Merchant account for Iranians

[bigarash]

Hi
We are a start up company based in Iran and we sell handwoven carpets and rugs. We are planning to take our business one step further and enter online market. As you might know companies like papypal are not offering their services to Iranians, so all I want to know is that are there any other companies like paypal who offer online payment services to Iranians?
It would be appreciated if u can give us a hint on how to deal with this problem. By the way, I think it is so unfair that Paypal is not giving services to us!
Thank you so much.

 

[Rob Whisonant]

The first step would be to contact the local bank you use. They should be able to set you up a merchant account and let you know what gateways they use.

 

[bigarash]

bigarash

Thank you so much for your answer, but as you might know there are sanctions on all banks in Iran, they can not do anything either, some people suggested that we should use bitcoin instead. But I'm not sure about this because it's not so popular anywhere in the world. But I look to it as my last option.

 

[Rob Whisonant]

Rob Whisonant

Bitcoin would not be an option as your main source of payment. I personally like bitcoin but your target market will most likely have a very small number that use it. Most likely less than 1%.

 

[Ron Killian]

Or if you have friends or relatives living in a acceptable country, if you can have them set up or open an account for you. But then you have to figure out how to get the money in your hands. Maybe like western union or something. Would be kind of a hassle.

Isn't shipping rugs and carpets going to be expensive? You've probably already figured that out.

Can't blame pay pal for protecting their business. Some countries have proven to be too risky. Sadly, one bad apple soils the bunch.