> We can sell and ship within the EU as if it were one big country.
Is that really true though? To my understanding, there are still laws such as the European packaging & packaging waste legislation (PPWD) that require registration in each country you're selling to. The exact law differs from nation to nation as well, so you still require knowledge about each jurisdiction before you can safely sell to other EU members.
Also, while sending products directly to consumers shouldn't be much of an issue, I would imagine that there is some re-packaging / re-labeling needed if you'd actually want to have your German product in the supermarkets of Spain.
I'm only talking about direct ecommerce B2C sales here. As long as you don't go over the threshold values (I think it's around €35k / year / country) you don't need to register with the tax authorities in that country.
Yes, if you sell to supermarket in Spain there would be more admin stuff that you need to get done first.
actually pwd (94/62/EG)) is a no brainer, since you only need to register in your local country and mark your packaging in categories, export and non exporting waste (you either pay only VerpackG or you pay for 94/62/EG). in germany you register on verpackungsregister.org, you get a number and take this number to some weee company, that makes the rest.
No it's a bit more a pain in the ass than that. Different countries have different regulations, and you need to comply with them. It's true that there are companies that take care of it for you, but of course they want to see the dolla dolla bills for that.
Is that really true though? To my understanding, there are still laws such as the European packaging & packaging waste legislation (PPWD) that require registration in each country you're selling to. The exact law differs from nation to nation as well, so you still require knowledge about each jurisdiction before you can safely sell to other EU members.
Also, while sending products directly to consumers shouldn't be much of an issue, I would imagine that there is some re-packaging / re-labeling needed if you'd actually want to have your German product in the supermarkets of Spain.