Introduction
Etsy have finally added an update to allow sellers to opt out of selling to countries subject to the new GPSR regulations. GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation) came into effect in the European Union on 13th December 2024. These updated rules were brought in to improve product safety and traceability, particularly with respect to e-commerce and online marketplaces.
Problems for Etsy Sellers
The biggest stumbling block for complying with these regulations, particularly for micro businesses like Etsy sellers, is that they require businesses to appoint a responsible economic operator in the EU. Of course, this costs money, and I have seen many varying quotes from around £150 per year per product type to over £1000. Then there is the issue of verifying whether an entity offering this service is legitimate and that you are properly covered.
As the EU in many cases constitutes only a small portion of sales for sellers from outside the EU, this cost would wipe out the profit for many, so the obvious course of action was to stop selling to the EU. For some countries with calculated shipping settings on Etsy, this was easy enough to do for physical products, however there is the problem of Northern Ireland. As Northern Ireland is part of the UK but has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, it generally follows EU trade laws to avoid a hard border with Ireland. Therefore, Northern Ireland is subject to GPSR, however there is no way to separate it out from the UK within Etsy, so the only option that avoided non-compliance was to stop selling to the UK as a whole. However, unfortunately for UK sellers, there were no viable options because there is no option not to sell domestically.
To add to the Northern Ireland problem, although there are different interpretations of the new rules, it has become clear that digital products are included within these regulations. On Etsy, digital products are automatically sold worldwide and there are no options for digital sellers to choose where they sell their products to.
Etsy’s Solution for Now
Etsy had stated around the time the rules came into effect that they would have something in place to resolve this issue by the end of February. Although I hoped this would be in the form of them adding more functionality to their shipping settings for non-calculated shipping users as well as separating out Northern Ireland, Etsy had already said this would be an option at shop level. It was added without much announcement yesterday – I would have missed it had I not seen it in the seller forums. To opt out of selling to GPSR states in your shop go to Settings > Options, then there are two options you can select to opt out as in the screenshot below.
This makes it very easy to opt out, however a fix at product level would have been more useful. For example, there are some products that are exempt, including products that were already on the market in the EU & NI prior to the 13th December 2024. Sellers may wish to differentiate between these products and newer products that have to comply.
There are different interpretations of what the product already being on the market means. I tend to believe that this just refers to inventory that pre-existed the new regulations coming into effect and that any new batches being manufactured have to comply. However, Etsy have added some guidance in their handbook that suggests otherwise:
“The GPSR does not apply to products listed before 13 December 2024. Our current interpretation is that the GPSR only applies to products placed on the market on or after 13 December 2024, and does not include pre-13 December listings even if they are renewed. This means that no action is required for listings already available in EEA states and/or Northern Ireland before this date, as they are exempt from GPSR requirements, provided that they met prior safety requirements.” – Etsy Seller Handbook
Given that Etsy haven’t really been on top of the whole situation with this, I would be very cautious about taking on their understanding of it (and it is all preceded with a disclaimer that this is not legal advice).
What is Etsy Doing Going Forward?
Etsy is obligated to ensure sellers offering their items for sale to the EEA and NI comply with these regulations and in March they are going to add new fields to the listing form where sellers continuing to sell to the EU can add in manufacturer details and product safety warnings. It wasn’t clear whether these fields will be mandatory for visibility in the EU.
Etsy have also said that if they receive notification from an authority that a product is non-compliant then they will take appropriate action such as removing the listing or suspending the shop, so it is very important to change your shop options if you are non-compliant.
“We’re working to provide you with trusted, vetted Authorised Representative service providers to help meet GPSR requirements. As part of this effort, we’re also exploring partnerships to make these services more cost-effective and accessible.” – Etsy Seller Handbook
The above quote from Etsy was more promising though and might make it possible for more sellers to comply in the future.