We'd rather answer this honestly than sell you something you don't need yet. For a lot of sellers just starting out, the answer is: not immediately.
Marketplace facilitator laws already do a lot of this
Most US states now require marketplace facilitators — Amazon, Etsy, and similar platforms — to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of third-party sellers once certain thresholds are met, regardless of the seller's own entity structure. If you're selling exclusively through a marketplace like that, a sizable part of what people assume needs a US LLC is already handled by the platform itself.
Where a US LLC actually starts to earn its cost
- Direct payment processing. Running your own checkout through Stripe or Shopify Payments, instead of a marketplace's built-in one, needs a real US business entity behind it.
- Liability separation. Once meaningful revenue is flowing, keeping business and personal finances and liability separate is what an LLC is actually for.
- A consistent business identity. One entity, one EIN, one bank account, across every platform you sell on — instead of a patchwork of personal accounts.
- Selling off-platform entirely. Your own website, wholesale clients, B2B invoicing — none of that comes with a marketplace's built-in tax handling.
When it's genuinely overkill
If you're testing a product on a single marketplace at low volume, the annual cost and compliance of a US LLC (registered agent renewal, Form 5472) may not be worth it yet. That's a legitimate answer, not a sales pitch away from one.
What we tell clients honestly
We're not going to tell you that you need an LLC to sell your first ten units on Amazon, because you probably don't. When you outgrow what a marketplace handles for you, or want your own direct payment processor, that's when this becomes worth it — and that's what we form.