We regularly get questions about the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) from resellers outside the EU. They sell K-pop merchandise, manga volumes or handmade ramen bowls from Japan and Korea on Etsy, eBay or their own webshop, and to keep selling to European buyers they need an EU contact. The products were made for the local market in Asia. The reseller did not design them, does not own the brand, and in some cases the brand no longer exists.
That leaves them stuck. An EU Authorised Representative needs a written mandate from the manufacturer, and the manufacturer is not going to sign one for a reseller in Seoul. The GPSR does apply to most of these items. There is a route we use, but the reseller keeps the manufacturer's obligations.
Does the GPSR apply to second-hand products?
Yes. Article 2(3) of the GPSR says the regulation applies to products placed or made available on the market "whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned". The European Commission's guidelines repeat it plainly: the obligations apply fully to second-hand, refurbished and reconditioned products sold by a business (source: Commission Notice C/2025/6233, section 2.1). Marketplaces take the same line; eBay tells its sellers that "in general, used items are in scope of the GPSR" (source: eBay Seller Center).
eBay also mentions an exception for used items that were already on the EU market before 13 December 2024 and complied with the old directive. That exception does not help here. Placing on the market means the first making available on the EU market (Article 3(7) of the GPSR), and a photocard or ramen bowl that was sold in Japan was never on the EU market at all. The first sale to a European buyer is the moment it is placed on the market, and the GPSR applies from that moment.
When a collectible falls outside the GPSR
The main exception is for antiques. Article 2(2)(i) excludes them, and Article 3(28) defines antiques as products, such as collectors' items or works of art, for which consumers cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standards. Recital 18 explains what that means: works of art created solely for artistic purposes, collectors' items "of sufficient rarity and historical or scientific interest to justify their collection and preservation", and antiques of extraordinary age.
Most of what resellers ask us about does not meet that bar. A recent album, a manga volume still in print or a newly made ceramic bowl is collected by fans, but it is not rare in the sense of recital 18 and it has no historical significance yet. The test is the item, not the buyer's enthusiasm. There is also a narrower exception for products sold explicitly as to be repaired or reconditioned before use and clearly marked as such (Article 2(3)); that rarely fits merchandise.
Why a mandate from the original brand is out of reach
Under Article 16(1) of the GPSR a product may only be placed on the EU market if an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it. The Commission lists who that can be: a manufacturer established in the EU, an importer if the manufacturer is outside the EU, an authorised representative with a written mandate from the manufacturer, or a fulfilment service provider if none of the others is there (source: C/2025/6233, section 3.2; Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020).
For a reseller outside the EU who ships straight to European consumers, the two obvious options do not work. There is no importer, because an importer must itself be established in the EU (Article 3(10) of the GPSR). An authorised representative must have "a written mandate from a manufacturer" (Article 3(9); see also Article 10(1)), and the original brand will not give one. That is exactly the gap our clients run into, and the regulation does not say how to close it.
How we handle second-hand items from outside the EU
For second-hand and collectible items we treat the reseller as the party that places the product on the EU market, and we make that visible on the product and in the listing. A typical label looks like this:
THIS IS A SECOND HAND PRODUCT
Original manufacturer: [the original brand of the item]
Placed on the EU market by: [reseller name, postal address and email]
EU product safety contact for [reseller]: Westwood Sourcing, [address and email]
We deliberately do not use the words "EU Authorised Representative" on these products. That term would suggest the original manufacturer appointed us, which it did not. We sign the same contract with the reseller that we use for brand owners.
Our reasoning rests on Article 13(1) of the GPSR: a person who places a product on the market under its own name or trademark is deemed to be the manufacturer. We treat the reseller, named on the product as the party placing it on the EU market, as that manufacturer, and a manufacturer may appoint a representative (Article 10(1)). This is our interpretation of a grey area. The Commission's guidelines mainly treat a reseller as a manufacturer when it rebrands products and sells them under its own name (section 1.1), and a market surveillance authority could take a different view.
Selling second-hand or collectible items into the EU? Send us a few example listings through our contact page and we will tell you whether we can act as your EU contact.
What stays your responsibility as a reseller
Taking on the manufacturer's role means taking on all of its obligations under Article 9 of the GPSR, and that is where many resellers push back. The argument we hear most is that it is not their brand, so they have no test reports. That does not change the outcome: the product still has to be safe and still has to meet EU law such as REACH, because the reseller is the one placing it on the EU market.
One case shows where the line is. A client wanted to sell K-pop plush toys. A plush toy is normally a toy under the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, which means CE marking and a conformity assessment, in practice testing against the EN 71 standards. These had neither. We declined to act as their EU contact unless they had the toys tested and adapted the labels, and they decided not to. Ceramics are another example: tableware that touches food falls under the EU rules for food contact materials, so a handmade bowl needs more than a nice photo.
| Product type | What to check before selling into the EU |
|---|---|
| Plush toys and figures for children | CE marking and a conformity assessment under the Toy Safety Directive, usually EN 71 testing |
| Ceramic bowls, cups and plates | Suitability for food contact under the EU food contact rules |
| Books, manga and printed photocards | General safety under the GPSR; usually low risk |
| Electronics such as light sticks | CE marking and the electrical and battery rules that apply |
Your options as a reseller outside the EU
You have four realistic routes. You can work with an EU contact on the basis described above, with you named as the party placing the product on the market. You can keep stock with a fulfilment service provider in the EU; if nobody else is responsible, the Commission says such a provider can automatically become the responsible person (source: C/2025/6233, section 3.1.5). You can sell through an importer established in the EU, who then carries the importer's obligations. Or you can stop selling these items to buyers in the EU.
If you also sell digital products such as printable patterns, the rules work differently; we explain that in our article on GPSR for digital products. For the general role of the EU contact under the GPSR, see the EU Authorised Representative under GPSR.
Checklist before your next EU sale
- Check whether the item is truly an antique or a collector's item of historical significance. If not, the GPSR almost certainly applies.
- Decide which route you take: an EU contact, an EU fulfilment provider, an EU importer, or no EU sales.
- Put the original manufacturer, your own name, postal address and email, and the EU contact on the product, the packaging or an accompanying document.
- Give each product a type, batch or serial number, and show the same manufacturer and EU contact details in your online listing.
- Mark used items clearly as second-hand.
- Check product-specific rules for toys, food contact items and electronics before you list them.
- Keep a simple file per product type with photos, label text and any test reports you have.
Want to know what applies to your shop? See what our EU Authorised Representative service covers, or send us your shop link and we will look at it.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (GPSR), Articles 2(2)(i), 2(3), 3(7), 3(9), 3(10), 3(28), 9, 10(1), 13(1) and 16(1), recital 18. EUR-Lex
- European Commission, Guidelines on the application of the EU general product safety legislative framework by businesses, C/2025/6233, sections 1.1, 2.1, 3.1.5 and 3.2. EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance, Article 4. EUR-Lex
- Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys, and Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on food contact materials.
- eBay Seller Center, General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). ebay.com
