Are you an Amazon seller looking to expand your business across the European market? Pan-European Fulfilment By Amazon (Pan-EU FBA) could be your game-changer. In this blog post, we'll explore the ins and outs of Pan-European FBA, its benefits, eligibility criteria, and steps to get started. Understanding Pan-European FBA:
Understanding Pan-European FBA:
Pan-European FBA allows sellers to distribute their products efficiently across various European countries, leveraging Amazon's extensive logistics network. By storing inventory in Amazon's fulfilment centres across Europe, sellers can benefit from lower fulfilment fees and reach a broader customer base.
Benefits of Pan-European FBA:
1. Lower FBA Fees: Storing inventory in European fulfilment centres leads to potential cost savings with lower fulfilment fees from shipping directly from UK FCs.
2. Access to European Customers: Tap into diverse customer demographics by efficiently reaching customers in multiple European countries.
3. Local Customer Service: Amazon's still takes care of all of the customer service side of things. This a great benefit as their support team will be able to communicate in the language of the customer so no need for google translate.
4. Continuous Sales: With different time zones, see sales roll in after UK customers have gone to sleep.
5. International Expansion: Expand your business overseas by accessing millions of potential customers across Amazon's European marketplaces.
Available countries for Pan-European FBA:
United KingdomÂ
Germany
France
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Sweden
Poland
Czech Republic
Getting Started with Pan-European FBA:
1. Apply for a VAT number: Obtain a VAT number for a European Union country.
2. Confirm Product Eligibility: Ensure your products are eligible for Pan-European FBA across all Amazon EU marketplaces.
3. Create ASINs: Match your products to existing Amazon listings or create new ASIN listings.
4. Enable Pan-European FBA: Go to your Fulfilment by Amazon settings in Seller Central and enable Pan-EU FBA.
5. Create FBA Offers: Use the same fulfilment network SKU for offers across all marketplaces.
6. HS Codes: Include Harmonized System (HS) codes for customs processing. Understanding these codes is crucial to prevent issues with customs clearance.
Why HS Codes Matter for Pan-European FBA:
HS codes classify products for customs, ensuring accurate tax calculation and adherence to restrictions. Including HS codes in shipping documents is essential to avoid delays and ensure correct tax payments.
It is always a good idea to have a under standing of these codes prior to enrolling as this can cause issues down the line with customs clearance if codes have not been entered correctly. You can find your item product codes here. For further guidance on HS codes view the UK Government advise here.
Pan-European FBA Product Eligibility Criteria:
To activate a product in Pan-European FBA, it is essential to create an active FBA offer in all required Amazon European marketplaces listed on the Pan-European FBA Manage Your Inventory page in your Seller Central account. This ensures eligibility for program benefits. The following criteria must be met:
1. Listings must be active for qualifying products in ALL required marketplaces.
2. Products must be eligible for cross-border delivery in Europe. Ineligible items include food and beverage, medicine, and hazardous materials.
3. Products must comply with legal and operational requirements in each Amazon Europe marketplace listed.
4. If a product doesn't exist in a certain marketplace or is unavailable due to local restrictions, it is not mandatory to list that product in that country for Pan-European FBA. However, if the listing is created by another seller or through automatic listing creation, products won't be available for Pan-European FBA until listed in all relevant marketplaces.
5. All FBA offers for the same ASIN must be linked to the same inventory pool with identical FNSKU (Fulfilment Network Stock Keeping Unit).
6. If Pan-European FBA requires offers in specific marketplaces, only those offers must be linked to the same inventory pool. Offers in other marketplaces should have a different FNSKU.
7. FBA offers must be for products in new condition.
8. All units for an ASIN in one inventory pool must have consistent labelling (either labelled or sticker less). Inventory cannot have different labelling in different marketplaces.
9. Commingled inventory must have EAN/UPC barcodes identified for all five European marketplaces. Commingling can be either local (domestic commingling) or cross-border in the EU (cross-border commingling).
10. ASINs will not be commingled across fulfilment centres in different countries. However, ASINs commingled in one marketplace may be eligible for Pan-European FBA.
11. Sellers can have both Fulfilled by Merchant and Pan-European FBA offers for the same product. However, having both FBA and Pan-European FBA offers for the same product is not allowed.
For products requiring approval, sellers can request approval here.
Pan-European FBA fees:
Amazon fulfilment fees differ from country to country. It is therefore important to check on each market place for the correct fees. This is also vital for working out your COGs when selling across platforms.
It is also important to take into account the different types of fees that Amazon charge. ie storage fees. A list of EU fees can be found here.
Pan-European FBA and VAT:
To start Pan-European FBA you will just need to provide at least two VAT numbers in Seller Central or enable at least two countries for inventory placement and list your offers in all required stores. This can be a UK VAT number and a VAT number from one of the EU countries that you will be selling in.
Storing units in a country outside your home store country will trigger additional VAT registration and reporting obligations for your business, as well as Intrastat and other reporting requirements. You will be responsible for the collection and payment of your taxes and the filing of all relevant returns where required. Different countries also have different VAT percentages and different regulations. It is also important to a have a base level of understanding around these and this will again assist you have it comes to your item COGs. This guide provide information on some of the obligations regarding VAT in the EU. More VAT information can also be found within Seller Central. Amazon also offers sellers a VAT service where they take care of the VAT elements and assist you with VAT compliance. EU VAT registration advise All EU countries VAT in one place
Pan-European FBA getting your goods moving:
While Amazon takes care of transporting goods within the Pan-EU program, sellers need to arrange getting the goods to Amazon's UK FC.
To get you goods to Amazon FC for the Pan EU program a shipment will still need to be created within send to Amazon. When creating this shipment the destination country for the stock will need to be selected and the shipment created within the chosen market place.
The shipment can then be created as normal with all of the product prep undertaken. When finalising the shipment you will notice that you will be shipping to Amazon FC Weybridge. This is the Amazon processing FC for Pan EU shipments. You will also be unable to ship via Amazon preferred carrier UPS and will instead have to arrange your own 3rd part logistics. Shipping rates for this will depend on the weight and size of the box. The price for this shipping can range between £6 and £12 per box. This will also have to be considered when applying your COGs er item.
Customs documents will also have to be completed period to shipping your goods. Customs documents will need to include the product name, weight, ASIN, HS codes, product origin. This information will then need to be split down into each shipping box.
Blue30 and Pan-European FBA:
Blue30 is an UK Amazon Prep Centre, offering a product preparation service for Amazon FBA sellers. We also have one of the lowest Pan EU shipping rates around and have dedicated systems in place to assist with the customs processing. We also have the option to send pallets and cartons directly into the EU and with Blue30Shipping we have the know who to get your goods moving from anywhere around the world to any Amazon FC worldwide. Find out more about our pricing. Or to contact us regarding Pan EU shipping rates.
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