What is e-commerce?

E-commerce are transactions conducted over networks across organizational boundaries. The traditional types of e-commerce are those that involve transactions between business and consumers (B2C) and between business partners (B2B).¹⁴

E-commerce in Costa Rica

E-commerce in Costa Rica is very limited. The majority of the Costa Rican companies do not even have a website. From those companies that do have a website, most only offer information about their products and only a few have the ability to conduct web transactions. The small volume of e-commerce transactions in Costa Rica can be attributed mainly to low credit card penetration, insecure traditional mail service, small country size and cultural issues, specifically lack of trust.

Offshore E-commerce ¹⁵
There is a large presence of online gambling operations in Costa Rica. The majority of companies operating in the country are American. This is mainly because set-up costs are low due to legal avoidance of the 1961 US Federal Wire Act.

The US Federal Wire Act also makes it illegal to use phone lines or wires to place bets on sports across international borders. However, the law contains a loophole: it is legal to use the telephone to assist in placing bets in a jurisdiction where gambling is legal.

This loophole, combined with the fact that the Costa Rican government does not charge a betting tax as well as no legal requirements for the licensing of internet gambling, has led to a huge growth in Costa Rican based gaming websites. So much so, that Bettor's World Magazine has labeled Costa Rica the ''the Mecca of offshore wagering.''

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