EU GPSR: Exxos, do you have an EU point of contact?

[chronicthehedgehog]

I want to know how they are even going to enforce it all ?

I can only assume a lot will continue sending to EU as they simply know nothing about it. Likely it will be unnoticed for some time.. Though the EU have to have some plan surley ?

Customs is going to be a nightmare if they are going to check every package for compliance. What will they do, reject all those packages and start dishing out fines ? Who the hell knows.

I think Amazon, Etsy and Ebay have been asking for this info from business sellers for a few months already. I think Ebay/Etsy will work hard to streamline their process since it could impact them so much. Maybe selling through them will become a more viable option?

[chronicthehedgehog]

If you do find a way eventually, I'm sure ensuring that PCBs are lead free will make it easier :D

[exxos]

I think Amazon, Etsy and Ebay have been asking for this info from business sellers for a few months already. I think Ebay/Etsy will work hard to streamline their process since it could impact them so much. Maybe selling through them will become a more viable option?

It's the "responsible person" in the EU which is the main sticking point. But even the other things or giving people safety information in their own language.. I mean, who has the time to go through all that to start with. I'm not some huge corporation with unlimited resources to simply employ a team to deal with it all. I'm certain not sending paperwork with parcels it would ruin the whole dispatch system for me.

There is some chatter on the internet about such things, but the internet should have exploded with posts about all this, unless I am not seeing them. A fair bit on reddit.. Even eBay literally says on some points "our interpretation" so even they are struggling it seems.

It's probably simple if you are drop shipping electrical goods from a known manufacturer as I think you can just use their contact information as the responsible person". But like I said earlier, this seems to me like it's going to destroy the open source community :(

I can only assume that eBay sellers are aware of the additional information they have to report, but maybe it is simply optional at this point. If on the 13th eBay "flick the switch" and make it compulsory information.. It kind of has the potential of wiping out a lot of eBay sellers...

I've been pretty much awake all night trying to find solutions for this and reading up on it. But I just don't get it. I mean how it seems, the EU will wipe out a huge lot of business over the world. I mean, are they that stupid ? Who the hell knows.

[exxos]

If you do find a way eventually, I'm sure ensuring that PCBs are lead free will make it easier :D

I'm going to ask my PCB supplier in China if they are aware of it all..

[Badwolf]

But what about other companies like Mouser etc...

While I generally agree, I'm still surprised that this got passed without at least a few exemptions. It seems to affect...

I want to know how they are even going to enforce it all ?

I can only assume...

...What will they do, reject all those packages and start dishing out fines ? Who the hell knows.

...it seems, the EU will wipe out a huge lot of business over the world. I mean, are they that stupid ? Who the hell knows.

Like I say. I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. No-one seems to know or understand and speculation fills the void.

If you're ordered to stop selling, or you get items returned, then stop. But until then I shouldn't worry about it at all.

'We' (people who buy a PCB or chip from you) may not even be considered consumers in this regard. You're not exactly selling vacuum cleaners, are you?

Few of these regulations have ever turned out to be as ruinous as early non-expert interpretations have extrapolated. Virtually all of them, I'd say, have ended up bringing about improvments in the long run.

People may not like working with unleaded solder, but RoHS, an EU directive, is now pretty much a global standard and that can't be a bad thing.

BW

[exxos]

@Badwolf I wish I had your optimism, though complying with any part of this new legislation is just going to create more work by the looks of it. There does not seem to be many exceptions with anything. It also does not seem to list consequences for not complying either.

If it's the EU intention to put a stop to companies like aliexpress/temu etc then they need to enforce it all somehow, otherwise it would all be pointless. But there are a lot of people "dropshipping" goods, So if it is enforced, it's going to cripple a lot of sellers. Considering the volume of items coming from China, the ramifications of this would be enormous. So where is the line being drawn, nobody knows..

