Mercatren is an online store operated by Mercatren LLC, a company registered in Michigan, United States. A buyer in the United States selects a product from the catalog, pays the published price from a US bank, and designates the address where it must be delivered. Mercatren LLC buys that merchandise from the supplier in its own name, with an invoice issued to Mercatren LLC, and resells it to the buyer, with a sales invoice issued in the buyer's name.
We do not receive or administer money belonging to third parties. Every transaction is a sale of goods between the buyer and Mercatren LLC. What comes in is revenue from the sale of our own product; what goes out is the cost of goods sold. The product is physically delivered to the designated address: at no point is money delivered to anyone.
- 2
- invoices per transaction: the purchase from the supplier and the sale to the buyer
- 100%
- of accepted payments originate from US banks
- 0
- user accounts, stored balances, or third-party money under our administration
- 5 years
- of record retention per transaction
The three things to remember
One. The structure is a sale of goods. Mercatren LLC buys the merchandise as principal and resells it as principal. Title to the product passes from the supplier to Mercatren LLC and from Mercatren LLC to the buyer.
Two. What comes in is our own revenue from selling a product, not money belonging to a third party. What goes out is the cost of goods sold, not a payment made for anyone else's account.
Three. The buyer of record is the person in the United States. The person at the delivery address receives a physical product — exactly as when someone buys a gift online and has it shipped to a different address.
1Executive summary: what Mercatren sells and to whom
Mercatren sells physical products to buyers residing in the United States. It operates as an online store with a catalog, cart, checkout, and invoice, and it is a service of Mercatren LLC (Michigan, United States).
What sets the service apart is where delivery happens. Many buyers in the United States want to purchase a product and have it delivered to an address in another country: building materials for a family project, spare parts, appliances. Mercatren publishes catalogs from suppliers with a presence in those destinations, sells the product to the US buyer, and has it delivered to the address the buyer designates.
What we are
- An online store that sells merchandise for its own account.
- The buyer of that merchandise from the supplier, invoiced to Mercatren LLC.
- The seller to the US buyer, with a sales invoice in the buyer's name.
- Responsible for the published price, which is the final sale price.
What we are not
- We are not a financial institution and we do not offer accounts.
- We do not hold or administer money belonging to third parties.
- We do not deliver money to anyone: we deliver products.
- We do not act as a representative of any party.
- We do not exchange currency and we operate only in US dollars.
2Contractual structure
Every transaction is two consecutive contracts of sale, not an engagement to act for someone else. Mercatren LLC is a party to both, and in both it acts as principal: it buys for itself and sells what is its own.
| Party | Who they are | What they contract for |
|---|---|---|
| A · Buyer | Person in the United States | Buys a product from Mercatren LLC and pays the published price from a US bank. Designates the delivery address and is responsible for its accuracy. Receives a sales invoice in their name. |
| B · Mercatren LLC | Company registered in Michigan, United States. Operates the Mercatren brand | Buys the merchandise from the supplier in its own name and resells it to the buyer. Sets and publishes the final sale price. Issues the sales invoice and retains the purchase invoice. Bears the commercial risk of the transaction. |
| C · Supplier | Merchant that publishes its catalog on Mercatren | Sells the merchandise to Mercatren LLC and invoices Mercatren LLC for it. Ships the product to the address designated in the order. Is paid for the merchandise sold against its invoice. |
| — · Delivery address | Address designated by the buyer | Not a party to the contract. It is the place where the product must be delivered. Whoever receives it signs for merchandise; they receive no money in any form. |
The document trail of a transaction
1. Purchase order
The buyer confirms the order and pays the published price.
- Order with sequential number, products, unit price, and total
- Delivery address designated by the buyer
- Buyer identification and confirmation that payment originates from a US bank
2. Supplier invoice to Mercatren LLC
Mercatren LLC buys the merchandise from the supplier in its own name.
- Invoice issued by the supplier to Mercatren LLC
- Description of the merchandise and purchase price
- Reference to the order that originates it
3. Sales invoice to the buyer
Mercatren LLC resells the merchandise to the US buyer.
- Sales invoice issued by Mercatren LLC in the buyer's name
- Final sale price, the same one that was published
- Linked to the order and to the purchase invoice
4. Proof of delivery
The product is delivered to the address designated by the buyer.
