European fulfilment services: what is included and what is not

Every fulfilment provider publishes a list of what is included. Almost none publish what is not. That gap is where most friction in a new partnership comes from — not because anything was hidden, but because nobody asked, and it surfaces in week three when a VAT return is due and nobody owns it.

What is included, briefly

European fulfilment services cover everything between stock arriving at a warehouse and a parcel reaching your customer, plus the returns leg back. In practice that means seven components:

• Inbound and registration — stock received, counted, checked and put away
• Storage — pallet, shelf or bin space
• Pick and pack — orders assembled and packed to your specification
• Shipping — carrier selected and the parcel dispatched
• Returns — inspected and processed against your rules
• Software and integration — the connection to your webshop and the stock visibility that comes with it
• Account management — someone who knows your operation

We have covered how each of those is priced separately. The rest of this piece is about the other half of the conversation.

What is not included, and who owns it instead

None of this is unreasonable to exclude. All of it is work that has to happen anyway, and a brand that assumes it is covered finds out at the worst moment.

VAT registration and filing

A provider stores your stock. It does not register you for VAT, file your returns or act as your tax representative. Holding stock in the Netherlands means Dutch VAT registration, and OSS covers cross-border B2C sales — but the registration, filings and liability sit with you or an accountant you appoint.

Who owns it: you, with a tax adviser. Start it early — it is usually the longest item in an onboarding timeline, longer than anything the warehouse does.

Customs classification and product data

A provider can handle customs paperwork on a shipment. It cannot tell you the correct commodity code for your product, because that depends on what the product is made of and how it is constructed — information only you have.

Who owns it: you. Commodity codes, country of origin and accurate values at SKU level. Misclassification is the most common cause of a held consignment, and the liability stays with the declarant.

Product compliance

Since December 2024 the EU’s General Product Safety Regulation requires an EU-based responsible person for most consumer products sold into the EU. A fulfilment provider is not that person by default. Labelling, safety documentation and category rules sit outside the scope of storing and shipping a box.

Who owns it: you, or a compliance service you appoint.

Inbound freight to the warehouse

Getting stock from the factory to the fulfilment centre is usually yours. A provider receives, counts and books in what arrives. Arranging the freight, paying import duty and clearing customs on the way in is a separate arrangement to be agreed rather than assumed.

Who owns it: you, or a freight forwarder — unless it is explicitly written into your agreement.

Returns policy and commercial decisions

A provider executes your returns rules. It does not write them. Whether an opened item is resellable, how long the window is, who pays the return leg, what happens to something damaged in transit — your decisions, and the warehouse needs them written down before the first return arrives.

Who owns it: you. Expect to be asked for them, in detail, during onboarding.

Packaging design and sourcing

A provider packs to your specification using your materials. Designing the unboxing, sourcing the boxes, tissue and inserts, and keeping them in stock is a separate workstream. Some providers will hold and replenish your packaging; it is not automatic.

Who owns it: you, with the provider holding stock of it by agreement.

Restricted and prohibited goods

Every warehouse has a list of what it cannot store, driven by insurance, fire regulation and carrier rules. efulfilment.eu cannot store lithium, including lithium batteries. Flammables, aerosols and temperature-sensitive goods carry their own conditions.

Who owns it: check this before anything else. A restriction discovered after a contract is signed is a much worse conversation than one discovered in the first meeting.

The grey areas worth pinning down

Three things that are sometimes included, sometimes not, and almost never clarified unprompted.

• Customer service. Usually yours. At efulfilment.eu it is available as an option for delivery-related enquiries rather than as part of the base service. Confirm what is covered and what is not — “delivery questions” and “all customer service” are very different scopes.
• Marketplace account management. Listing creation, content, pricing and seller account health are yours. A provider may prep stock for a marketplace; it does not run the channel.
• Stock counts and shrinkage. Ask how often cycle counts happen, who pays when the count is short, and what the agreed tolerance is. This is routine and it is better agreed before it matters.

What to ask before you sign

Six questions. Any provider worth working with answers them directly.

• What can you not store? Ask first, not last.
• Who is responsible for VAT registration and filing, and who is the declarant on customs entries?
• Is inbound freight and import clearance in scope, or mine?
• What do you need from me before go-live? The honest answer is usually longer than expected — commodity codes, barcodes, packaging specs, returns rules.
• What is included in support, and what is charged separately?
• What happens when the stock count is short?

Efulfilment Europe dispatches from Almere in the Netherlands with access to 75+ carrier options. What sits inside the service and what sits with you is agreed in writing before go-live rather than discovered afterwards.