How to enter a marketplace in Germany
Germany is the largest e-commerce market in Europe and more than half of it now runs through marketplaces. This guide takes you along the whole path: which platform, what the law and the tax office expect from a seller based in another EU country, how logistics and returns work, and what marketing costs.
Why Germany?
Online sales of goods in Germany reached 83.1 billion EUR in 2025, up 3.2% on 2024, and marketplaces took 56% of that, 46.2 billion EUR. According to EHI, Temu reached 3.4 billion EUR in gross merchandise volume in Germany, almost four times the year before, and Shein 1.1 billion EUR. For 2026 the trade association bevh expects growth of around 3.8%.
Entering Germany means more than copying your listings onto Amazon.de. The buyer expects technical detail and formal German, the law expects registrations nobody asks for at home, and the return rate is built into every category’s economics. Without preparation most sellers lose time and money on mistakes that are easy to avoid.
Source: bevh, annual figures for 2025, published 22 January 2026.
The map of German marketplaces
Germany has one of the most layered marketplace ecosystems in Europe: two giants, a strong domestic generalist, and a ring of curated specialists, many of them on the same Mirakl technology.
| Marketplace | Category | Model for sellers | Scale (2024 GMV or note) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.de | generalist | open, identity and VAT checks, FBA or FBM | 52.0 bn EUR |
| eBay.de | generalist, long tail | open | 8.7 bn EUR |
| OTTO Market | generalist, home and living | on application, German-language customer service, German VAT registration | 7.1 bn EUR |
| Zalando | fashion | invite-only Partner Program, no open registration | 4.1 bn EUR |
| Kaufland.de | generalist | open, 39.95 EUR a month covers nine countries | around 220 m potential customers (Kaufland) |
| MediaMarkt / Saturn | electronics | on eligibility check, runs on Mirakl, one listing on both brands | 8 countries |
| OBI | DIY and garden | curated, EU warehouse and German service | Germany 2024, Austria 2026 |
| XXXLutz and home24 | furniture and living | curated, both on Mirakl, one group | home24: 100 m EUR partner sales in 2023 |
| Douglas | beauty | curated, Mirakl | since 2019 |
| Decathlon.de | sport | curated, Mirakl | 14 European countries, Germany included |
| Temu, Shein | generalist, fashion | open, local-seller programmes | 3.7 bn EUR (all Chinese platforms, 2025) |
Sources: EHI and ECDB, marketplace GMV Germany 2024 (published October 2025); bevh 2025; platform seller pages, read September 2026. GMV is what buyers spent on the platform, not the operator’s revenue.
In practice the choice is rarely one platform. Amazon.de brings volume, a curated specialist brings margin and a buyer who is not comparing ten identical offers, and Kaufland.de opens seven more countries from the same account. Our guides cover Kaufland, OBI, XXXLutz, home24 and Decathlon one by one.
Legal and registration requirements
You do not need a company in Germany. A company registered anywhere in the EU can sell on German marketplaces directly. You do need:
- a VAT number for Germany, or OSS registration in your home country (see the next section),
- EORI, if you import goods from outside the EU,
- LUCID (VerpackG): registration in the packaging register before the first parcel ships, plus a licence contract with a dual system for the packaging you put into circulation,
- WEEE (ElektroG): registration at stiftung ear if you sell anything with a plug or a battery, through a German authorised representative if you have no seat in Germany,
- BattDG: the new battery law in force since 7 October 2025, with registration at stiftung ear and membership of a producer responsibility organisation from 1 January 2026,
- GPSR: the General Product Safety Regulation, in force since 13 December 2024, which requires a responsible person established in the EU and their details on the product or listing.
Marketplaces check LUCID and WEEE numbers before they let you list, so these are not paperwork you can postpone. We tell you which registrations apply to your range and help prepare them, but we are not a law firm and do not file them for you or advise on them legally.
Sources: VerpackG (marketplace duty since 1 July 2022), ElektroG (marketplace duty since 1 July 2023), BattDG, Regulation (EU) 2023/988.
VAT and OSS
Since 1 July 2021 the EU has one threshold for distance selling: 10,000 EUR net a year across all EU countries combined. Above it you charge the VAT of the country of delivery. You have two ways to settle it:
- OSS (One Stop Shop): you register once in your home country and file one quarterly return for all EU sales. German VAT is 19% (7% on food and books).
- German VAT registration: compulsory as soon as you hold stock in Germany, which includes FBA. Sales from German stock to German customers are domestic sales and do not go through OSS.
Amazon asks for the German VAT number and the tax office’s confirmation for sellers who store goods in Germany. A mismatch between the address on that confirmation and the one in Seller Central is one of the most common reasons for a suspended account.
Logistics
You have three fulfilment models:
- FBA: you ship stock to an Amazon warehouse in Germany, Amazon packs, ships and handles returns. It requires German VAT registration, and the Central Europe programme (Germany, Poland, Czechia) requires VAT registration in all three.