Large platforms like eBay and Amazon are putting in additional forms to fill in. But nothing seems to be said about this "responsible person" there seems to be services for doing this, but I doubt they are going to be for free.

I cannot really risk just blindly continuing sending stuff to Europe. It all could potentially be returned yes, but then it's going to create work again. I just don't have the resources to deal with the fallout of any more problems.

I think the best solution is to just not sell within Europe for the time being, wait and see what happens on the Internet over the next few weeks..

[exxos]

The GPSR allows individual Member States to set penalties for non-compliance, with no maximum penalty stipulated. This means that manufacturers and online marketplaces could face significant fines for non-compliance, in addition to the reputational damage caused by increased transparency and reporting obligations.

Fines: Regulatory authorities can impose significant financial penalties for non-compliance. The exact amount depends on the severity of the breach and local enforcement laws within EU member states.
Liability for Damages: Sellers may be held liable for any harm caused by non-compliant products, potentially leading to costly lawsuits or compensation claims.
Product Recalls: Non-compliant products may be subject to mandatory recalls, which can be expensive and damaging to a business's reputation.

Assuming that is true, its down to individual states to issue fines.. But how can anyone realistically even begin to figure out which states are "safe" to ship to or not..

Does not seem to be any timeframe stated to how long this could be "backdated" for either..

Saw this on redit

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[exxos]

One other thing which baffles me.. Legislation still affects people within EU. From what I can tell people can represent themselves, which is a bigger problem for us UK folks. From what I have read people have been quoted £150 to £900 a year for a external representative. One person stated that this was PER ITEM.

But they seem to want things like paper trails as to where parts originated from. To me this seems like it would rule out any sort of suppliers like Aliexpress etc. buying from China from such places is somewhat unavoidable for retro hobbies. But the only really use that as a last resort as I do buy parts from a UK broker where they only source legitimate parts . Like there is a paper trail back to the manufacturer etc, but I have never requested this information.. But inside or outside EU, keeping track of such things just becomes too much administrative overhead for small sellers. I have difficulty keeping track of what parts come from where never mind figuring out the paper trail of it all.

The general consensus is basically UK stores are just not selling to EU any more. What about the people inside EU who still have to adhere to these regulations...

[Steve]

It sounds so fundamentally broken it'll probably change / be amended. I spoke to a friend about it and he just said keep selling until someone asks you to stop or sends some warning, then stop. I dunno though up to you of course. The idea being that they're only gonna enforce the people they truly want to stop.

[exxos]

It sounds so fundamentally broken it'll probably change / be amended. I spoke to a friend about it and he just said keep selling until someone asks you to stop or sends some warning, then stop. I dunno though up to you of course. The idea being that they're only gonna enforce the people they truly want to stop.

I would imagine that is what everyone else will be doing, at least the ones that haven't stopped selling to EU already. I am not really sure ignoring it is the right course of action either. Like I said earlier, how is this even going to be policed ? It's not like they can open every single package at customs and check for correct documentation ?! Is further possible that nothing will happen until someone reports your product, I can think of several people that would take great pleasure in doing that to me.. Sad times indeed.

There were things like fines and product recalls being thrown in the mix as well... E-commerce platforms are all threatening to ban people who do not comply with the regulations. Apparently Amazon require the "responsible person" address in listings already.

I will always side that these legal entities and big corporations don't give a crap about the little guy. So I just have to act accordingly and cautiously at this point. Which in order for me to sleep at night, I just have to avoid selling to the EU.

I can only assume at this point that eBay while they seem to have some system in place, I assume it must be optional at this point. I further assume people are just basically ignoring it. But when it actually comes into effect on the 13th, was going to happen then.... There is going to be an awful lot of angry eBay sellers...

I do find it hard to accept that the EU would implement such a law with such devastating consequences.. But nothing would really surprise me.. It's always a little sellers the fall victim every time these big corporations make changes. I certainly don't see being any different this time but we shall see.