How to sell on Amazon Germany and expand across the EU

What do you need before you sell on Amazon.de?

Amazon.de's Professional plan costs €39 a month excluding VAT, and referral fees mostly run from 8% to 15%. The work is registration.

Requirement	Who issues it	When you need it
German VAT number	Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt registers US companies; the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) issues the VAT ID	Before stock is stored in Germany
LUCID registration and system contract	ZSVR and a packaging system operator	Before packaged goods reach German consumers
Packaging authorised representative	Appointed by you, named in LUCID	Since 12 August 2026, if you have no German branch
WEEE or battery registration	stiftung ear, through a German authorised representative if you have no German branch	Before selling electrical products or batteries
EU responsible person	Appointed by you, shown on product and listing	Since 13 December 2024, for most non-food products

Do you need a German VAT number to sell on Amazon.de?

Yes, if your stock sits in a German fulfilment centre: Amazon needs a VAT number for every storage country. Germany's standard rate is 19% and the reduced rate is 7%.

US companies register with Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt and name a German receiving agent when they apply. An advance return is then due for each month or quarter by the 10th of the month after it ends, even with no sales, plus an annual return.

Where Amazon is not the deemed supplier, as on B2B orders, section 22f of the VAT Act makes it record your BZSt-issued VAT ID for goods shipped from or to Germany, and section 25e makes it liable for your unpaid VAT unless that ID was valid at the time of sale and it had no reason to doubt you.

Who collects the VAT, and where do OSS and IOSS fit?

• Amazon, for non-EU brands. Since 1 July 2021, Amazon, as the deemed supplier, collects VAT at checkout on B2C orders shipped from EU stock for sellers not established in the EU.
• OSS. Since 1 July 2021, intra-EU distance sales above an EU-wide €10,000 threshold are taxed in the customer's country and can go in one quarterly OSS return. Only sellers established in one EU country get the threshold.
• IOSS. Covers imported consignments up to €150; Amazon collects it for non-EU sellers shipping from outside the EU.

None of these replaces your German registration: the Commission's explanatory notes say a non-EU seller with stock in a member state must register for VAT there, even when a marketplace collects the VAT.

What EPR and product safety registrations does Germany require?

Packaging. Since 1 July 2022, every business that first puts packaged goods on the German market must be registered in the free LUCID Packaging Register. Marketplaces must now verify that registration and your self-certification of EPR compliance, or stop offering the goods. Shipping packaging, including boxes, tape and fill, always needs a system operator contract and volume reports by material. Amazon asks for your 13-digit LUCID number.

The August 2026 change. Since 12 August 2026, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and Germany's VerpackDG apply. A company with no German branch selling packaged goods directly to German end users must appoint an authorised representative for the system contract and reports. LUCID registration stays with you.

Electronics and batteries are registered with stiftung ear under the ElektroG and the battery law (BattDG). Without a German branch, both require you to appoint a German authorised representative.

Product safety. Since 13 December 2024, the General Product Safety Regulation requires an EU-based responsible operator for each product. Amazon's EU stores need that person and the manufacturer's details on the listing, with warnings in the local language, or the listing can be removed.

Should you use Pan-European FBA or store stock in Germany only?

With stock only in Germany, orders from other EU stores ship cross-border at European Fulfilment Network (EFN) fees. Pan-European FBA lets Amazon move stock between countries at no transfer cost so orders ship at local fees. Amazon.de requires:

• The same SKU listed in the German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch stores. Belgium is added on 26 February 2027.
• Storage enabled in at least two of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, each needing its own VAT number.

Amazon puts the best case at up to 53% lower shipping fees than EFN. Since 17 April 2026, a 1.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies to FBA shipping fees in the UK and all nine Pan-EU stores. Each storage country adds VAT filings and a stock level to monitor.

Do your Amazon.de listings need to be in German?

In practice, yes. Amazon's Build International Listings tool machine-translates titles and bullets, but Amazon warns the output can miss local search terms and suggests a translator who knows Amazon listings for the full listing, A+ Content included. The GPSR makes German mandatory for safety warnings.

What does Growth OS automate for a German launch?

Growth OS runs on your own Amazon accounts. Items 1 to 4 are base modules; 5 and 6 are custom, scoped for an EU launch.

1. German listings. AI agents draft German titles, bullets and attributes from local keyword research and publish once a reviewer approves, as in Grow8.
2. Pan-EU stock. Checks each SKU is live in every required store, plans inbound replenishment for the EU pool and tracks where Amazon places stock by country.
3. Margin per country. Syncs prices per store and reports contribution margin per SKU and country, fuel surcharge and VAT included.
4. Transfer checks. Flags units moved between EU fulfilment centres that never arrive, for reimbursement review.
5. Custom: compliance register. LUCID, stiftung ear, responsible person and German safety text per SKU, holding back any listing with a gap.
6. Custom: filing inputs, not filings. Per-country transaction exports for your tax adviser and packaging weights by material for LUCID reports.

The multi-marketplace core is the kind we built for Seller7, used by 700+ sellers across 20+ marketplaces. We add custom software and AI agents, then hand over the custom code and your data.

Where should you start?

Before you register, find where a second region would leak revenue. The Ops Gap Diagnostic starts with a free Quick Scan of your top three Amazon operations gaps, from uploaded reports; the paid Deep Diagnostic adds marketplace and country opportunities such as Germany and Pan-EU. To see the base system first, look at Growth OS.