Europe is one of the biggest opportunities in e-commerce: five mature Amazon marketplaces, hundreds of millions of Prime shoppers, and a single seller account that can reach all of them. But it is also where most sellers get stuck — not because the selling is hard, but because the VAT, compliance and fulfilment rules feel overwhelming. This guide breaks the whole thing down so you can expand into Europe with confidence.
The European Amazon marketplaces
With one Unified European Account you can sell across Amazon’s European stores from a single login and dashboard:
- Amazon.de (Germany) — the largest EU marketplace
- Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
- Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.it (Italy), Amazon.es (Spain)
- Amazon.nl (Netherlands), Amazon.se (Sweden), Amazon.pl (Poland), Amazon.be (Belgium), Amazon.ie (Ireland)
Note that after Brexit, the UK is treated separately from the EU for VAT, customs and compliance — selling into both means handling two sets of rules.
Step 1: Choose your fulfilment model
How your stock is stored and shipped drives your costs, your delivery speed and — importantly — your VAT and compliance obligations:
- European Fulfilment Network (EFN): store stock in one country and Amazon ships across the EU. Simplest to start; higher per-unit fees and slower cross-border delivery.
- Pan-European FBA: Amazon distributes your inventory across multiple countries for fast local delivery and lower fees — but you take on VAT registration and EPR obligations in every country where stock is stored.
- Multi-Country Inventory (MCI): you decide which countries to store in.
- FBM / Seller-Fulfilled: you ship yourself.
We cover the trade-offs in detail in our guide to Pan-European FBA vs EFN.
Step 2: Get your VAT and OSS right
VAT is where most new EU sellers slip up. The key rules:
- You generally need a VAT registration in every country where you store stock (so Pan-EU FBA can mean several registrations).
- For cross-border B2C sales, the EU has a single €10,000 distance-selling threshold. Once your total cross-border sales to EU consumers pass it, you charge the customer’s local VAT rate.
- The One-Stop-Shop (OSS) lets you report all those cross-border sales in one quarterly return instead of filing in every country.
- For goods imported to EU customers valued at €150 or less, the Import One-Stop-Shop (IOSS) simplifies import VAT.
Full breakdown in our EU VAT & OSS guide for Amazon sellers. You’ll also need an EORI number to import goods into the EU.
Step 3: Meet the compliance rules (this is non-negotiable)
Amazon actively suppresses listings that aren’t compliant, so treat this as a prerequisite, not an afterthought:
- GPSR — the EU General Product Safety Regulation (in force since 13 December 2024) requires an EU-based Responsible Person, safety documentation and traceability info on your listings. See our GPSR guide.
- Packaging EPR & PPWR — you must register for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging in the countries you sell to (Germany’s LUCID, France, Spain, Austria and more). From 12 August 2026, the new PPWR tightens this EU-wide. See Amazon EU packaging EPR.
- Product-specific rules — CE marking, WEEE for electronics, batteries and textiles obligations depending on your category.
Step 4: Localise — don’t just auto-translate
A machine-translated German or French listing reads as foreign and converts poorly. Properly localised titles, bullet points and keywords — written the way locals actually search — are one of the highest-ROI moves in European expansion. The same applies to customer service and reviews.
Your Europe launch checklist
- Open/verify your Unified European Account
- Pick your fulfilment model (start with EFN, scale to Pan-EU)
- Register for VAT where you store stock; set up OSS
- Get your EORI number
- Appoint a GPSR Responsible Person and complete product safety docs
- Register for packaging EPR in each market
- Localise listings and keywords per marketplace
Which EPR provider should you actually use?
The thirteen providers we use and recommend for EU packaging EPR — our pick for each country and why, what they charge where they publish it, and how long registration is really taking, including the four countries where the 12 August deadline is no longer reachable.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate Amazon account for each European country?
No. A single Unified European Account gives you access to all of Amazon’s European marketplaces from one login. You still need to handle country-specific VAT and compliance, but not separate accounts.
Do I have to register for VAT in every EU country?
You need a VAT registration in every country where you store inventory. For cross-border sales where stock isn’t stored locally, the OSS scheme lets you report those in one return once you pass the €10,000 EU-wide threshold.
What happens if I ignore GPSR or EPR?
Amazon suppresses or removes non-compliant listings, and you can face fines from national authorities. Both are enforced, so register before you scale.
Is it worth expanding to Europe as a US or UK seller?
For many brands, yes — the combined EU marketplaces rival the US in size and are often less saturated per category. The winners are the sellers who treat compliance and localisation as part of the plan rather than an obstacle.
Expanding into Europe and want the compliance, VAT and PPC handled properly from day one? Book a free consultation and we’ll map out your European launch.