- Own fulfilment from your warehouse: cheaper and fully under your control, but slower. 46% of German shoppers expect delivery within two to three days, the highest share in Europe.
- 3PL: an external logistics operator in Germany stores and ships on your behalf, which also settles the German-VAT question.
Curated marketplaces such as OBI or home24 expect dispatch from a warehouse inside the EU and customer service in German. How the corridor into Germany works in numbers: cross-border logistics into DACH.
Source: Sendcloud E-Commerce Delivery Compass 2026, 8,000 shoppers in eight markets, June 2026.
Returns
Returns are part of the business model in Germany. Almost every fourth parcel in B2C e-commerce goes back, around 550 million a year, and fashion accounts for roughly 80% of them. In fashion one retailer in eight reports a return rate above 50%, while in electronics and furniture most retailers stay below 10%.
The buyer treats returns as a right. In DHL’s 2025 study, 79% of shoppers in Germany said they abandon the basket if their preferred return option is missing. Build the return rate for your category into the margin before you set the first price.
Sources: Forschungsgruppe Retourenmanagement, Universität Bamberg, November 2025; EHI, Versand-, Verpackungs- und Retourenmanagement 2025; YouGov Online Retail 2025; DHL eCommerce Trends 2025.
Content and localization
Translating your listings is the minimum, and on its own it is not enough. German buyers expect:
- detailed technical descriptions: dimensions, materials, certificates,
- the formal register, per Sie, unless the brand is deliberately casual,
- delivery and return terms visible on the product page,
- marks they recognise: CE, TÜV, OEKO-TEX, Blauer Engel where relevant.
Machine translation gets you a first draft. A German speaker who has bought on these platforms gets you the register, the units and the category vocabulary right. In our team that second, human pass is part of every catalogue we prepare for Germany.
Marketing on German marketplaces
Each platform runs its own advertising system:
- Amazon Ads: Sponsored Products, Brands and Display. Click prices in Germany are among the highest in Europe, and so is conversion. Everything starts with keyword research in German.
- Zalando Marketing Services: sponsored placements in Zalando’s results, for Partner Program brands.
- Kaufland Ads: cost per click in a second-price auction from 0.01 EUR, and both subscriptions include a 30 EUR monthly credit, enough to test a category before committing a budget.
- OTTO Advertising and the Mirakl-based marketplaces: sponsored products inside the platform, usually opened to sellers after the first months.
We set budgets offer by offer, by unit margin after commission and returns, because the same category can be crowded on Amazon and almost empty on a curated platform.
How much does it cost?
Entry is an investment whose size depends on the platform and the catalogue. The usual items:
- German VAT registration and ongoing German VAT returns, if you hold stock in Germany,
- LUCID registration (free) and the packaging licence with a dual system (priced by weight and material),
- WEEE registration and the authorised representative, if you sell electrical goods,
- catalogue translation and adaptation, priced by the number of products,
- technical integration with the marketplace or through your integrator,
- the marketplace subscription, e.g. 39.95 EUR a month on Kaufland, and a starting advertising budget.
Commission comes on top: 7-16% on Kaufland’s western markets, 9-22% on home24, 8-15% in most Amazon categories. The commission, not the subscription, decides which products survive in Germany.
Common mistakes by sellers
- Machine translation without a human pass: destroys conversion and the brand image on day one.
- Ignoring LUCID: fines up to 200,000 EUR for unlicensed packaging and up to 100,000 EUR for a missing registration, and since 1 July 2022 marketplaces must block sellers without a valid LUCID number.
- Ignoring returns in the margin: from a few percent in furniture to more than half of orders in some fashion ranges.
- FBA without German VAT registration: ends in a blocked account and back taxes.
- No German-language customer service: Amazon, Kaufland, OTTO and OBI all require replies in the buyer’s language, and Kaufland measures the 48-hour response time.
Sources: VerpackG §§ 9, 34, 36; Kaufland seller university, September 2026.
FAQ
Do I need a company in Germany? No. A company registered in any EU country can sell directly. What you do need are the registrations above and, on most platforms, a German-speaking customer service.
How long does it take to start on Amazon.de? Verification is a short video call with Amazon, and the account is usually active within a few working days if the documents match. The catalogue, translations and EPR paperwork take longer, typically several weeks.
Is FBA worth it? Our rule of thumb: for products above 30 EUR usually yes, below that run the numbers case by case, and remember that stock in a German FBA warehouse triggers German VAT registration.
Does Zalando accept every brand? No. Zalando does not even offer open registration, it contacts the brands it wants.
Which marketplace should I start with? If your range is generalist, Amazon.de or Kaufland.de. If it is furniture, DIY, sport or beauty, the curated specialist in your category usually gives a better margin per order.
Can Commercraft do this for me? Yes: from registration and integration to running the account and the campaigns day to day.
Want to enter a marketplace in Germany?
We’ll take you through the whole path, from registration and compliance to integrations, localisation and campaigns.
