Is there any point to registering for VAT in order to store inventory in that country if you don't have to now that European Fulfilment Network (EFN) between the UK and the EU is available?

#1

I have registered for a German VAT in order in order to store items in Germany and take advantage of lower fulfilment fees and quicker dispatch to customers. Now the Amazon European Fulfilment Network between the UK and the EU seems to allow you to sell goods in any country in the EU and Amazon will store it in another countries warehouse without you having to have a VAT number so you gain the advantage of lower fulfilment fees and the customer gets there product quicker.

Am I missing something or is this the case? Is there any advantage for me having a German VAT number only to store my goods in German warehouses for lower fulfilment fees? Seems like Amazon will do this for me and class it as a cross border sale. Am am tempted to de-register as it doesn’t seem worth it for me right now.

#2

You need to weigh up the costs of higher efn fees compared to accountants fees etc

When did you register though as I believe Germany has a minimum term of 2 years - and amazon vat services will also presumably have a minimum term

Not all asins can be enrolled in EFN either

They won’t store stock, they will take a unit from uk warehouse and send it straight to the buyer in EU to their address - not an fba warehouse

#3

I don’t sell overseas, or do FBA, so what I say may be totally incorrect !
I am sure I have read here that if you have registered for German VAT that you cannot de-register for 2 years (I think :thinking:)
Also, I believe that with EFN the items are stored in UK but will be shipped overseas.

#4

There are lots of reasons to do so, not least is the fact that FBA fees are considerably cheaper.

But as I advised in your other thread, you really need to speak to your accountant about this. Registering for VAT in Germany, but not the UK, is going to cost you a lot of profit.

VAT exempt in UK, VAT registered in Germany, but can't add German VAT
#5

I registered few months ago for German VAT.

Amazon say:

“The European Fulfilment Network allows FBA sellers with an EU account to store their inventory in local fulfilment centres and fulfil orders from other EU stores, maximising inventory control and flexibility.”

I thought they might be sometimes holding items locally depending on the demand and then releasing them and then charging for the local fulfilment fees on ocassion.

#6

So that covers 2 options for EFN
You can store stock in UK and sell via EfN to buyers in EU and amazon will ship to EU buyers address from uk warehouse

Or, you can store stock in Germany under pan eu (with de vat registration), and if a buyer in France say wants to buy your item, they could ship the order to the buyer in France from your stock in Germany

Both would incur EFN fees

What they won’t do, is take say 20 units of your best selling asin and store them in France FBA warehouse for potential orders by French customers , that would be PAN EU

#7

Okay, that makes more sense, thanks for clarifying, appreciate it

#8

I wouldn’t be adding German VAT to my UK sales though would I?

#9

Read my answer on your other thread.
German VAT is separate to UK vat. But you don’t seem to have a clue as to how VAT works.
And you really need to understand it.

#10

My question was not a statement I believe to be true. I am pretty sure that I don’t have to add German VAT to my UK sales, but I got panicky for a second and just needed to ask.

#11

Ok, I give up.
I don’t know whether your refusing to listen, or just don’t want to understand.

I will say it one last time, get some professional advice.
You are going forward, without understanding what you are doing, that’s virtually always a recipe for trouble.