UK and German
FBA first-leg

The UK and Germany, line by line

Since 2021 the UK and the EU member states have been fully separate on the import side. The table below is the comparison we give sellers running both marketplaces — the "shared?" column is the one to read, because it tells you which work is done once and which has to be done twice.

One shipment for both does not work

We still receive this request regularly: one container, half to a UK centre and half to a German one, to save a freight movement. That worked before 2021. It does not now, and the reason is customs territory:

• The UK is a separate territory, requiring its own import clearance, its own document set, and an importer holding a GB EORI.
• Germany sits inside the EU territory, where goods circulate freely after clearance — but that free circulation does not include the UK.

Which makes the common workaround — "clear everything into the EU, then move part of it to the UK" — a false economy: that second movement is a fresh export and import, needing another declaration and another round of UK charges. It costs more in both money and time than simply shipping two consignments from the start.

"Trying to save one ocean freight movement, you end up performing one extra export and import. Plan UK and German cost and timing per country, not as one 'Europe'."

The full difference between the two rulebooks is in the China to Germany guide and the UK customs documents guide.

Amazon will not declare for you

This is the second hard constraint, and it applies identically on both marketplaces: Amazon will not act as importer of record for your goods. Every FBA first-leg consignment therefore needs a separate, identified importing entity:

• Your own UK company, or German/EU company — requires the corresponding EORI and VAT registration. The advantage is that import VAT is recoverable under the normal rules and the tax record sits in your name.
• A forwarder's or third-party provider's entity (typical of all-in arrangements) — no EORI of your own required, but be clear that the import VAT is generally not recoverable by you, because recovery follows whoever is named as importer on the declaration.

Settle this before booking. Discovering on arrival that there is no usable importer leaves only finding an entity at short notice or diverting to a third-party warehouse — both add cost and eat into free time. The full relationship between DDP, DAP and VAT recovery is in DDP or DAP for UK imports.

Two independent checklists

UK marketplace

• GB EORI number — the prerequisite for importing; without it no declaration can be filed even after arrival
• UK VAT registration — not a hard prerequisite for clearance, but required to postpone or recover import VAT
• Standard VAT rate 20%
• One clearance pack — commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, commodity codes; requirements in the UK customs documents guide

German marketplace

• EU EORI number — valid EU-wide, obtainable in any member state, no per-country registration
• German VAT registration — as above, for recovery and postponement
• Standard VAT rate 19%
• LUCID packaging registration — the UK has no equivalent. A market-access requirement rather than a customs document: goods clear without it, but it governs whether you can lawfully sell, Amazon generally requires the number, and it must be in place before selling begins. See ZSVR / LUCID
• Electrical goods and battery-containing products — further registration obligations depending on category
• A second clearance pack — the UK set cannot be reused

Channels and transit

On the actual figures behind our FBA first-leg service: European ocean with all-in clearance 30–45 days, European air with clearance 7–12 days. Two things decide:

• Replenishment window — air for a stock-out or a first production batch; sea where there is one to two months of cover.
• Value-to-weight ratio — high (small electronics, components, branded apparel) makes the air freight share tolerable; low (bulky goods, hardware, household) effectively means sea only.

What gets used most in practice is a combination: bulk by sea to hold the average freight cost down, with a small first batch by air to protect the on-sale date. That suits peak-season builds particularly well. The framework for choosing a European mode is in which mode to Europe.

Three reasons warehouses reject cartons

• Labels that will not scan — carton marks not matching the shipment ID, or labels covered by tape, poorly printed, or crushed in transit. The centre may refuse the delivery or charge a handling fee.
• Cartons over the weight or dimension limit — limits differ by marketplace and centre type, and oversized cartons need separate handling. Check against the destination's current requirements, not against the last shipment.
• Mixed packing — items belonging to different shipment IDs sharing one carton, which makes received quantities fail to reconcile and creates painful reconciliation work afterwards.

All three are entirely controllable before the container is loaded, and considerably more expensive to fix once the goods are at the warehouse.

Never plan the slot as zero days

Our experience is 2 to 10 days, longer in peak season, and the slot is not controlled by the forwarder — it depends on the receiving capacity of that centre at the time.

The most effective approach is to have labels, packing lists and shipment IDs ready so that booking starts the moment the goods clear customs rather than after the container is collected — that usually saves several days. To confirm the destination address and postcode, use our FBA warehouse lookup. The full segment-by-segment timing breakdown is in how long shipping from China to the UK takes.

What this guide does not cover

This guide reflects HSIEHSHUN's day-to-day operational experience and is not customs, tax or legal advice. Four points specifically: the figures are experience ranges and exclude booking waits and delivery slots; VAT registration and the recovery or postponement of import VAT in each country depend on your own tax position and should be discussed with a local accountant or tax adviser; the scope and procedure for packaging, electrical equipment and battery compliance are set by each country's authorities and this guide only explains that they exist and what kind of requirement they are — treat the current official rules as authoritative; and Amazon's carton marking, weight and dimension limits, booking rules and receiving standards are set by the platform and change, so treat the current requirements in your Seller Central account as authoritative. The plan and timing for any shipment are governed by the sailing or departure confirmed at booking and by the written quotation.

Written by Alex · Operations, Shenzhen Xieshun Logistics Co., Ltd. · 5 years in international freight forwarding, handling China–Europe and China–UK bookings, export declarations and destination clearance and delivery coordination.
Published 13 August 2026 · Last updated 13 August 2026 · Reviewed by the HSIEHSHUN commercial team

Where to go from here

• DDP or DAP for UK imports — how importer-of-record status decides who recovers import VAT
• What customs documents UK customs needs — the UK document set, line by line
• Shipping from China to Germany — gateway choice and packaging registration
• Amazon FBA first-leg service — all marketplaces, actual channels and value-added services
• FBA warehouse lookup — fulfilment centre codes and addresses
• Back to the guides — other practical articles on UK and European logistics