Selling on German marketplaces: what sellers based outside Germany need

At a glance: German marketplaces and who they take

First question: does it want an EU company?

Two marketplaces in this guide publish a firm rule on where sellers are based, and both point to the EU. MediaMarktSaturn’s seller site wants your registered legal entity, VAT ID and bank account all to be in the EU¹. SHOP APOTHEKE’s partner form states that “derzeit nur in der EU registrierte Unternehmen zugelassen werden” (for now, only companies registered in the EU are accepted)².

A business based in the UK or the US can therefore reach those two only through a company registered in the EU. Douglas, BAUHAUS and AUTODOC select their sellers, and Fressnapf takes partners through a contact form^9111512. Each sets its own conditions for businesses based outside the EU, so ask before you build a range for it.

MediaMarkt, SHOP APOTHEKE and Douglas

MediaMarkt. Beyond the EU company, MediaMarktSaturn’s seller site asks for LUCID registration and a dual-system contract under local packaging law, an EAN on every product, shipping straight to consumers, returns handled from an EU warehouse, and customer support in the local language by phone and email¹. Its German marketplace page sets a monthly fee of €39 net, lists products free and does not publish its commission; you can cancel at any time, and onboarding takes less than two weeks⁶.

MediaMarkt also opened a marketplace in Switzerland in January 2026, starting with around 20 partners and growing from about 35,000 to over 60,000 items, IT Reseller reported in April 2026⁵. Sellers on the Swiss marketplace pay CHF 39 a month plus a category-based commission, reported as ranging from single-digit to low double-digit percentages, and each one goes through an application process and a KYC check⁵.

SHOP APOTHEKE and Redcare. Redcare Pharmacy, formerly Shop Apotheke Europe, runs the marketplace, which is live on SHOP APOTHEKE’s German and Austrian shops, and also offers its partner programme on Redcare in Italy and Farmaline in Belgium¹⁷⁷. Farmaline’s partner page asks for a legal form from an EU country and a VAT number⁷. It lists a one-time integration fee of €499, a monthly fee of €39 per marketplace country, and a standard 16% commission charged on the VAT-inclusive sale price and shipping⁷. Written customer service must use each market’s language, so German for Germany and Austria, and the page sets a target of replying within 48 hours on working days⁷.

Douglas. Douglas launched its marketplace in 2019 as a “selective marketplace for all beauty and health-related topics in Europe”⁸. In February 2026 it said its partner programme “grew strongly year-on-year”, with “a sharp rise in the number of unique partners” and “high curation standards”⁹. Douglas puts its online shops at more than 32 million visits a month¹⁸. It sets its own partner terms and fees, so ask before you plan a range.

BAUHAUS, Fressnapf and AUTODOC, plus Brico and Praxis

BAUHAUS. BAUHAUS expanded its online shop into a marketplace for third-party sellers from DIY and the trades, Lebensmittel Zeitung reported in October 2025¹⁹. The marketplace went live in August 2025, and Mirakl, announcing the partnership in January 2026, described the sellers as “carefully selected”¹⁰¹¹. In April 2026, BAUHAUS said it aims to expand its range by a “six-figure number of items” by the end of the year, beside its own 160,000 products²⁰¹¹.

Fressnapf. Fressnapf runs its marketplace on fressnapf.de, its German online shop, and takes partners through a contact form¹². The form asks whether you can deliver to consumers, roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you use an integrator for the Mirakl connection and whether you can put a return label in each parcel¹². One point sets it apart: the customer’s contracting party is “ausschließlich Fressnapf” (exclusively Fressnapf), even when one of its suppliers delivers²¹.

AUTODOC. AUTODOC opened a curated marketplace for vehicle parts and accessories in France in early 2025, reached nine European markets including Germany and Austria by July 2025, and brought the model to the UK in 2026¹⁵¹³¹⁴. Its 2025 announcements say sellers handle their own shipping, invoicing and customer service, while a 2026 UK report describes customer service as central, so confirm the split when you apply¹⁵¹³¹⁴. Introductions go by email to [email protected]¹⁵.

