The short version
A small brand from the US, Switzerland or the UK can open a German web shop in a weekend. Selling there legally takes longer, and the reason has changed. Five years ago the main hurdles were customs and VAT at the border. Today most of them sit inside the market: before the first sale, someone established in the EU has to answer for the product, the packaging, the take-back of electrical goods and the customer data.
We mapped what that means for three typical small sellers. Each needs three to six separate parties in the EU and one to three national registrations before its first legal sale, all of them before any revenue. The border has not become easier either: since 1 July 2026, parcels under EUR 150 pay a flat customs duty per item, and a handling fee per item has applied since 1 November 2026.
The strategic consequence: market entry into Germany is now a fixed cost paid up front, and the entry model a brand chooses (direct, marketplace, EU fulfilment or its own EU company) decides who carries which part of it. Brands that make that choice first, and sequence the registrations around it, enter faster and with fewer surprises.
Executive summary
- Accountability has moved inside the market. Since 13 December 2024, a consumer product may only be placed on the EU market if an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it (Art. 16 GPSR). Packaging, electrical equipment, batteries and personal data follow the same logic, each with its own representative.
- The stack is wide, not deep. No single obligation is hard. The effort comes from nine to eleven groups of obligations across product, take-back, tax, website and data, handled by three to six different EU parties (Exhibit 1).
- The border advantage of small parcels is gone. The EU ended its customs duty exemption for parcels up to EUR 150 on 1 July 2026 and added a handling fee per item from 1 November 2026. The US ended its own de minimis exemption on 29 August 2025.
- Platforms have become the enforcers, but they don't carry the duties. Marketplaces collect VAT on many sales and check trader and product data before listing, but packaging, take-back and product responsibility stay with the seller.
- The fees are modest; the coordination is not. Public price lists put the EU parties at roughly EUR 800 to 3,900 a year per profile. The real effort is keeping several contracts, registrations and renewal dates in place.
- Part of the stack may shrink. A pending EU proposal would suspend the duty to appoint authorised representatives for packaging and batteries. Until it is adopted, the current rules apply.
Why this question, and why now
Three shifts between 2021 and 2026 changed what “entering Germany” means for a small non-EU brand.
1. Someone in Europe has to answer for the product
The EU's market surveillance regulation introduced the idea for CE-marked goods in 2021. The General Product Safety Regulation extended it to almost all consumer products:
“A product covered by this Regulation shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for the tasks set out in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 in respect to that product.”
German take-back laws apply the same idea to their own fields. Electrical equipment law, for example, says a producer “der keine Niederlassung im Geltungsbereich dieses Gesetzes hat, muss einen Bevollmächtigten beauftragen” (§ 8 Abs. 1 ElektroG), and packaging law has the same requirement since August 2026 (§ 5 Abs. 2 VerpackDG).
2. The small-parcel route got more expensive
“From 1 July 2026, the EU will apply a temporary €3 customs duty per item on low-value consignments” and “From 1 November 2026, the EU will apply the €2 Union handling fee.”
The flat duty is planned to run until the EU Customs Data Hub becomes mandatory for e-commerce on 1 July 2028; after that, normal duty rates apply. Shipping many cheap parcels from outside the EU is no longer the low-cost default it used to be.
3. Platforms check before they list
Online marketplaces must collect and verify trader information (Art. 30 DSA), have product-safety duties of their own (Art. 22 GPSR) and are the deemed supplier for VAT on imports up to EUR 150 and on sales by non-EU sellers from EU stock (Art. 14a VAT Directive). In practice, a missing registration now shows up as a blocked listing, often before any authority looks.
Method
We built the obligation stack for three reference profiles, each a small brand (about 15 employees, so the micro-enterprise exemptions do not apply) that sells to consumers in Germany through its own web shop:
- US apparel brand, shipping from the US.
- Swiss consumer-electronics maker, devices with built-in batteries, shipping from Switzerland.
- UK cosmetics brand, shipping from the UK.
German and EU-wide duties come from the Oblior rule catalogue, where every rule is matched to company facts and its quote is checked against the official text. Product-specific EU acts that are not yet in the catalogue (cosmetics, textile labelling, batteries, customs) were added from EUR-Lex and the European Commission. Legal status as of 7 November 2026.
We count an obligation once per profile, even if it involves several steps. We count EU parties by role, not by provider: one service company acting as both packaging and GDPR representative still counts as two roles.
