What Changed After Brexit
Before Brexit, UK sellers could store inventory in Amazon's UK fulfilment centres and have it shipped to customers across the EU with minimal friction. Post-Brexit, goods crossing from the UK to EU countries are treated as international shipments with customs declarations, duties, and VAT implications. This made selling from UK stock to EU customers more complex and often more expensive.
How Remote Fulfilment Works
Amazon's Remote Fulfilment with FBA programme attempts to bridge this gap. It allows UK FBA inventory to be used to fulfil orders from European marketplaces (Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, etc.) without you needing to send separate stock to EU fulfilment centres. Amazon handles the cross-border shipping, customs, and delivery to the EU customer.
The programme is designed to make pan-European selling simpler for UK sellers who do not want to manage separate EU inventory pools or navigate the complexities of EU VAT registration and compliance.
Costs and Fees
Remote Fulfilment fees are higher than standard domestic FBA fees because of the cross-border shipping involved. The additional cost per unit varies by destination country and product size. You need to factor these higher fees into your pricing on European marketplaces to maintain profitability.
Despite the higher fees, Remote Fulfilment can still be more cost-effective than maintaining separate stock in EU countries, particularly if your EU sales volume does not justify the overhead of EU inventory management and VAT compliance.
Delivery Times
Because products ship from the UK to EU countries, delivery times are longer than for locally fulfilled orders. Customers on Amazon.de might wait five to seven days instead of one to two days. This affects your competitiveness against sellers with local EU stock who can offer faster delivery and Prime eligibility.
For products with limited competition or where you are the only seller, longer delivery times are less of an issue. For highly competitive products where Prime delivery is expected, Remote Fulfilment puts you at a disadvantage.
VAT Implications
Even with Remote Fulfilment, you may have VAT obligations in EU countries depending on your sales volumes and the specific regulations of each country. The EU's Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme can simplify VAT collection on imports below certain thresholds, but you should seek professional tax advice to understand your specific obligations.
When to Consider EU Stock Instead
If your EU sales grow beyond a certain volume, it becomes more cost-effective to store inventory in EU fulfilment centres. The tipping point varies by product and market, but generally, once EU sales represent a significant portion of your revenue, investing in EU inventory management and VAT compliance delivers better customer experience and lower per-unit costs than Remote Fulfilment.