Brico and Praxis. For Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Maxeda DIY Group’s marketplace sells through Brico.be and Praxis.nl¹⁶. It wants product content in French, Dutch and Flemish, prior marketplace experience, third-party (BSCI) proof for production in higher-risk countries, and FSC or PEFC certification for wood¹⁶.

Packaging: the law that replaced the VerpackG

Germany’s Verpackungsgesetz (VerpackG) no longer applies. Since 12 August 2026, packaging has come under the EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR) together with a national implementing act, the Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG)⁴. The ZSVR, which runs the LUCID register, says the basic duties continue for packaging that needs system participation, namely registering, joining a system and reporting data⁴.

In practice an online seller needs four things, according to the ZSVR⁴²²:

• a LUCID registration, which anyone selling packaged goods in Germany needs⁴
• a system-participation contract with a system operator, signed before you first place packaging on the market²²
• on-time reports of your packaging quantities in LUCID²²
• no exception for shipping packaging: “Verpackungen für den Versand sind ausnahmslos systembeteiligungspflichtig” (packaging used for shipping always needs system participation)²²

Packaging outside system participation will need a paid ZSVR approval from the end of 2027, with a transition for producers until 31 December 2027⁴.

Appointing your German packaging representative

The change that matters most to sellers abroad is the “Bevollmächtigter”, an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility. A company based abroad with no branch in Germany that sells packaged products, or empty packaging, directly to end customers in Germany has had to appoint one since 12 August 2026; before then it was optional³⁴. The ZSVR allows no exemption (“Eine Befreiung von dieser Pflicht ist nicht möglich”), and you may appoint only one representative³.

1. 1

   Choose one representative

   Pick a provider with a seat or branch in Germany and sign a written contract in German with it³.

2. 2

   Register in LUCID yourself

   LUCID registration is the one duty the representative cannot take over³. You name your representative in your registration, and sellers already registered must update their entries³.

3. 3

   Appoint it before you sell

   The appointment must be in place before your packaging is first made available in Germany³.

4. 4

   Have it confirmed in LUCID

   It counts only once the representative confirms it in LUCID³. From then on, it takes on all your other extended producer responsibility duties, such as system participation, quantity reports, completeness declarations and take-back under § 39 VerpackDG³.

Why marketplaces check your LUCID entry

Before a producer uses an online platform, the platform must obtain and check confirmation of its LUCID registration and a self-declaration that it meets its EPR requirements, the ZSVR explains²². Where that proof is missing or does not match, “dürfen die verpackten Produkte über die Online-Plattform nicht angeboten werden” (the packaged products may not be offered through the platform)²². If your details are missing or wrong, a fulfilment provider must first ask you to fix them, and suspend its services if you do not do so in time²².

The ZSVR names electronic marketplaces, fulfilment providers and dropshipping sellers among the businesses that must regularly check that their business partners meet their packaging-law obligations²³. Its public register shows what they can see about you: registration number, company name, country, VAT ID or tax number, whether your packaging needs system participation, and whether you have a representative (“Bevollmächtigter Ja/Nein”)²³. It cannot show your system-participation contract; system operators confirm those separately²³. MediaMarkt already lists LUCID registration and a dual-system contract among its seller requirements¹.

Electrical goods: stiftung ear and a second representative

Electrical and electronic equipment has a register of its own, kept by the authority stiftung ear, and a producer must be registered there before selling such equipment in Germany²⁴. If you sell devices straight to German end users from a base abroad, you count as the producer²⁵. A distributor offering equipment from producers who are not registered bears the same responsibility as a producer²⁵.

A company based outside Germany registers through an authorised representative based in Germany, who files the registration in the company’s name and assumes its obligations there²⁴²⁶. The conditions, from stiftung ear’s guide for foreign companies²⁶:

• the representative must be reliable and legally capable, with a German branch, which is recognised only with a German tax number
• only one may be appointed, so it covers all your brands and types of equipment
• the mandate must be written, in German, signed by both sides and run for at least three months
• once stiftung ear confirms the mandate, the representative performs your producer duties in its own name

So if you are based abroad and sell packaged electrical goods, you deal with two registers, LUCID for the packaging and stiftung ear for the equipment, each with its own representative rules³²⁶.