The stack: what each profile takes on
| Area | Obligation | Legal basis | US apparel | CH electronics | UK cosmetics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | An economic operator in the EU who answers for the product | Art. 16 GPSR, Art. 4 Reg. 2019/1020 | Yes, EU/DE party | Yes, EU/DE party | - |
| Product | Cosmetics: EU responsible person and portal notification (CPNP) | Art. 4, 13 Reg. 1223/2009 | - | - | Yes, EU/DE party |
| Product | Manufacturer, EU contact and safety information in every online listing | Art. 19 GPSR | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Product | CE marking and EU declaration of conformity | EU harmonisation acts for the product type | - | Yes | - |
| Product | Fibre composition label | Reg. 1007/2011 | Yes | - | - |
| Take-back | WEEE registration with stiftung ear through a German authorised representative | § 6, § 8 ElektroG | - | Yes, EU/DE party | - |
| Take-back | Battery producer registration (devices with batteries), authorised representative | Reg. 2023/1542 | - | Depends | - |
| Take-back | Packaging: LUCID registration, EPR authorised representative, dual system, data reports | § 5, 6, 7, 9 VerpackDG | Yes, EU/DE party | Yes, EU/DE party | Yes, EU/DE party |
| Tax and customs | Import VAT; IOSS through an EU intermediary for parcels up to EUR 150; German VAT registration once stock is held in Germany | VAT Directive (Art. 369l ff.) | Depends | Depends | Depends |
| Tax and customs | EUR 3 duty per item on parcels up to EUR 150, EUR 2 handling fee per item | Reg. 2026/382; Union handling fee | Depends | Depends | Depends |
| Website | Imprint, order button, pre-contract information, withdrawal function | § 5 DDG, § 312j, § 356a BGB | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Website | Accessible shop and accessibility statement (not for micro-enterprises) | § 1 Abs. 3 Nr. 5 BFSG | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Website | Unit price for goods sold by volume or weight | § 4 PAngV | - | - | Yes |
| Data | Privacy notice, cookie consent and an EU representative under the GDPR | Art. 13, 27 GDPR, § 25 TDDDG | Yes, EU/DE party | Yes, EU/DE party | Yes, EU/DE party |
“EU/DE party”: the duty needs a person or company established in the EU or in Germany. “Depends”: on parcel value, on where stock is held or, for batteries, on whether the device contains one. Cosmetics have their own responsible person under the Cosmetics Regulation; the general GPSR row does not apply to them on top.
Exhibit 1 shows the EU-based roles behind these obligations. Three patterns stand out.
- Three to six EU parties per profile. The US apparel brand needs a product operator, a packaging representative, a GDPR representative and, for IOSS, an intermediary. The Swiss electronics maker adds a WEEE representative and, while the rule stands, a battery representative. The UK cosmetics brand replaces the product operator with a cosmetics responsible person.
- One to three national registrations: LUCID for packaging in every case, stiftung ear for electrical equipment and batteries, the EU cosmetics portal for cosmetics.
- The website duties are the same for everyone and are the ones customers and competitors see first. In Germany, gaps here can also lead to warning letters (Abmahnungen) from competitors, independent of any authority.
What it costs
The fees themselves are modest. Public price lists of representative and registration services put the recurring cost of the EU parties at roughly EUR 800 to 3,900 a year per profile.
| Item | EUR, excl. VAT | Note |
|---|---|---|
| EU responsible person (GPSR) | 150 - 550 per year | For 1 to 5 products; per-product plans cost more. |
| Packaging: authorised representative (DE) | from 250 per year | Up to 1 tonne of packaging; larger volumes on request. |
| Packaging: dual-system licence | 30 - 80 per year | Minimum prices for very small volumes; grows with weight and material. |
| LUCID registration | free | Official register, no fee. |
| WEEE authorised representative (DE) | 300 - 1,000 per year | Plus official registration fees; often bundled with battery registration. |
| GDPR representative in the EU | 350 - 2,000 per year | Basic mailbox-style plans at the low end, advisory plans at the high end. |
| Cosmetics responsible person | 500 - 750 per year | Quoted in GBP (about 430 - 650); safety report per product often extra. |
| Profile | Recurring cost per year (EUR) |
|---|---|
| US apparel brand | about 800 - 2,900 |
| Swiss electronics maker | about 1,100 - 3,900, plus battery registration |
| UK cosmetics brand | about 1,100 - 3,100, plus product safety reports |
Ranges from public price lists of service providers, checked on 7 November 2026; not quotes. Not included: VAT registration and tax advice, product testing, customs duty, own staff time. Prices change often; ask two or three providers for written offers.
The money is rarely what stops a small brand. The effort is in coordination: three to six contracts with different providers, renewal dates and registration numbers that all have to be in place before the first sale, and kept current afterwards.
The critical path to the first legal sale
Most of these duties apply before the product is first made available, that is, before the first parcel reaches a German customer, not after the first year. Several depend on each other, which makes the order matter more than the effort. Exhibit 2 shows the dependencies; in short:
- Decide the entry model. It decides who can act as the EU economic operator, whether stock sits in Germany (and so whether German VAT registration is needed) and which duties a marketplace takes over.
- Appoint the EU parties. The packaging and WEEE registrations of a producer without a German establishment run through its authorised representative, so the representative comes first.
- Register and contract. LUCID, a dual system for packaging that reaches consumers, stiftung ear where relevant, the cosmetics portal for cosmetics.
- Update product data and listings. Every listing needs the manufacturer, the EU responsible person and safety information (Art. 19 GPSR); electrical goods need the WEEE registration number.
- Ship. Only now is the first sale legal.
