If you want to sell POD in Europe, there are certain rules and regulations that you need to be aware of. Failure to meet certain requirements can present some risk to your business, so you must learn the basic rules of regulation before entering the EU market.
Learn about the Distance Selling rules of the European Union (EU)
Distance selling is a form of non-face-to-face selling (Print on demand certainly belongs to this form). You can order through the website, by phone, or through an e-commerce platform. If you are in the EU, several requirements need to be considered. The first is that you must sell to an individual, not another corporate entity, and the goods must cross state borders.
There are also regulations to protect consumers from scams. Even if your business is completely pure, you still need to meet the following regulations to legally sell in the European Union. Some of these regulations are as follows:
- Provide detailed information to the customer before the customer completes the order.
- All additional fees and charges must be clearly identified and agreed to by the consumer.
- Sellers must provide a Return and Refund policy, with a minimum term of 14 days.
According to Europa (the EU’s official website), from the moment a customer makes a purchase, he or she has a benefit called a “14 days cooling-off period”. At this stage, the customer can cancel or return the order with almost no explanation.
These rules are not too difficult to enforce, but it will be very troublesome if EU market sellers do not have a clear understanding of the risks to their businesses.
In particular, choosing a reputable fulfillment unit with guaranteed product quality will help reduce the rate you have to argue with customers about this regulation.
EU Value Added Tax (VAT)
Value Added Tax (VAT), is the same as sales tax in the EU. With sales tax, the buyer pays when the purchase is completed. With VAT, however, the tax is collected from each stage of the supply chain – such as from suppliers, distributors, and retailers.
You’ll need to look at the specific regulations in the countries where you manufacture your goods, where your customers receive them, and the type of product you’re selling.
Make sure your customers have the most convenient shopping experience by communicating tax information in advance.
Note: Interested in selling in the EU market, but wondering about VAT, inbox Burgerprints for advice and answers.
Ensure compliance with GDPR
The rules and regulations don’t just revolve around VAT and Distance Selling if you want to sell in Europe. You will also need to learn about GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). GDPR, or General Data Privacy Regulations, is a series of rules designed to protect shoppers’ online data.
When you own an online store, you collect a lot of data from your customers. Information from the delivery address, payment information, or customer behavior on the online store is collected. So customers really want to know that this information won’t go into the wrong hands. GDPR is designed to ensure businesses are complying with the privacy of their customers’ personal information.
Under the terms of GDPR, anyone selling online will have to make sure that they are collecting information lawfully and that they are keeping it secure. Failure to do so could put your business at risk.
GDPR sounds like a big deal, but the truth is that many of its regulations have been in place for some time, just under different naming conventions. However, as an organization, there are a few important additions that you need to make sure you are aware of. If your data is breached – whether it’s by accident or through a cyber attack – you need to alert anyone affected. This includes telling them exactly what data may have been exposed, how many people might have been exposed, and the potential consequences of this data breach (i.e. identity fraud). Finally, the organization will need to provide a list of the steps they are taking to fix the problem and prevent it from happening again.
In today’s online world, Internet security is one of the most pressing concerns. To sell in the European Union and collect information about your customers, you need to comply with the GDPR so your customers can feel safer shopping online, thereby increasing conversions and returns. purchases will increase gradually.
BurgerPrints is proud to provide fulfillment service from its local factory in Poland and intra-EU countries. With the advantage of factory location and many years of experience in manufacturing products by the strict standards of EU customers, BurgerPrints believes that your customers will be very satisfied when receiving the products.