Merchant of Record (MoR)

A merchant of record (MoR) is the legal entity that sells your product to the customer, appears on their card statement, and is responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax, VAT, and GST worldwide. With a plain processor like Stripe, you are the merchant of record: you must register for tax wherever you have customers, file returns, and absorb chargebacks and fraud. A MoR platform — Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar — flips this by becoming the reseller, so global tax compliance, invoicing, and refunds are their liability, not yours. Why it matters: for a solo or small team selling internationally, registering for tax across dozens of countries is impractical, and a MoR removes that burden in exchange for a higher fee (roughly 5% plus a fixed amount, versus Stripe's ~2.9% + 30¢). Practical note: an MoR speeds up launch but gives you less control over checkout design, payout timing, and customer data — weigh convenience against flexibility as you grow.