What is eBay GPSR? A Seller's Guide to eBay's Updated Listing Requirements for 2025

In December of 2024, eBay's GPSR regulations will go into effect. As the deadline approaches, many sellers are left wondering what they need to do to be compliant, and what eBay GPSR even is. But GPSR (short for General Product Safety Regulation) isn't exclusive to eBay – it's actually a regulatory law that has been adopted by European Union countries and Northern Ireland, which will take effect on December 14th, 2024. eBay GPSR compliance is simply the marketplace's way of ensuring that their sellers are adhere to the relevant regulatory requirements when selling in regions where those requirements apply. In this guide, we'll make sense of eBay GPSR and understand what it means, who it applies to, and what (if any) products are exempt from General Product Safety Regulation laws.

‍

What is the eBay General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)?

eBay General Product Safety Regulation is eBay's way of helping its sellers ensure compliance with the European Union's and Northern Ireland's GPSR law, which goes into effect at the end of the year. The law deals with product safety and usage, and is intended to ensure that shoppers in these regions have products that are safe, clearly marked, and with all their original documentation, and that they have a way to easily get in touch with a representative who's responsible for the product in terms of safety and warranty.

Why is GPSR Important for eBay Sellers?

Many sellers on eBay make their products available to shoppers all over the world via international shipping or eBay's Global Shipping Program, which means that they need to know and comply with local consumer protection laws in the countries they ship to. The EU and Northern Ireland have adopted a series of consumer protection and product safety regulations, which will take effect in the beginning of the year. Any sellers who sell to EU countries and Northern Ireland will therefore need to take steps to ensure that their listings and products are compliant with GPSR.

Key Changes and Updates to GPSR

General Product Safety Regulations are intended to ensure that the end consumer can purchase a product that has complete usage and safety information (i.e. such as a product manual, safety precautions, relevant chemical hazard warnings, etc.), along with contact information for an EU representative of the manufacturer of the product. These things are not required by current EU and Northern Irish legislation, but will be mandatory once GPSR laws take effect.

When Will the Changes Take Effect?

GPSR will go into effect on December 14, 2024. They will apply to all commerce conducted in European Union countries and Northern Ireland, including listings from eBay sellers who sell to these regions.

‍

What Products Does GPSR Apply to?

Starting December 14th of this year, GPSR will apply to both new and secondhand items sold to consumers in the EU and Northern Ireland. This means that sellers based outside of these regions will need to comply with the regulations in order to continue selling to consumers in them. Below, we'll discuss what it means for sellers who offer shipping to the EU and UK (as Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom), and understand what kind of products might be exempt from the regulations.

Shipping Product to the EU/UK

All 27 EU countries have adopted GPSR, which means that your eBay listings and products will need to be GPSR compliant in order to continue selling to the EU.

The UK is somewhat more complicated – only Northern Ireland has opted to adopt the legislation, meaning that you could still technically sell noncompliant items to buyers in England, Scotland, and Wales, as they have not adopted GPSR. Doing this as an eBay seller will be impossible, however, as you won't be able to add Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, to the exclusion list in your shipping templates. For all intents and purposes, non-compliance means you will be unable to offer your items to the entirety of the United Kingdom, even though GPSR only applies to Northern Ireland.

In other words, if you do not wish to comply with GPSR as an eBay seller, you will not be able to sell to customers in the EU and UK once the law takes effect.

Exemptions and Exceptions

While GPSR applies both to new and used items, there are some exceptions. Firstly, antique items are exempt from these regulations, provided they meet the EU's definition of antique. Other items that are exempt from GPSR include:

• Medicine
• Food products (including animal feed)
• Plants and animals
• GMOs
• Animal byproducts
• Pesticides
• Products listed as requiring repair

eBay also provides a comprehensive list of product categories that are currently exempt from GPSR as a downloadable spreadsheet.

‍

What are the Requirements for GPSR Compliance on eBay?

Now that we understand what GPSR pertains to, we'll take a moment to understand what GPSR compliance actually means for you as an eBay seller. As a consumer safety law, one of the aims of GPSR is to ensure that the end user has all the safety information, documentation, the necessary labeling and warnings for proper use of the item, and contact information so that they can easily get in touch with the manufacturer (or a representative thereof). Today, when you create an eBay listing, you'll have the option of including this information under the "Item Disclosure" section in order to make that listing GPSR-compliant and available to buyers in the EU and UK. Below, we'll understand what information you'll need to provide in order to make your listings GPSR compliant on eBay so that you can keep selling to customers located in the EU and UK.

