Although the UK already left the EU at the beginning of the year, the UK still adheres to EU rules until the end of the year, so there has been little impact on Amazon merchants so far. 

However, as this transitional phase will end on 1 January 2021, Amazon sellers will also face major changes if they want to continue selling to the UK. The UK marketplace will no longer be part of the Amazon PAN-EU and EFN programmes, so there will be no more stock transfers between the European and UK Amazon fulfilment centres (FC).

For sellers, this means that they will have to accept two separate inventories if they want to continue selling on Amazon UK after 01 January 2021. In addition, they will be responsible for shipping their goods to a British FC. Because what will no longer be possible is to send goods to a German Amazon FC, which will then automatically redistribute the units in order to also serve the British marketplace. 

Brexit and FBA - What Amazon Sellers Can Do

Amazon sellers thus have the choice between three alternatives:

1. As mentioned earlier, build up a separate stock in the UK from the other European marketplaces.
2. Instead of the previous FBA shipping, shipping via FBM to the UK, which can however have a strong impact on the Buy Box on the UK marketplace depending on the product and competition. FBM shipping can take place via external transport service providers.
3. Stop selling on Amazon UK altogether.
   
   

Since both FBM shipping options and a second, specific UK FBA inventory require Amazon sellers to export their products to the UK themselves, they will also be required to comply with future legal requirements. Exactly what these regulations will look like will only become clear in the coming weeks, should the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU reach a deal. However, Amazon recommends that its sellers inform themselves now about any requirements for customs declarations, such as the required EORI number, VAT identification number or certain licences.

Pan-European shipping between the other participating marketplaces (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) will not be affected by either a trade deal or a no-deal Brexit.