With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, many European sellers decided not to continue selling their products on Amazon due to the obstacles, fiscal and logistical difficulties, among others, that they encountered along the way.
After months of uncertainty, Amazon has announced that it will reopen the European Logistics Network between the United Kingdom and the European Union, thus making it possible to manage cross-border orders for those products that meet the established requirements, one of them having a Logistics inventory of Amazon at the logistics center of origin.
In this way, thanks to the reopening of this logistics network, it will be possible to store your eligible items in your country of origin to manage your orders from the United Kingdom. In this way, Amazon will be in charge of sending the products under the “Prime” seal.
When will the process of reopening the Amazon European Fulfillment Network between the United Kingdom and the European Union be?
The process of reopening the Amazon European Fulfillment Network between the United Kingdom and the European Union is expected to take place from March 2022 and gradually in phases until May 2022. In addition, it is important to note that Amazon has announced which, from March 31, will offer a 20% discount on the rates of the European Logistics Network between the United Kingdom and the EU during a promotional period of one year.
It must be taken into account that, in the case of those products that have inventory in the country of the store of origin, national logistics management will be prioritized, thus applying the corresponding logistics management fees. If you have inventory stored in the United Kingdom, you must be up to date with the different tax obligations. Later we will talk about everything you must take into account at the fiscal level with respect to the reopening of the European Logistics Network.
What are the requirements and details to take into account to sell between the United Kingdom and the European Union through the European Logistics Network?
To activate your listings in the UK and be able to sell your products between the United Kingdom and the European Union through the European Logistics Network, you must take into account a series of factors and requirements:
- You must have a Seller account open in the United Kingdom and in the European Union
- Having Fulfillment by Amazon offers for your products both in the European market and in the United Kingdom, it is not necessary to have active offers in all the countries of the European Union, with a store it would be enough (France, Germany, Italy and/or Spain ).
– If you create bulk offers, we recommend using the “Create International Listings” tool. If you use this tool, it is important that you pay attention to the configuration and use the special pricing rule “Same as the originating website, adjust taxes and fees”. It is important to emphasize that the logistics rates will be approximately double that of Spain and the highest in all of Europe, so we recommend that you make sure that your prices reflect the rates of the European Logistics Network and VAT.
– If you want to activate offers manually, it is important that you provide the same SKU for your offers in both the UK and the European Union. If deals are created and in the correct state, before this program starts, they should show up as “inactive (out of stock)” on the UK FBA inventory page. Just like if you create the bulk offers, it is important to manually adjust the prices to adapt them to the new UK rates.
Inventory stored in local logistics centers in the European Union - The price of an eligible product must not exceed €135 in the European Union and £122 in the United Kingdom. Once registered, you will be able to check if your offers are eligible via the European Fulfillment Network ASIN Eligibility Report under Inventory > FBA Pan-European Inventory > “Reports” tab – Manage European Fulfillment Network Settings (Fulfillment Network Europe) in the UK and the EU — Download the report.
Amazon’s shipping programs and fulfillment settings must be enabled in both origin and destination countries. Exports must be authorized in Spain, Germany, Italy and France. - The European Logistics Network is only available from France, Germany, Italy or Spain to the United Kingdom.
- Starting March 31, Amazon will offer a 20% discount on European Fulfillment Network rates between the UK and the EU for a one-year promotional period.
We have prepared an infographic with useful and practical information so that you always have at hand those elements to take into account when preparing to sell in the United Kingdom through the European Logistics Network program, you can download it for free here.
How can I register my international offers to sell through this program in the United Kingdom and the European Union?
First, you’ll need to have your eligible offers registered through the Cross Border Fulfillment Setup. Once this is done, you will receive an email to confirm that your offer registration has been completed and, from March 2022, eligible international offers between the UK and the European Union will be sent via the European Fulfillment Network.
Importantly, the Shipping Schedules and Export Configuration settings may be automatically updated to enable cross-border fulfillment. This is why we recommend reviewing it.
If you wanted to stop participating in this program, you would have to access the Cross-border logistics configuration and uncheck the selection of the countries in Registration in the Logistics Network between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
What must be taken into account at the level of VAT and taxes when using the European logistics network between the United Kingdom and the European Union?
It is impossible to talk about sales between the United Kingdom and the European Union without doubts arising at the tax level, in order to solve them we have collaborated with Taxdoo, an agency specialized in offering tax solutions in relation to online commerce.
For VAT purposes, it is important to consider the following implications with this new reopening.
As mentioned, you must have a Seller account open in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. This change generates several scenarios, depending on the place where merchandise circulation begins and the value of the shipment, if it exceeds 135 pounds or 150 euros.
From a tax point of view, we must consider the European vision, as well as the British vision and the different obligations that derive from it.
For this, it will be important to be able to correctly differentiate the movement of the merchandise and the final destination.
We help you internationalize your business
At Década Studio, with a multidisciplinary and multicultural team based in Barcelona, we capitalize on growth opportunities by managing the complete cycle of your online sales strategy. Specialized in the management of Marketplaces with effective experience in Digital Marketing services, we help you find high-level solutions to diversify and grow your online business.
We know that facing the world of Amazon first can be confusing, which is why we make all our resources and tools available to companies to make this path easier. We want you to be able to get the most out of the platform, which is why we offer comprehensive management of the entire sales process within the great Amazon marketplace.
Among all these functions is to get the most out of the rest of the European and international markets, including the United Kingdom.
Taxdoo is a fast growing and sustainable company based in Hamburg. Our cloud-based solution automatically and securely manages VAT processes in other EU countries and the UK through a single platform.
Through the automated data monitoring and evaluation process, our system recognizes the respective tax obligations in other EU countries as well as the UK and prepares the data in a clear and concise manner.
From Taxdoo we help you manage all the VAT processes so that you can focus on the most important aspects of your business without worries.