Product Manufacturer

In order for an item to be GPSR-compliant, its manufacturer name, address, and contact information must be made available to the end consumer. For manufacturers based outside of the EU and Northern Ireland, you'll need to provide an EU- or NI-based contact person, known as the Responsible Person, which will act as a representative of the manufacturer in the region.

Product Documents

Product documents include any relevant user manuals, certificates, and other documentation that the manufacturer includes with the item. Documents that provide safety warnings and product usage instructions must be in the local language of the region in which the item will be offered for sale.

Product Safety Information

Product safety information, even information that's already included in the manual and other documentation, must be added to this section. Here, you'll add safety statements, pictograms, and free text safety information that pertains to the item. You can find this information in the product's user manual and safety documentation, which is usually provided by the manufacturer.

Economic Operator

If the product's manufacturer is based outside of the EU or Northern Ireland, you'll need to provide details for a contact person (termed the Responsible Person) who is located in either the EU or Northern Ireland. This person or entity can be the manufacturer's representation in the region, an authorized distributor, an importer, or any other representative authorized as such by the manufacturer.

Additional Disclosures

Here, you'll input any country-specific disclaimers, legal statements, and documentation. This step is made optional by eBay, but we strongly recommend checking whether any relevant country-specific documentation or legal disclaimers may apply to your item.

‍

How to Ensure GPSR Compliance on eBay

While eBay has taken steps to make General Product Safety Regulation compliance more accessible to its sellers, you still bear the responsibility of ensuring that the products you list are indeed GPSR compliant. In this section, we'll examine the steps you'll need to take to ensure that your products are GPSR compliant before listing them on eBay. We'll also discuss the necessity of conducting safety assessments, how to obtain the required documentation, how to implement proper labeling and warnings, how to update your listings and policies to ensure your products are eBay GSPR compliant, and understand when you might need to consider reaching out to a third-party service to assist you with GSPR compliance.  

Conducting Product Safety Assessments

Unless you are the manufacturer of an item, you won't be required to conduct your own product safety assessments for the products you sell. That said, it is your responsibility to make all safety information required by GPSR available to your buyers at the time of purchase. Any recalls must be communicated to buyers by eBay within two business days, and products which have been recalled by the manufacturer will be immediately removed from your eBay Store.

Obtaining Required Documentation

As a seller on eBay, you're responsible for obtaining the required documentation for GPSR compliance from the manufacturer for each product you list. If you don't have the original manual and safety documentation, you'll need to get in contact with the manufacturer in order to obtain them. If you're unable to get the information from the manufacture, try reaching out to your distributor for assistance with obtaining the necessary documentation and safety information.

Implementing Proper Labeling and Warnings

GPSR compliance requires that the items you list have all necessary labeling and warnings. This means adding pictogram labels to indicate safety information like age suitability:

Or specific warnings on items that require it, such as batteries, for example:

Update Your eBay Listings and Policies

Once you have the pertinent safety labeling, warnings, and manufacturer contact information, you'll need to add it to your listings. On eBay, this is done on a per-listing basis when you create the listing. As an eBay seller, however, you likely sell many similar items that arrive from a handful of manufacturers. To make it easier for you to make your listings GPSR compliant, 3Dsellers has introduced GPSR compliance templates. These templates can be applied to your listings much in the same way that you would apply shipping templates or eBay business policies, making it easier to ensure GPSR compliance for all your eBay listings.

Utilizing Third-Party Services for Compliance

Since GPSR is a new law, there are still many aspects of the legislation that are open to interpretation. As the law takes effect, cases pertaining to interpretation will no doubt arise. If you're unsure about something, it's always best to reach out to a lawyer to ensure you're following the letter of the law and avoid any issues with liability that stem from non-compliance.

‍

Potential Consequences of Non-Compliance

Your liability for non-compliance is limited as an eBay seller, since GPSR stipulates that the majority of the liability for compliance falls primarily on the marketplace itself. As such, eBay has taken its own precautions to mitigate the risk of non-compliance liability by simply not displaying listings that it cannot be 100% certain are GPSR compliant in the EU and UK markets. In this section, we'll discuss the possible consequences of non-compliance, and understand how they might pertain to you as an individual seller.

