1417514/
2. https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/journey-get-rich-or-die-trying-my-long-journey-from-0-to-10-000-000-yr-on-ebay.1451081/
Progress outcomes: LLC done, EIN received
I received the LLC registration in 1 day. I also received the EIN in 2 days. Even though the fiverr guy ultimately used one of the service providers as registered agent (i'm not surprised), I was happy because I did not have to wait for so long. I suspect if I contacted them myself I could have done it on my own too. Now, I have applied for a bank account (its an e-bank). Hopefully it will be approved for use, and I can start updating the second part of my journey. See you next week.