- Dated delivery confirmation
- Identification of the person receiving the merchandise
- Order closed in the system
3The full transaction, mapped
This is the central diagram of the document. On the left, inside the United States, the entire commercial transaction takes place: the sale to the buyer and the purchase from the supplier. On the right, the only thing that moves is the product.
Inside the United States
A
Buyer
Person in the United States. Buys the product and designates where it is delivered
Pays the published price of the product
B
Mercatren LLC · Mercatren
Sells the product to the buyer and buys the merchandise from the supplier, in its own name
Buys the merchandise · invoiced to Mercatren LLC
C
Supplier
Sells the merchandise to Mercatren LLC and invoices it in its name
Designated delivery address
—
Recipient
Receives a physical product. Never money
The product leaves the supplier's inventory
C
Supplier's dispatch
Delivers the product to the address on the order
Product delivered, with dated confirmation
The order travels: which product, to which address
Proof of delivery comes back, tied to the order number
The entire commercial transaction — the sale to the buyer and the purchase from the supplier — takes place inside the United States, between parties with accounts at US banks.
4The transaction, step by step
1Buyer · United States
The buyer selects the product and confirms the order
The buyer opens the Mercatren catalog, selects one or more products, and confirms the order. The system re-reads each product's price and availability from the database at that moment: the price charged is the published price, not whatever the browser had stored.
2Buyer → Mercatren LLC · United States
Pays the published price from a US bank
The buyer pays the final sale price. Only payments originating from US banks are accepted, and that check runs before the order is treated as valid. That amount is Mercatren LLC's own revenue from the moment of the sale.
3Buyer · within the order
Designates the delivery address
The buyer provides the address where the product must be delivered and is responsible for its accuracy. That address is a field on the order, the same as in any online purchase shipped to someone other than the person paying.
4Mercatren LLC → Supplier
Mercatren LLC buys the merchandise in its own name
With the sale closed, Mercatren LLC buys the merchandise sold from the supplier. The supplier issues an invoice to Mercatren LLC. That purchase is the cost of goods sold, and it is paid against the invoice to US bank accounts.
5Supplier → Designated address
The supplier ships the product
The supplier delivers the merchandise to the address designated in the order. The delivery is recorded with a date and the identity of the person receiving it. What is delivered is a physical product: at no point is money delivered.
6Mercatren LLC → Buyer
The sales invoice is issued and the order is closed
Mercatren LLC issues the buyer the sales invoice for the product and closes the order. What remains, tied together by the order number, is the purchase invoice issued to Mercatren LLC, the sales invoice to the buyer, and the proof of delivery.
5Regulatory framing
The question any bank or processor asks when reading about a cross-border service is whether the activity constitutes money transmission. This section answers it directly and descriptively, without claiming that any official determination exists in the company's favor.
| Element | In money transmission | In this structure |
|---|---|---|
| Source of the money received | It belongs to a third party; the operator merely holds it in transit | It is the sale price of our own product — revenue of Mercatren LLC |
| Destination of the money paid out | Delivered or applied for another person's benefit | Pays for merchandise bought by Mercatren LLC, invoiced in its name |
| Object of the contract | The movement of the money itself | The sale of goods, with transfer of title |
| What the recipient gets | Money | A physical product. Never money, in any form |
| The operator's earnings | A charge on the amount moved | The commercial markup included in the sale price |
The shape this model does NOT have
Receiving money from one person in order to hand it to another. That describes money transmission, and it is not what happens here.
↑ There, the money belongs to a third party and the recipient receives money. Neither of those happens at Mercatren.
The actual structure: a sale of goods
Two invoiced sales, closed inside the United States. The only thing that crosses the border is the product.
↑ The complete commercial circuit stays inside the United States← the dashed line is the border
What comes in is the sale price of our own product and what goes out is the cost of the merchandise purchased, invoiced to Mercatren LLC. On the other side of the border no money moves: a product is delivered.
6Compliance controls
Controls run before an order is treated as valid, and they are recorded with it. They are not a statement of intent: each one leaves evidence that can be retrieved.
Buyer identity: Buying requires an account with a verified email address. The order is tied to that account and to the details it was opened with.
Source of payment: Only payments originating from US banks are accepted. Card payments run through a registered processor; bank transfers are checked against the statement before an order is treated as paid.
