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My bank told me I need to open a business account to order as much copper as I am currently ordering. In order to open a business checking account I need to be a registered business. Has anyone else on here done this? And if so, how would I go about it?

You need to get a Federal Tax ID number.

Welcome to the jungle! You are now about to put yourself on the radar and expose yourself to more frustration than you can imagine.

I hope it's worth it.

Federal Tax ID comes from the IRS.

They are wonderful people who are there to help.

Tax ID = SS # + 1.
Find a different bank -

. You might consider opening several accounts with minimum balance. Or visit multiple locations of a particular bank. I guess last resort would be getting a tax number,but you are only trying to exchange. U. S. Currency its not a business, its a coin collecting hobby !

Actualy a better bet may be to contact someone you know who owns a small business and pay them X amount a week or month so you can get the pennies. That is to say, if you have any good friends who run small business.

You are better off finding a diffrent bank, most business banking accounts end up costing you per month. They may start off free but the end of costing you, and that will cut into what meager profits selling for 1.5xface gets you.
Only if you were doing a full time job operation for penny sorting, would you want to consider opening a business bank account.

Order less. If you open a business account they will either want to start charging you fees for every roll or put you on analysis. Being put on analysis is a horrible thing. The give an infintesimal credit for the millions of dollars you have in your account.. then charge the FDIC insurance against it.. and charge for every possible transaction in or out of the account. Then they whack your account for fees you go over by. Don't do it!

Thanks for all the help guys. Looks like I won't be opening a business account. I wanted to stay off the grid as much as possible anyway, and would have no idea what to do if I got audited or something. Looks like I'll be opening some more accounts this week.

Wise decision- always stay under the radar!

I have a business account with my CU and I have never been subjected to any fees. Free and remains open even though I have nothing in it. Getting a tax id is easy; the only part is if you don’t find a tax return for it the IRS will harass you. I just called them and said my company has no income or expenses and they changed something in their system and I don’t get any more letters from them.

AG - alot of businesses these days have no income! lol - to the OP - find a different bank, or as mentioned, hit several branches of your current bank.

Joogaler,

just curious, what bank is requiring you to open a business account? I like to try all of the banks in my area. Most of them will sell me a box without any problems. Some have asked me to open an account (regular checkings or savings) if I plan to keep showing up for more boxes. None of them have said I need to get a business account.

It is a BB&T. One branch wanted me to open a business because of the high quantity that was ordering ($400 a week) but the other one hasn't said anything so I'm gonna keep milking that one till they say any differently. I just opened an account at First Citizens, and told them I only wanted the account so I could order a couple hundred dollars of pennies a week. And the teller kind of looked at me funny and was like yeah we can do that. She kinda acted like duh why wouldn't we do that. Lol

They will probably change their tune soon. Just when you think you have it good with decent sized weekly orders they either cut you off or get taken over by another bank.

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:They will probably change their tune soon. Just when you think you have it good with decent sized weekly orders they either cut you off or get taken over by another bank.

Yeah probably, one brach of BB&T already cut me off, but they're more I guess you could say professional when It comes to signing people up for anything that they can.

Getting a business account is a piece of cake if you keep things simple. Think of your business as a sole proprietorship without any employees and not doing any activities that require collecting sales tax (wholesale for example). That keeps the paper work to a minimum. In fact, if I remember right, all you need to do is file an assumed business name form at your county recorder's office. Then take that doc to the bank and open an account. Tax reporting can be done under your social security number since it is a sole proprietorship and you have no employees.

Cost was about $15.00 for filing fees plus parking and the time to drive to the recorder's office and file.

But as somebody already said, if you just want pennies try all the banks that you can some are much more accommodating than others.

horgad wrote:Getting a business account is a piece of cake if you keep things simple. Think of your business as a sole proprietorship without any employees and not doing any activities that require collecting sales tax (wholesale for example). That keeps the paper work to a minimum. In fact, if I remember right, all you need to do is file an assumed business name form at your county recorder's office. Then take that doc to the bank and open an account. Tax reporting can be done under your social security number since it is a sole proprietorship and you have no employees.

Cost was about $15.00 for filing fees plus parking and the time to drive to the recorder's office and file.

But as somebody already said, if you just want pennies try all the banks that you can some are much more accommodating than others.

Thanks for the info! If push comes to shove I will do that, but I have just enough copper supply for now, but If I get cut off I'll just open the business account with the bank.