VAT and customs: where your company and stock sit

The VAT on a sale to a German consumer depends on where your business is established and where the goods start²⁷:

Parcels sent from outside the EU now carry customs charges too. Since 1 July 2026, those under €150 have paid a flat €3 duty per tariff category, until 1 July 2028 unless extended²⁹. Since 1 November 2026, the EU has also applied a €2 Union handling fee on small parcels³⁰. The €3 duty falls on the declarant, such as the IOSS holder, and on the consumer only in very limited cases³¹. Goods benefiting from preferential trade agreements or Customs Union measures are excluded from it³¹.

The Commission announced on 21 September 2026 that customs reform regulation (EU) 2026/2108 had entered into force, to be implemented gradually³⁰. Under it, online platforms become “importers for distance sales”, and platforms and sellers based outside the EU are responsible for customs formalities and duty payments; the Commission’s page gives no start date for that part³⁰. The parcel changes are set out step by step in our EU marketplace rules guide.

Product safety and the language of your listings

EU product safety law changed on 13 December 2024, when the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) began to apply³². Its Article 16(1) requires, for every product placed on the EU market, an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for specific compliance tasks for it³³. Your German listings must name the manufacturer with postal and electronic addresses, give the EU responsible person’s details when the manufacturer is outside the EU, identify the product with a picture and its type, and carry any warnings³³.

The GPSR leaves the choice of language to each country: the Member State of sale decides which language counts as easily understood by consumers for instructions, warnings and safety information³³. The marketplaces add rules of their own. MediaMarkt wants customer support in the local language, SHOP APOTHEKE requires both Dutch and French product content for Belgium, and Brico and Praxis want content in French, Dutch and Flemish¹²¹⁶.

Marketplaces face GPSR deadlines of their own: two working days to take down a dangerous listing once an authority orders it, and three working days to process safety notices³³.

Returns and guarantees for German buyers

EU law gives a consumer 14 days from delivery to withdraw from an online purchase without a reason, and the trader refunds within 14 days of being told³⁴. Since 19 June 2026, traders selling through an online interface must keep a “withdraw from contract here” function, or clearly equivalent wording, available for that whole period³⁵.

The legal guarantee runs for at least 2 years, with repair or replacement first, then a price cut or refund, and a commercial warranty cannot replace it³⁶. For contracts concluded from 31 July 2026, a repair chosen under it adds 12 months, once, to the seller’s liability period³⁷.

Marketplace promises sit on top. Fressnapf tells customers that returning a partner item within 30 days of receipt is always free for them, and that partner items must go back to the partner that sent them³⁸³⁹. Ask Fressnapf who bears that return cost before you join. At MediaMarkt Germany, the 30-day voluntary returns cover only goods bought from MediaMarkt or Saturn, and its offer of returns in any German store excludes third-party purchases⁶.

Running these marketplaces alongside your other channels

All seven marketplaces in this guide work with Mirakl. MediaMarkt appears in the customer list of Mirakl’s 2023 seller report, SHOP APOTHEKE’s partners get a Mirakl back end once they sign, and Fressnapf’s form asks about your Mirakl connection⁴⁰⁷¹². Mirakl itself announced the Brico and Praxis marketplace in 2023, AUTODOC’s in 2025 and BAUHAUS’s in 2026, and Glossy reported in December 2025 that Mirakl’s retailer roster includes Douglas^41151142.

If you are approved on several, invtri’s Mirakl channel runs each as a storefront under one channel. You add the shop API key from that marketplace’s seller back office and set a fee percentage for it. Every storefront is priced from the same Mirakl margin rules, with its own fee percentage. Offers are listed by EAN against each marketplace’s catalogue, orders arrive for you to accept or refuse, and a tracking number entered once goes back to the marketplace. Approval and fees stay with each retailer. Start from our Mirakl marketplaces pages.