Unrealistic Compliance Requirements:
- The GPSR requires sellers to provide extensive documentation for every product, including safety certifications, manufacturer details, and traceability information.
- Many of the items I sell, such as retro computer upgrades and second-hand goods, are for products that are decades old. For these items, manufacturers no longer exist, and obtaining the required information is impossible.
- Non-EU sellers are now required to appoint a Responsible Person within the EU to represent them and ensure compliance with the regulation.
- This is not only financially prohibitive for small businesses like mine but also logistically unfeasible.
- The regulation demands extensive record-keeping, tracking, and compliance processes for all products. This significantly increases the time and effort required for each sale.
- As a small business, I cannot dedicate hours or days researching compliance for items that sell for just a few pounds.
- Online platforms like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy must enforce the EU rules or face penalties themselves. This means they require sellers to upload all the required documentation, which is simply not possible for many sellers and goods.
- EU customers often don’t understand the new rules and blame sellers for not shipping to their region. Handling the influx of complaints and even abusive emails adds further stress and difficulty to an already challenging situation.
- My business operates on thin profit margins, relying on high sales volumes to stay afloat. Complying with these regulations would require raising prices drastically, which would make my products unaffordable for most customers.
I encourage you to reach out to EU policymakers to voice your concerns about how these regulations are affecting small businesses and their customers.
Thank you for your understanding and support.