Amazon.pl and Amazon.de: selling to Germany from Poland

The Turkish seller's Amazon question usually arrives as "I want to sell in Germany, does it make sense to start from Poland?" The answer depends less on sales volume than on two things: where your goods will physically sit, and in which countries that decision creates a VAT registration. This article explains how you run Amazon's Polish and German marketplaces from one account, the tax consequences of the four logistics models, the compliance registrations that selling to Germany requires and Poland does not, and the order we recommend. The Allegro side is in a separate article; its precondition applies here too: a legal entity, a VAT number and a warehouse in Poland.

Short answer: Amazon's European marketplaces are run from a single seller account; an account opened with a Polish company sells on .pl and on .de alike. The decisive rule is the location of the goods: if goods go from a warehouse in Poland to a consumer in Germany, no German VAT registration is needed, and after the EU-wide EUR 10,000 threshold German VAT is paid through the OSS return in Poland. The moment goods enter Amazon's German warehouse, even without a sale, German VAT registration is mandatory; in the CEE and Pan-EU programmes Amazon moves stock between countries, so registration is needed in every storage country. Selling to Germany also requires packaging (LUCID) and electronics (WEEE) registrations; Amazon checks these numbers and deactivates listings without them. The order: set up in Poland, sell on .de from the Polish warehouse, and once volume justifies it, German VAT registration and a German warehouse.

One account, two marketplaces: opening the account

One seller account is opened for Europe, and the marketplaces (.pl, .de, .fr, .it, .es, .nl, .se, .be, .ie) are managed from it; listings are published per marketplace with their own language and price. For a Polish company the requirements are: KRS and NIP, the ID of the natural person who will manage the account, beneficial-owner details, a bank statement in the company's name (bank logo and address visible) and a credit card. Verification is manual and often includes a short video call in which the ID is shown; the company data on Amazon must match the KRS, bank and VAT records letter for letter, even an abbreviation is grounds for rejection. A company may have only one account. The selling plan, individual or professional, is chosen by monthly unit volume; fees are on Amazon's tariff page and change.

Where the goods sit: four models and their VAT consequences

In Amazon's European logistics the decision is which countries hold stock; each model has a different tax counterpart.

Own warehouse (FBM, 3PL in Poland). Goods sit at the partner warehouse in Poland, the partner ships orders, delivery to Germany takes two to three days. No German VAT registration; after the EUR 10,000 threshold German VAT is declared through OSS in Poland. No Prime badge, or a limited one; the lightest compliance load, the lowest conversion.
EFN (single-country FBA). Goods sit in only one Amazon warehouse, for instance in Poland; Amazon ships from there to all marketplaces and does not move stock to another country. If the warehouse is in Poland, no German VAT registration; the cross-border fulfilment fee is higher and delivery slower. If the warehouse is in Germany, German VAT registration is required.
CEE (Central Europe programme). Goods are sent to the German hub and Amazon distributes stock between Germany, Poland and Czechia at its own discretion; the fulfilment fee drops. The price: VAT registration and regular returns in three countries. The most common mistake of Polish companies is choosing this programme on the shipping fee alone and noticing the tax registrations afterwards.
Pan-EU. At least two storage countries are chosen (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland) and Amazon moves stock between them; the lowest unit fulfilment fee, the heaviest compliance load. VAT registration is required in every storage country, and since January 2026 Amazon verifies these registrations in the EU's VIES system and removes the programme benefit without notice where one is missing. From 3 September 2026 every Pan-EU product must have an active listing in the Netherlands; from 26 February 2027 in Belgium too. An Amazon.pl listing is optional in this programme.

The rule is one sentence: whichever country's warehouse the goods enter, VAT registration is needed in that country; OSS does not replace those registrations, it only gathers into one return the VAT on sales from Poland to consumers in other EU countries. A stock transfer from Poland to Germany is declared as an intra-EU supply in Poland and an intra-EU acquisition in Germany; a sale from the German warehouse to a German buyer goes into the German return, not OSS. These distinctions are handled by the certified accountant partner and, where needed, a VAT representative in Germany; we put in writing at the first call which model creates which registration.

