| Platform | Physical products | Published fee, US |
|---|
| Lemon Squeezy | Prohibited: "Physical goods of any kind" | 5% + 50¢ per transaction |
| Paddle | Prohibited: "Physical products or products that require physical delivery" | 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction |
| Polar | Prohibited: "Physical products" | 5% + 50¢ on the free Starter plan |
| Flint | Physical goods with shipping, pickup, inventory, and returns | 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment |
Flint has no monthly fee, and the card rate covers checkout, orders, the catalog and inventory, discounts, fulfillment, returns, the buyer account, and the Stripe processing underneath. You sell as your own business, and Flint's automatic tax works out US sales tax at checkout for you to file.
Why merchant-of-record platforms don't take physical goods
A merchant of record resells your product as the seller, so it takes on the sales tax and the buyer relationship for what it sells. Lemon Squeezy's general rule is that it allows "digital goods that can be fulfilled through Lemon Squeezy's website." Paddle says it is built for software companies and that, for a business selling physical goods, "Paddle is not a good fit for your needs." Polar says its services are not designed for a company whose primary offering is the sale of physical goods.
That leaves sellers who started with a digital product and now want to add a printed edition, merchandise, or a subscription box with two choices on those platforms: drop the physical product, or run a second store beside them. On Flint, digital and physical products sit in one catalog and one checkout.
Fees: 5% + 50¢ against Flint
Each figure is one US card payment, with the total including any shipping and tax. Lemon Squeezy adds 0.5% to subscription payments, for 5.5% + 50¢; Paddle's pricing lists no subscription surcharge, so its subscription payments stay at 5% + 50¢. The Flint columns add the 0.40% subscription fee for a subscription charge, and the 0.50% automatic tax fee for a payment that carries tax:
| Payment total | Lemon Squeezy or Paddle, 5% + 50¢ | Flint card payment | Lemon Squeezy subscription payment, 5.5% + 50¢ | Flint subscription charge | Flint subscription charge with automatic tax |
|---|
| $40 | $2.50 | $1.87 | $2.70 | $2.03 | $2.23 |
| $100 | $5.50 | $4.14 | $6.00 | $4.54 | $5.04 |
| $200 | $10.50 | $7.93 | $11.50 | $8.73 | $9.73 |
At 500 orders of $40 a month, $20,000 in sales, 5% + 50¢ comes to $1,250. On Flint it is $935, or $1,035 if automatic tax applies to every payment, with each payment's fee rounded to the cent. International cards add 1.50% on Flint. Lemon Squeezy's fees page lists "+1.5% for international (outside of the US) transactions," "+1.5% for PayPal transactions," and "+0.5% for subscription payments."
The comparison leaves one thing out on purpose: the 5% + 50¢ platforms register for, file, and pay sales tax as the seller. On Flint your business does that. Flint calculates the tax on each order and exports it in tax reports, and you or your accountant file and pay it where you owe it.
Selling physical products on Flint
Flint is a payments API and hosted checkout with commerce built in, and cards are processed on Stripe. A physical product creates its stock item in the same request:
curl -X POST https://api.withflintpay.com/v1/products \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: product-candle" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "Cedar candle",
"product_type": "physical",
"default_variant": {
"sku": "CANDLE-CEDAR",
"unit_price_money": {"amount": 3400, "currency": "USD"},
"line_item_tax_category": "physical_goods",
"inventory_item": {"name": "Cedar candle", "sku": "CANDLE-CEDAR"}
}
}'
A delivery method sets what shipping costs. This one charges $9, or nothing on orders of $75 or more:
curl -X POST https://api.withflintpay.com/v1/delivery-methods \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: method-standard-1" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "Standard shipping",
"type": "shipment",
"status": "active",
"configuration": {
"origin": {"type": "fixed_location", "location_id": "loc_1kmn0aWarehouse"},
"pricing": {
"type": "tiered",
"tiered": {
"basis": "order.merchandise_subtotal_after_line_item_discounts",
"bands": [
{"from": 0, "to": 7500, "currency_options": {"USD": {"amount": 900, "currency": "USD"}}},
{"from": 7500, "currency_options": {"USD": {"amount": 0, "currency": "USD"}}}
]
}
},
"public_details": {"service_level": "standard"}
}
}'
Offer it at checkout next to in-store pickup or local delivery, and the buyer chooses. From there the rest of a physical sale is built in:
- Stock held at payment. Paying an order holds the units, commits them when the payment succeeds, and releases them if it fails. If the stock isn't there, the payment fails before any money moves.
