The Ultimate Guide to Amazon's European Shipping Options for Sellers

In today's competitive e-commerce landscape, choosing the right fulfillment strategy for your Amazon business can significantly impact your European market performance. With multiple shipping options available, each with unique advantages and requirements, it's crucial to understand which approach best suits your business needs.

This guide breaks down the four primary shipping options available to Amazon sellers in Europe, helping you make an informed decision based on your expansion goals, budget, and operational capabilities.

It’s not just a capability game either; choosing the wrong fulfillment option can cost brands over $250,000 a year or more!

Local FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)

Local FBA allows you to store and ship inventory within a single European country. This is the most straightforward approach for sellers entering the European market for the first time.

Key Characteristics:

• Your inventory is stored in one specific market
• Products are Prime-eligible in that country
• No cross-border fulfillment capabilities

Requirements:

VAT registration in the country where you store your inventory

Best for:

• New sellers testing European markets
• Businesses focused on a single country
• Sellers with limited inventory or capital

Considerations:

While this option requires the least administrative overhead, it limits your reach to customers in a single country. Your products won't appear with Prime eligibility in other European marketplaces.

Pan-European FBA: Multi-Country Distribution

The Pan-European FBA program allows Amazon to strategically distribute your inventory across multiple fulfillment centers throughout the European Union, positioning your products closer to customers across the region.

Key Characteristics:

• Inventory is stored in multiple EU countries based on Amazon's demand forecasting
• Prime-eligible delivery across all EU marketplaces
• Faster delivery times throughout Europe
• Lower fulfillment fees for cross-border sales

Requirements:

• VAT registration in each country where Amazon stores your inventory
• Enrollment of specific products in the Pan-EU program
• Shipping inventory to designated Amazon fulfillment centers

Best for:

• Established sellers ready to scale across Europe
• Products with consistent demand across multiple countries
• Businesses prepared to handle multiple VAT registrations and compliance

Considerations:

This option provides the best customer experience and potential sales growth, but comes with the highest administrative burden due to multiple VAT registrations and compliance requirements.

European Fulfillment Network (EFN): Cross-Border Flexibility

EFN allows you to sell across European marketplaces while keeping your inventory centralized in a single country, with Amazon handling cross-border shipping.

Key Characteristics:

• Inventory is stored in just one country
• Ability to sell across all European marketplaces
• Longer delivery times than local fulfillment (typically 2-3 days)
• Higher fulfillment fees than local fulfillment

Requirements:

VAT registration in the country where your inventory is stored

Best for:

• Sellers wanting a broader European reach without multiple VAT registrations
• Businesses with moderate sales volume across different EU countries
• Products where Prime eligibility is less critical to conversion

Considerations:

EFN offers a good balance between market reach and administrative complexity. However, longer delivery times and higher fees may impact customer satisfaction and margins.

Remote Fulfillment with FBA (UK - EU): Post-Brexit Solution

This option enables UK-based sellers to fulfill orders for customers in EU countries without storing inventory within the EU.

Key Characteristics:

• Ship to EU customers from the UK inventory
• Longest delivery times (3-5 days)
• Customers pay import duties
• Higher fulfillment costs

Requirements:

VAT registration in the UK (where inventory is stored)

Best for:

• UK-based sellers wanting EU market access without EU inventory
• Products with strong margins that can absorb higher shipping costs
• Businesses wanting to test EU demand before committing to local storage

Considerations:

While this option provides the simplest way for UK sellers to reach EU customers post-Brexit, the customer experience is compromised by longer delivery times and additional import duties.

Making the Right Choice for Your Business

When selecting between these four fulfillment options, consider:

• Current Scale: Where are you in your European expansion journey?
• Administrative Capacity: Can you manage multiple VAT registrations and compliance requirements?
• Inventory Investment: Are you ready to distribute inventory across multiple countries?
• Customer Promise: How important are delivery speed and Prime eligibility to your conversion rates?
• Product Characteristics: Are your items suitable for cross-border shipping (considering size, weight, regulations)?

Many successful Amazon sellers begin with Local FBA or EFN to test demand, then graduate to Pan-European FBA as they scale. UK sellers often use Remote Fulfillment as an entry point to EU markets while assessing the viability of establishing EU inventory.

By understanding these options and aligning them with your business objectives, you can create a fulfillment strategy that strikes the right balance between cost efficiency, administrative simplicity, and customer satisfaction across European markets.

That’s where Podean comes in.

Introducing the European Fulfillment Navigator

To help brands navigate this complexity, Podean is launching the European Fulfillment Navigator—a bespoke consulting solution designed to simplify decision-making and maximize profitability. For just $999, this tool analyzes your product’s dimensions, weight, and category to identify the most cost-effective and efficient shipping method for your brand.

This solution has already proven its value: one Podean haircare client saved an estimated $250,000 in their first year of selling across Spain, Italy, France, and Germany.

Whether you're launching in Europe for the first time or are already selling with an active Amazon fulfillment method, the European Fulfillment Navigator provides a clear path forward. Our team will audit your current costs, evaluate alternative fulfillment options, and ensure you’re delivering products in the most profitable way possible, despite the increasing complexity of Amazon logistics and EU regulations.

Ready to unlock growth with your fulfillment strategy?
Fill out the form below to get started with the European Fulfillment Navigator.