Human review of every payment record: No bank transfer is accepted automatically. A member of the team checks the amount and date against the bank before approving it, and rejecting one requires a written reason.
Separation of duties: Whoever sells does not approve their own incoming payments. A supplier has no permission to approve payments on its own orders.
Prohibited products: We do not list or sell weapons, ammunition, or explosives; medicines, controlled substances, or restricted-use products; items subject to export controls; live animals; currency, monetary metals, gift cards, crypto assets, or financial instruments; or goods of unlawful origin or that infringe third-party rights.
Sanctioned destinations and persons: An order is not accepted if its delivery address or its buyer corresponds to persons or destinations subject to US sanctions.
Record retention: Every transaction keeps its documents for five years: the order, the purchase invoice, the sales invoice, the record of the payment received, and the proof of delivery.
7Traceability: what evidence each transaction leaves
Any transaction can be reconstructed in full starting from its order number. This is what is kept, and this is what we hand over if a bank, an auditor, or a processor asks for it.
The order: Sequential, readable number; date and time; buyer's account; products with unit prices; total; and the delivery address designated by the buyer.
The payment received: Method, date, amount, and record. For bank transfers, also the screenshot provided by the buyer and the name of the person who approved it.
The purchase invoice: Document issued by the supplier to Mercatren LLC, with the description of the merchandise and its purchase price, tied to the order number.
The sales invoice: Document issued by Mercatren LLC to the buyer, with the final sale price, tied to the same order number.
The delivery: Dated confirmation identifying the person who received the merchandise at the designated address.
The decision trail: Who approved or rejected what, when, and for what reason. Approvals are never anonymous.
8Growth plan
The service is in its early stage, with one supplier and one catalog. Growth means more catalog and more coverage, and it does not change the structure described in this document: every new supplier is simply one more supplier we buy merchandise from, invoiced to Mercatren LLC.
More suppliers, same contract: Every merchant that publishes a catalog signs the same sale-of-goods agreement: they sell us merchandise and invoice us for it. We sign no representation agreements with any of them.
More delivery cities: Coverage grows city by city, based on where each supplier has a presence. The buyer sees which city a product is delivered in before paying.
More categories: The catalog opens departments as suppliers in each line of business come on board, within the prohibited-products policy.
Card payments as the primary method: Card payments through a registered processor are the primary method for the service, for traceability and for the buyer's convenience.
9One-page summary
If you only keep one page from this entire document, keep this one.
- 1
Purchase
The buyer in the United States purchases a product and pays the published price from a US bank.
- 2
Acquisition
Mercatren LLC buys that merchandise from the supplier in its own name, invoiced to Mercatren LLC.
- 3
Delivery
The supplier delivers the product to the address designated by the buyer, with proof of delivery.
- 4
Invoice
Mercatren LLC issues the sales invoice to the buyer and closes the order with its full documentation.
A sale of goods, with two invoices per transaction
At no point is money delivered to anyone
- 1The money received is Mercatren LLC's own revenue from selling a product.
- 2The money paid to the supplier is the cost of goods sold, invoiced to Mercatren LLC.
- 3Title to the product passes from the supplier to Mercatren LLC and from Mercatren LLC to the buyer.
- 4Whoever receives at the designated address receives a physical product, never money.
- 5The published price is the final price and includes the commercial markup.
- 6Only payments originating from US banks are accepted.
The three questions we always get
- Does money leave the country?
- No. The buyer pays in the United States, and the merchandise is paid for against an invoice to US bank accounts. No foreign financial institution takes part in the transaction.
- Whose money is it?
- It belongs to Mercatren LLC from the moment of the sale. It is the price of a product sold, not third-party money under our administration.
- What does the person at the delivery address receive?
- A physical product. Never money, in any form.
For banks and compliance
If you are reviewing this operation from a bank, an audit, or a compliance team, the document covers the contractual structure, the regulatory framing, the compliance controls, and the traceability of every transaction.
Download the full PDFThe complete document as a PDF, with the same structure and the same content as the page.
This document describes the structure and operation of the service. It does not constitute legal, accounting, or tax advice, and it does not claim that any determination by any authority exists in favor of Mercatren LLC. Mercatren is a service operated by Mercatren LLC (Michigan, United States).