- Fulfillment. Shipments with packages and tracking numbers, tracking emails to the buyer, and pickup and local delivery. Buy labels from your carrier or shipping app and add the tracking number.
- US sales tax. Calculated on the items and shipping for the delivery address, or the pickup store, after discounts.
- Returns. Return policies, restocking fees, exchanges, and buyer self-serve returns, with returned units going back into stock.
- Refunds by line item, with the item's share of discount and tax worked out.
Subscriptions that ship every renewal
A subscription plan can sell catalog products with the delivery methods subscribers can choose:
curl -X POST https://api.withflintpay.com/v1/subscription-plans \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: plan-candle-club-v1" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "Candle of the month",
"billing_interval": "monthly",
"billing_interval_count": 1,
"currency": "USD",
"line_items": [{"variant_id": "var_1kmn0aExample", "quantity": 1}],
"inventory_routing_source": {"type": "fixed_location", "location_id": "loc_1kmn0aWarehouse"},
"subscription_delivery_method_ids": ["dmet_1kmn0aExample"]
}'
The signup order is the first shipment. Each renewal is another order with the subscriber's address, a shipping charge quoted for it, tax for that address, and a fulfillment to ship. Before each renewal, Flint emails the subscriber what is shipping and where, and you can let them skip, pause, or change their address from their account. Physical plans can't have a free trial, so offer the first box at a discount with a promotion instead. The subscription guide covers setup.
A merchant of record and Flint, side by side
| Lemon Squeezy or Paddle | Flint |
|---|
| Physical products | Prohibited | Supported |
| US card payment fee | 5% + 50¢ | 3.79% + 35¢ |
| Monthly fee | None | None |
| Shipping rates, pickup, and local delivery | Not applicable: physical goods are prohibited | Delivery methods at checkout |
| Inventory | Not applicable: physical goods are prohibited | Per location, held at payment |
| Subscriptions that ship | Not applicable: physical goods are prohibited | Each renewal is an order to ship |
| Who is the seller | The platform | Your business |
| Sales tax filing | Handled by the platform as merchant of record | Flint calculates US sales tax; you file and pay |
Who Flint is built for
Flint is for US businesses that sell on their own website or app, get paid in US dollars, and want orders, inventory, shipping, tax calculation, returns, and subscriptions behind one checkout. Buyers can pay from anywhere with a card. Automatic tax covers US addresses.
Questions, answered
Can you sell physical products on Lemon Squeezy?
No. Lemon Squeezy's prohibited products list includes "physical goods of any kind," and its general rule allows digital goods that can be fulfilled through Lemon Squeezy's website.
Does Paddle allow physical goods?
No. Paddle's acceptable use policy, last updated April 13, 2026, lists "physical products or products that require physical delivery" as its first prohibited category. Paddle says it is built for software companies.
Is there a merchant of record for physical products?
Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, and Polar all prohibit physical products. To sell physical goods online, most businesses become the merchant themselves on a payments platform that supports shipping and inventory, and collect sales tax where they owe it. Flint is one of those platforms; it isn't a merchant of record.
Is Flint a merchant of record?
No. On Flint your business is the seller. Flint's automatic tax calculates US sales tax at checkout and exports it in tax reports, but Flint doesn't decide where you owe tax, register you, file returns, or pay the tax you collect.
How do Flint's fees compare with 5% + 50¢?
Flint's card rate is 3.79% + 35¢ with no monthly fee, so a $100 US card payment costs $4.14 instead of $5.50. Subscription charges add 0.40%, and payments that carry automatic tax add 0.50%; with both, $100 costs $5.04. International cards add 1.50%. The 5% + 50¢ platforms also file and pay sales tax for you, which Flint does not.
Can I sell a subscription box that ships every month?
Yes. A Flint subscription plan can sell catalog products with delivery methods. Each renewal is an order with the subscriber's address, a shipping charge, tax for that address, and a fulfillment, and you can let subscribers skip, pause, or change their address from their account. Physical plans can't have a free trial; discount the first box with a promotion instead.
Is Flint a good alternative to Lemon Squeezy?
For a US business selling physical products, or physical and digital products together, yes: Flint has a catalog with variants, inventory held at payment, shipping and pickup, returns, subscriptions that ship, and a hosted checkout, at 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment. Flint serves US businesses paid in US dollars, and you handle your own sales tax filing.
Sources
All sources accessed October 15, 2026.
