Industry · E-commerce & Retail
UK & EU market entry for e-commerce & retail sellers

Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopify or your own retail channel — we import your stock, provide the Responsible Person and EPR numbers platforms verify, and run the VAT machinery from IOSS to Pan-EU, without you needing a local entity.

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Selling online into the UK and EU without a local entity

E-commerce compresses every cross-border obligation into a single listing. Before a product goes live for European customers, platforms want a valid Responsible Person, verified EPR numbers for Germany and France, and VAT registrations that check out — and before stock reaches a fulfilment centre, someone locally established must import it, because neither Amazon nor your 3PL will be the importer. Sellers discover each wall separately, usually as a suspension email.

flexfrontier clears them together: Importer of Record for your inbound stock, GPSR Responsible Person across your catalogue, EPR registrations platforms verify, and the VAT and EORI machinery underneath — one agreement covering Amazon, TikTok Shop, D2C and retail wholesale.

The VAT map for online sellers

Where your goods sit and how they reach the buyer decides the VAT setup. Holding stock in a country — every FBA and 3PL location, including each Pan-EU placement country — triggers a local VAT registration with no threshold. Cross-border B2C sales within the EU report through a single OSS return. Direct-from-origin consignments up to €150 run through IOSS with VAT collected at checkout, while the UK applies its £135 rule, putting VAT at the point of sale and — for marketplace orders — on the platform as deemed supplier. We design the map for your actual flows, register what is needed and skip what is not.

The €150 exemption is going: under the EU's agreed customs reform, the duty exemption for low-value consignments is being removed, pushing direct-shipping models toward EU-held stock — which makes the importer, VAT and EPR stack more important, not less. Sellers building the structure now are ahead of the change.

Platform verification: RP and EPR at listing level

Compliance enforcement has moved into the seller dashboard. The GPSR obliges marketplaces to verify an EU Responsible Person before consumer-product listings go live; German and French marketplace-liability laws require platforms to check LUCID and ADEME numbers, with Amazon suspending non-compliant listings or charging premium rates to cover fees on your behalf. TikTok Shop applies equivalent checks as it expands across the EU. We provide the appointments and numbers in the exact format each platform validates — and fix suspended listings caused by gaps.

Inbound, returns and the full loop

As your Importer of Record we clear stock into UK and EU fulfilment networks with duty and import VAT structured to be recoverable — and when inventory needs to leave, as Exporter of Record we handle FBA removal orders, returns consolidation and market exits, relocating stock to your next market instead of paying for destruction. Combined, the two services make multi-market inventory rebalancing a managed movement rather than a compliance gamble.

Who we work with

  • Amazon sellers — FBA, Pan-EU and European Fulfilment Network programmes.
  • TikTok Shop and social-commerce sellers entering EU markets.
  • Shopify and D2C brands shipping direct or from European 3PLs.
  • Dropshippers and print-on-demand businesses — in scope of the GPSR like everyone else.
  • Retail brands supplying UK/EU wholesale alongside their online channels.
At a glance
Territories
UK + 27 EU member states
Channels
Amazon · TikTok Shop · D2C · retail
Key schemes
IOSS · OSS · PVA · Pan-EU FBA
Setup time
From 24 hours
Request a consultation
One partner, every obligation
How our services map to e-commerce

Every flexfrontier service applied to the realities of online selling — click through for the full picture on each.

Importer of Record

FBA & 3PL inbound · D2C consignments

Amazon and fulfilment centres will not import your stock — we act as the legal importer into UK and EU warehouses, so Pan-EU and multi-country fulfilment actually works.

GPSR Responsible Person

Verified at listing level

The Article 16 appointment Amazon, TikTok Shop and other platforms check before listings go live — one appointment covering your whole catalogue across every channel.

EPR Compliance

LUCID · ADEME · UK — the listing blockers

Germany and France legally require platforms to verify EPR numbers, and Amazon suspends listings without them. We obtain the registrations and keep the declarations current.

VAT & EORI

IOSS · OSS · UK VAT · storage-country registrations

The full seller VAT map — IOSS, OSS, the UK £135 rule and storage-country registrations — designed for your actual flows and linked to the EORI numbers customs requires.

Exporter of Record

FBA removals · returns consolidation

Removal orders and returned stock get a compliant route out — relocated to your next market instead of destroyed, with proof of export for VAT.

Authorised Representative

CE / UKCA product lines

Electronics, toys and other CE-marked catalogue lines need an EU/UK economic operator on top of the GPSR role — folded into the same engagement.

Common questions
E-commerce & retail — FAQs

  • Can you import our stock into Amazon FBA warehouses?

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    Yes. Amazon will not act as Importer of Record for FBA inbound freight, so we act as the legal importer for your stock into UK and EU fulfilment centres — including Pan-EU placement countries — with VAT structured so import VAT is recoverable.

  • Which VAT registrations does Pan-EU FBA require?

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    Holding stock in a country triggers a local VAT registration there, so Pan-EU placement typically means registrations in each storage country, with cross-border B2C sales reported through OSS on top. We map your actual placements and register exactly what the programme requires.

  • What is IOSS and should we use it?

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    The Import One Stop Shop covers direct-to-consumer consignments up to €150 shipped from outside the EU: VAT is collected at your checkout and remitted through a single monthly return, and shipments clear faster. If you ship direct rather than from EU stock, IOSS is usually the right structure — we register and set it up.

  • How does the UK £135 rule work?

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    For consignments up to £135 sold to UK consumers, VAT is due at the point of sale rather than at the border — collected by you (requiring a UK VAT registration) or by the marketplace as deemed supplier for platform orders. Above £135, normal import VAT applies. We set up whichever side of the rule your flows sit on.

  • Why did Amazon suspend our listings over EPR?

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    German and French law obliges marketplaces to verify producer EPR numbers — Germany's LUCID packaging registration and France's ADEME identifiers — and Amazon suppresses listings without valid ones or charges premium rates to cover fees for you. We obtain the registrations and supply them in the format Amazon validates.

  • Do dropshippers need a GPSR Responsible Person?

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    Yes. Offering a consumer product online to EU customers counts as placing it on the market regardless of where it ships from, so dropshipping and print-on-demand models need an EU-established Responsible Person like any other seller. One flexfrontier appointment covers the catalogue.

  • What happens to our FBA removal orders and returns?

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    We act as Exporter of Record for removals and consolidated returns — filing the export declarations, preserving proof of export for VAT, and moving stock to your next market instead of destroying it. Paired with our IOR service at the destination, rebalancing between the UK, EU and beyond is one managed flow.

  • Is the €150 EU duty exemption really being removed?

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    Yes — under the EU's agreed customs reform the duty exemption for low-value consignments is being phased out, which will push direct-shipping models toward EU-held stock. Building the importer, VAT and EPR structure now positions you ahead of the change; we track the implementation dates.