Penalties and Fines

GPSR was passed to update regulations and replace the current law, known as GPSD, or General Product Safety Directive. It has expanded product safety regulations to better apply to the current ubiquity of online commerce in the sale of consumer goods, with specific emphasis on online marketplaces such as eBay. GPSR determines that marketplaces like eBay are primarily liable for ensuring that the products listed on their platforms are compliant, and as such are subject to fines of up to 4% of their annual worldwide turnover for noncompliance.

As a seller, your primary liability is verifying with the manufacturer that the products you are selling are indeed GPSR compliant, and including all necessary labeling and safety information provided by the manufacturer in your listings. Failure to do so transfers primary liability from the product manufacturer onto you, meaning that if a non-compliant listing of yours is erroneously displayed by eBay to shoppers in the EU/NI and results in a sale, you're liable for that product's safety and compliance with GPSR.

Damage to Reputation and Sales

As mentioned above, non-compliant listings will simply not be displayed to buyers in the EU and UK, which significantly minimizes your pool of potential buyers. Furthermore, without a presence in these markets, your reputation will suffer with shoppers in those regions, and even if your listings become compliant and eligible in the future, you may find it difficult to regain buyer trust.

‍

Final Thoughts & Key Takeaways: The Importance of GPSR Compliance for eBay Sellers

GPSR compliance is important for sellers who want to maintain a presence in European markets and not lose out on a huge pool of potential buyers when GPSR goes into effect at the end of the year. With new European Union regulations coming into effect in just over a month, eBay sellers who begin ensuring that their products and listings are GPSR compliant today can be ready when the law takes effect.

GPSR compliance may sound intimidating, but eBay has made it simple for sellers with its newly added step-by-step "Item Disclosure" section when creating new listings. Furthermore, 3Dsellers has made it even easier to both create and update existing listings with the necessary GPSR compliance information and documentation with easy-to-use GPSR templates.

‍

FAQs on eBay GPSR Compliance

New consumer safety legislation like GPSR always sounds intimidating, but as we've seen in this guide, your liabilities as a seller on eBay are limited to ensuring that the items you sell are compliant and providing the necessary information to your buyers. Below, we tackle a few frequently asked questions eBay sellers have about eBay GPSR compliance to help you better understand what the new GPSR law means for you.

Q: What is the eBay General Product Safety Regulation?

eBay General Product Safety Regulation is eBay's way of complying with the new European GPSR law, which takes effect on 14 December, 2024. This law deals with product safety and consumer access to information about consumer goods throughout the supply and distribution chain, and requires eBay sellers to ensure that the items they sell to customers located in the EU and Northern Ireland comply with the law's consumer safety standards and protocols.

Q: Which products does GPSR apply to on eBay?

GSPR applies to the majority of new and secondhand products sold to customers in the European Union and United Kingdom on eBay. Sellers based outside of these regions who do not make their products available in the European Union and Northern Ireland will not be affected by this legislation, nor will those who only sell certain products, including food or animal feed, medicinal products, live animals and plants, animal byproducts, pesticides, and antiques, among others. View the full list of eBay product categories that are exempt from GPSR for more information.

Q: How can I ensure GPSR compliance on my eBay listings?

To ensure GPSR compliance for your listings, you must first ensure that the item you're selling is indeed GPSR compliant by checking with the manufacturer or distributor. If the item is indeed compliant, you'll need to provide safety information, user manuals, and appropriate labeling to eBay for the product when you list it, which will in turn be made available to your buyers when they make a purchase. This information must be made available in the local language of each region in which you sell.

Q: What are the potential consequences of non-compliance with GPSR on eBay?

Sellers whose listings do not comply with GPSR will have their listings removed from European and UK eBay marketplaces, and their international listings will not be visible to buyers in those regions.

Q: When will the changes to GPSR take effect for eBay sellers?

GPSR will go into effect for eBay sellers on 14 December, 2024. Nevertheless, eBay has already made the framework for GPSR compliance available to sellers, and sellers can now upload the necessary documentation to their listings to make sure they comply with GPSR when it goes into effect.