How to open a company in Argentina in order to sell on Mercado Libre
I sell on Mercado Libre from Argentina, bring goods in from China and run my own warehouse in Buenos Aires. Everything written here has been tested on my own shipments, not retold from someone else’s guides.
There is no shortage of “how to register a company in Argentina” guides. The trouble is that nearly all of them end at getting a CUIT. And for a Mercado Libre seller the interesting part starts right after that.
I will lay out the whole path, along with the part where people get stuck. The company exists but you cannot trade.
First decide whether you need a company at all
If you trade local goods and are feeling out a niche, you do not need a company. Monotributo, the Argentine equivalent of a sole trader. One fixed payment a month and minimal bookkeeping.
A company is needed in two cases. First, you intend to import, and a monotributista cannot clear a commercial batch in their own name. Second, you have outgrown the simplified regime’s ceiling, about 126.6m pesos a year.
Opening a company just in case before your first sales is bad. It immediately brings bookkeeping, filings and costs. Switching to one after the container has left China is too late. There is one right moment: before the first purchase abroad.
SAS or SRL, which to choose
| Item | SAS | SRL |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum founders | 1 | 2 |
| Minimum capital | 2 minimum wages (SMVM) | formally 100,000 pesos, but the registrar often asks for more |
| Registration time | fully online in Buenos Aires, 1–5 working days | 7–15 working days |
| Management | flexible | through a gerente |
| Who it suits | a solo seller, a small business | a partnership of two or more |
Almost every seller is suited by SAS. You can open it alone, the capital is nominal, and in CABA the procedure is fully digital. Only 25% is paid in cash up front, the rest within two years.
Is it possible on a Russian passport
Yes. A foreigner can be a founder of an Argentine company without residency, there are no immigration requirements for taking part in a business. All you need is CDI, the local tax identifier for a non-resident.
You do not have to come in person either. An apostilled power of attorney is drawn up through a consulate, and on that basis someone in Argentina opens the company: a lawyer or a trusted representative.
But there is a condition almost nobody writes about. An Argentine company must have an administrator resident in Argentina. For a SAS one such administrator is enough, for an SRL you need a majority of the managers. Without that the registrar will not pass the company.
Opening a company entirely remotely and single-handedly will not work. A local person is needed in the structure from the very beginning. That is Argentine law, not a loophole.
The main thing. A company and a Mercado Libre account are different things
This is where most people get stuck. The company is registered, the CUIT is issued, the bank account is open. And you still cannot sell.
For a corporate account the platform requires three things:
- An active CUIT with an ARCA registration certificate
- The company’s articles, confirming that it exists
- The legal representative’s DNI, the document of a real person
For a corporate account they check two identities at once. The company by its tax number, and the person representing it by their personal documents. Only the legal representative can upload the documents.
So it links up. A local administrator is required by law when registering the company and by the platform’s rules when verifying the account. It is the same person, and you need to arrange it at the start, while the company is not yet open.
The order of steps
- Decide. Monotributo to test with local goods, or a company for importing
- Get a CDI, without it you cannot become a founder
- Choose the form. SAS for a solo seller, SRL for a partnership
- Find an administrator resident in Argentina
- Draw up an apostilled power of attorney through a consulate if you are not coming in person
- Register the company and get a CUIT
- Open a bank account and Mercado Pago
- Pass the account verification with the legal representative’s documents
- Work out the unit economics before the first purchase
On timing. A SAS in Buenos Aires is registered in a few days. But with the power of attorney, the CDI and verification, allow several weeks for the whole path.
What to remember
Not everyone needs a company. If you are not bringing goods in from abroad, start with monotributo. A Russian passport is no obstacle to registration, and residency is not needed to take part in a business. A SAS is simpler and faster than an SRL in almost everything. You can open a company remotely, but an administrator with a local address is required by law. And the main thing: a company on its own does not grant access to trading, the account is verified against the documents of a real person with a local DNI.
⭐ By the way: before opening a company, work out the product’s economics. In the free calculator the monotributo and Responsable Inscripto regimes sit side by side, the difference is visible at once.
⭐ A company is opened for the sake of importing. Registration is the first step. Then comes what it was all for. The product code, the supplier, customs, the price on the shelf. That is also where you find out whether a company beats monotributo. On the general regime VAT and advance payments come back as credits, on monotributo they burn away entirely. The difference is worked out in the customs calculator in the PRO pack, and the whole path after registration is covered in seven books. The same place has unit-economics tables where both regimes sit side by side.
Need help opening one?
We can point you to a lawyer, help with the power of attorney and the account verification, and receive and ship your goods from our own warehouse in Buenos Aires.
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