Why I Stopped Using Stripe: The Case for Merchant of Records (MoR)
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Solo developers building global B2C SaaS products face a hidden burden when using Stripe: full legal responsibility for VAT and sales tax across every country where customers reside. A Merchant of Record (MoR) like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy solves this by becoming the legal seller to end customers, handling all tax calculation, collection, and remittance. The trade-offs include higher fees (~5% + 50¢ vs Stripe's ~2.9% + 30¢), slightly less polished integrations, and reduced checkout customization. For European solo developers selling B2C globally, the extra 2% fee is typically far cheaper than hiring international tax accountants. A basic Rails webhook handler example for Paddle is included.