Getting the order wrong has consequences: a listing that goes live before the packaging registration exists is already a breach, and a marketplace may block the product until the missing representative or registration is in place.
Four ways in, and who carries what
The entry model is the main lever a small brand has. It does not make obligations disappear, but it moves them to someone else, at a price in margin, data or control.
| Entry model | Takes over | Stays with the brand | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ship direct from home | Nobody. The seller appoints every representative itself. | Everything: product operator, packaging, take-back, VAT/IOSS, website, GDPR representative. | Testing demand with a small range; parcels mostly under EUR 150. |
| Sell through a marketplace | VAT on imports up to EUR 150 and on sales from EU stock (deemed supplier). Checks trader and product data before listing. | Product operator, packaging and take-back registrations, product information. The marketplace checks them; it does not take them over. | Fast first sales; little control over customer data and pricing. |
| Hold stock with an EU fulfilment provider | Can act as the product's EU economic operator if no one else does (Art. 4 Reg. 2019/1020). | German VAT registration, packaging and take-back registrations, website duties. | Proven demand; faster delivery; parcels above EUR 150. |
| Set up an EU company | Becomes importer or manufacturer itself; most authorised-representative roles fall away. | All product, packaging and tax duties, plus company duties: annual accounts, transparency register, e-invoicing. | Several EU countries planned; brand wants full control. |
Exhibit 3 adds our qualitative assessment of what each model costs up front and how much control over customer data and pricing it leaves the brand.
Two points are often misunderstood. First, a marketplace checks registrations but does not hold them: if the brand's packaging registration is missing, the listing is blocked, and the duty is still the brand's. Second, an EU company removes most representative roles, but it brings company duties of its own, from annual accounts to receiving e-invoices.
The economics follow from this. The fixed part of the stack is similar whether a brand ships ten parcels a month or a thousand. For low volumes, a marketplace or a fulfilment provider that carries part of it is usually cheaper. Once Germany is a core market, and especially once more EU countries follow, the stack multiplies: packaging and take-back registrations are national, so every further country adds its own. That is the point at which an EU company tends to pay off.
What we expect next
Each item is labelled with how certain it is, using the same words Oblior uses in its product: confirmed (adopted, date fixed), likely (adopted or far advanced, details open) and open (proposed, outcome uncertain).
- Confirmed: the flat EUR 3 duty per item applies until the EU Customs Data Hub becomes mandatory for e-commerce on 1 July 2028; after that, normal duty rates apply to small parcels.
- Confirmed: the EU Packaging Regulation applies since 12 August 2026, with design and labelling requirements phased in over the next years. Packaging data will matter more, not less.
- Open: the Commission proposed on 10 December 2025 to suspend the duty to appoint authorised representatives for packaging and batteries (procedure 2025/0395(COD)). Parliament adopted its position on 20 October 2026, and the file is now in negotiation with the Council. Until a regulation is published, the current duties apply.
- Likely: marketplaces will block more listings for missing product and registration data, because their own duties make checking cheaper than the risk.
What this means for you
For every non-EU brand
- Choose the entry model before you appoint anyone; it decides which EU parties you need.
- Budget the stack as a fixed yearly cost of being in the market, not as a one-off launch cost.
- Add manufacturer, EU responsible person and safety information to your product data model, not just to individual listings.
- Keep one list of your EU parties, registration numbers and renewal dates. Several providers often mean several contracts that end at different times.
Apparel
Check fibre composition labels and packaging registration first; these are the two duties most often discovered late.
Electronics
Start the WEEE and battery registrations early, through a German authorised representative, and show the WEEE number in offers and on invoices.
Cosmetics
Appoint the EU responsible person and complete the portal notification before the first sale; show unit prices for products sold by volume.
Method and limits
- Three reference profiles, not a survey. A real brand can have more duties (for example food contact materials, toys or radio equipment) or fewer (micro-enterprise exemptions).
- We count obligations and parties, not effort. One obligation can take an hour or several weeks depending on the product.
- Income tax, customs classification and product-specific technical standards are outside the scope.
- Legal status as of 7 November 2026. Pending legislation is marked as such and can change the picture.
Sources
Official texts
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (General Product Safety Regulation)
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (market surveillance)
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (cosmetic products)
- Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 (textile fibre names and labelling)
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (batteries)
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (packaging and packaging waste)
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
- Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act)
- Council Directive 2006/112/EC (VAT Directive)
- German law: VerpackDG, ElektroG, DDG, BGB, BFSG, PAngV, TDDDG
Price lists (checked 7 November 2026)
- EUverify: EU responsible person under the GPSR
- Ecosistant: authorised representative for packaging
- zmart: packaging licences for small volumes
- Eldris: WEEE authorised representative Germany
- rep4eu: GDPR representative pricing, Prighter: GDPR representative
- Eldris: published prices for cosmetics responsible persons
Authorities and registers
About this article
This article provides general information about legal duties for typical business profiles. It is not legal or tax advice and does not assess any individual business. Legal texts as of 7 November 2026.
Oblior shows which of these obligations apply to your business, with the official source quoted, and tells you when one changes.