FastSpring is one of the leading merchants of record for global digital product companies and powers more than a billion dollars in worldwide transactions every year. It helps to manage your checkout, VAT, sales tax, compliance, and so many more, therefore freeing you to focus on the things you do best, which is building great products.
Starting an online business is easier than it was. That’s because the world is well connected than it used to be. You may want to sell a computer software or have an app for subscription services. Getting your idea out in platforms that allows you to sell your products is one aspect, but receiving payments in a safer and simple way from different parts of the world is another aspect that needs to be done carefully.
You need a good payment platform that charges low transaction fee, manage tax payment in various countries and also keep track of all your transactions made in your account.
These platforms offer a lot of amazing tools. First, you can sell your software or online services to anyone, anywhere. Secondly, your customers can communicate in their language and make payments in their own local currencies. This makes buying your products easy and safe for customers anywhere.
In addition, these platforms are good at handling tax payment. Every country and sometimes individual state or even cities have its own rules on how taxes should be paid. These taxes need to be channelled to the right body or government office.
Some of these platforms can automatically figure out the correct tax for every single sale and make sure the tax money goes where it should. This is often a huge relief for online merchants.
Furthermore, another feature of using these platforms is in handling recurring payments or subscriptions. These platforms can handle weekly, monthly or yearly subscription plans.
Platforms like FastSpring can properly handle the online business world. FastSpring take care of the bills, the taxes, the different local currencies and all the legal rules. However, FastSpring is not available in all countries. If if you are trying to use the service, you need to check if they support your country of residence. In this article, we shall explore all the FastSpring available countries, who it works, and also the best alternatives in case your country is not among the FastSpring supported countries.
What is FastSpring?
FastSpring is a digital e-commerce platform designed for companies that sell software, video games and other digital products.
What exactly does FastSpring do?
- It keeps record of every transaction made.
- It handles tax payment in FastSpring’s supported countries. It knows and can calculate the exact tax rules in close to 200 FastSpring supported countries.
- FastSpring offers payment in 23 different currencies and supports 21 languages. If a customer in South Korea want to subscribe to a game plan, FastSpring will display the exact amount in Korean Won and also write the payment details in Korean language (Hangukgo). This is done for easy communication between the buyer and the seller.
- FastSpring handles different subscription plan.
- It has strong security and can easily spot fraud activities.
- It is very easy to start. You can easily sell your software in different countries.
- FastSpring charges low fees, thereby helping you save more.
- FastSpring has good support team that help solve customer problems as quick as possible.
- FastSpring send a soft reminder to customers to upgrade, pause or initiate a payment process, including subscription plans. It also automates recurring payments for customers who prefers it.
How FastSpring Works
- First, set up your account. Then add the product you’re selling including how you would like to get paid either through PayPal or through a link to your bank account.
- Secondly, integrate and create your product lists on FastSpring dashboard. The product list names and the price for each item. For subscription package, choose if it’s a one-off purchase or a monthly / yearly subscription plan.
- Thirdly, add a checkout page to your site with a “Buy Now” button, which makes it easy for customers to click and purchase your products. It can be done through the following:
- The moment a customer clicks “buy”, a dialogue box, often known as “Pop-up Store” opens in a new window. Customers can then key-in their credit card details and make payment.
- You can use FastSpring Web Storefront to send a customized page to your customers where they can buy your products.
- Create an embedded checkout page where customers pay for items, they bought without feeling like they’re being redirected to another page to make payment.
- Once your checkout page is completely set, and a customer from Netherlands wants to buy your product, FastSpring will instantly detect the country and switch to Dutch language and Netherlands currency which is Euro. It also calculates the Netherlands tax and add it to the price. Then customers can make payment using their PayPal account or credit card in their local currency.
- After payment, FastSpring instantly send a download link or code to the customer which enables them to unlock the software or subscription plan they purchased.
- You can always login to your dashboard to know the progress of your business and which country is buying your product the most. You can assist a customer cancel their subscription plan or change their payment method to the preferred one.
- Merchants usually get their funds twice a month. At the middle of the month and the second payment at the end of the month. FastSpring usually deducts a small fee from the sale of your product before sending you the balance. This fee is what keeps the platform functioning smoothly.
- Finally, FastSpring instantly sends a message to a customer through email when there’s a failed transaction.
List of Countries Where FastSpring is Supported
FastSpring supports transactions in almost 200 regions. It also offers payments in 23 currencies. Below is a grouping of FastSpring supported countries by continent:
North and South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, United States and Uruguay.
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Asia and Oceania: Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
List of FastSpring legal states in the USA:
FastSpring supports transactions and handles sales tax collection in forty-five (45) states in the U.S. FastSpring is responsible for calculating and paying of taxes to the government on behalf of the online merchant.
States that can’t use FastSpring due the platforms inability to meet up with the states rule are: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon.
FastSpring Alternatives and Similar Sites:
There are several platforms that compete with FastSpring. They offer digital services like tax automation and subscription management. They’re grouped into three (3).
Direct Merchant of Record (MoR) Alternatives
These platforms handle global tax and financial liability which makes them the closest competitor to FastSpring.
- Paddle
- Lemon Squeezy
- PayPro Global
- 2Checkout (by Verifone)
- Cleverbridge
Creator-Focused Platforms
These platforms are created for the purchase of digital products like: eBooks, courses and small tools.
- Gumroad
- Dodo Payments
Payment Processors (Non- Merchant of Record (MoR)
Unlike FastSpring, these platforms do not automatically remit your global taxes. Rather, it’s done individually by the merchants in each country where your product is sold.
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Braintree
Conclusion
FastSpring remains one of the best online platforms for the selling of software and digital apps to people all over the world. All you need is to setup your page and product then link with FastSpring. While FastSpring will provide the checkout page, handles payment, taxes and digital product delivery. You’ll get your profit after a small fee has been deducted.
FastSpring is a professional business tool that helps your online business to grow. FastSpring supported countries is in over 200 regions.
With FastSpring, you can turn your digital products into a global success.