I'm finally making the jump from side gigs to a real freelance photography business and my accountant said I should look into an LLC. Bizee keeps popping up in my search results and the pricing seems almost too good. Has anyone here actually used them? I'm mostly worried about hidden fees or getting stuck with a registered agent subscription I don't need. I'm in Oregon if that matters.
LLC Formation
Has anyone used Bizee to form an LLC for a freelance photography business?
I haven’t used Bizee, but I did use LegalZoom for my fi rst LLC and honestly the upsells were relentless. Following because I’m curious if Bizee is the same.
Used them last year for my LLC. The $0 formation is real but they nail you on the registered agent after the first year. It’s like $119 or something. Not a scam, just read the fine print.
Why not just file directly with the state? Oregon’s filing fee is like $100. You don’t need a service for a single-member LLC. Save your money for lenses.
To be fair, some people don’t want to deal with the paperwork. But yeah, @LigmaJohnson42 has a point. I ended up doing my second one myeslf and it was fine.
The registered agent thing is the main catch. You can be your own agent in Oregon, but then your address is public. For a home-based photography biz that might be a privacy concern. i just paid for the service to keep my home address off the filings.
I used Bizee for my LLC (graphic design, not photography) and it was fine. No hidden fees beyond the agent. But their dashboard is a bit clunky. If you’re Comfortable with DIY, just do it yourself. If you want hand-holding, they’re okay.
Also check if your county or city needs a business license. That tripped me up. Bizee won’t tell you you about local stuff.
Thanks for the input, all. I think I’ll just file with the state directly and Use a virtual mailbox for privacy. The Bizee upsell for the agent seems like the main money-maker. @MossyRocks did you ever have trouble canceling the agent subscription?
Canceling was easy, just a phone call. But they did try to pitch me on a website builder for like ten minutes. Not a big deal.