Registrations specific to Germany: packaging, electronics, batteries

In Poland packaging is registered in the BDO system; selling to Germany adds Germany's own registrations on top, and Amazon is obliged to check them:

Packaging (LUCID). Every seller shipping packaged goods to consumers in Germany, even without establishment there, registers in the LUCID packaging register and signs a licence agreement with a recycling scheme; the register number alone is not enough. Since 12 August 2026 the VerpackDG, which replaced the packaging act, and the EU packaging regulation provide for an authorised representative in Germany for sellers not established in the country. Amazon deactivates listings without a valid LUCID number in the EPR field of Seller Central and may hold payouts.
Electronics (WEEE). Every product containing electrical or electronic parts, a decorative item with a fixed LED included, is registered with Stiftung EAR by product group; a seller not established in Germany again needs an authorised representative.
Batteries. Including a battery inside a product, a separate registration by category and brand under the German battery act.

These three registrations are national: a German registration does not count in France. Choosing five storage countries in Pan-EU means packaging registration in five countries. That is why licence fees and representative costs are a separate line in the profitability calculation.

The product side follows the same logic as on Allegro, in German: GPSR information and safety warnings in German, label and manual in German, customer messages in German and answered on time. Amazon's account-health metrics (late dispatch, cancellations, negative feedback, A-to-Z claims) are less forgiving than Allegro's quality score.

A realistic order: .pl or .de, and when

The order we recommend has four steps. First, a product-level profitability check: net margin after the .de referral fee, the FBA or 3PL fulfilment fee, German VAT, packaging and electronics licences, a returns allowance and advertising; price competition in Germany is harder than in Poland and this is where margin is usually lost. Second, the set-up in Poland: company, VAT and EORI, warehouse, first shipment (A.TR, GPSR). Third, selling to Germany from the Polish warehouse: with your own warehouse or EFN-Poland, under OSS, without German VAT registration; the Amazon.pl listing is opened in this period too, the market is small but competition is low and account health is built here. Fourth, once volume justifies it, German VAT registration (the application can take months, so it is started early), LUCID and WEEE registrations, then a German warehouse or Pan-EU. Sending goods to a German warehouse first and obtaining the VAT number later ends with Amazon blocking the stock; many sellers have seen that.

Frequently asked

Do I need to form a company in Germany?

No. A Polish company sells on Amazon.de; what Germany requires is not a company but VAT registration if you store goods there, and in every case the packaging and electronics registrations. For a seller not established in Germany these registrations need an authorised representative; that is solved with a partner.

Can I get Prime if I ship from Poland?

With EFN, a product shipped from the Polish warehouse can carry the Prime badge in Germany, but delivery time and the fulfilment fee are higher than from a German warehouse. Prime from your own warehouse (FBM) depends on Amazon's seller-fulfilled Prime conditions and is not realistic at the start.

When does Pan-EU make sense?

When there is regular volume in several marketplaces, margin that carries VAT and packaging registration in every storage country, and an accounting set-up that runs multiple monthly returns. Before that, EFN or the Polish warehouse; the calculation is made country by country, and storage is switched off in a country where there is no case for it.

What we do

We do the product-channel analysis and the profitability check; we set out in writing which logistics model creates which registrations. We open the Amazon account with the Polish company, get it through verification, build the .pl and .de listings (Polish and German) and the GPSR and EPR fields; we set up the first shipment and the returns flow with the warehouse partner and run the day-to-day (stock, prices, advertising, messages, account health) with reporting in Turkish. Polish VAT and OSS returns sit with the certified accountant partner; German VAT registration and LUCID and WEEE representation with partners in Germany; customs with the customs agent. No sales guarantee and no fixed packages; the advertising budget is yours.

Sources

Last checked: 26 September 2026. This article is general information; your own case needs assessment by a licensed partner.

Send us your product and let's start with the profitability check or see the E-commerce in Europe page.

This article is for information only and is not legal or tax advice. Basis: Amazon's Pan-EU FBA and seller registration pages (Netherlands requirement September 2026, Belgium February 2027), the EU VAT distance-selling and OSS rules (2021), the intra-EU supply and acquisition provisions of the Polish VAT Act, Germany's VerpackDG (12 August 2026), ElektroG and battery act, Amazon's EPR verification obligation; as of September 2026. Fees and programme conditions change often; for your own product the last word rests with the profitability check, and on tax matters with the certified accountant partner.

Author

Savaş Dere · Founder, CEO

Close to twenty years in software and e-commerce: web and application development, automation, digital products. At Senavia he runs process design, the technology infrastructure and integrations; a founder who has been through company formation and settling in Poland himself.

Meet the team

Amazon.pl and Amazon.de: selling to Germany from a Polish warehouse