ECOMMERCE FULFILLMENT IN PORTUGAL
We fulfill your ecommerce orders from Portugal.
Ecommerce fulfillment in Portugal means your orders are picked, packed and shipped from stock already inside the EU, so each parcel reaches the customer as an EU delivery, not as an import. We hold your stock in Portugal and fulfill your webstore, marketplace and wholesale orders from one inventory, with your brand on the box.
The order path
How does an order travel from your store to a customer in the EU?
Your stock arrives in Portugal once, in bulk, and we arrange customs clearance. It is usually released for free circulation on arrival, and from then on it counts as EU goods and moves anywhere in the EU with no further customs step.
When a customer orders, the order reaches us from your store or marketplace through our integration layer. We pick and pack it with your packaging, inserts and labels, and dispatch it from Portugal. For an order delivered within the EU VAT area there is no border, so nothing is paid or collected at the door.
The EUR 3 duty
Parcel from outside the EU, or order from stock in Portugal?
Since 1 July 2026, Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 applies a temporary EUR 3 customs duty per item, until 1 July 2028, plus a EUR 2 per item EU handling fee from 1 November 2026. It covers low-value consignments of EUR 150 or less sold at a distance to consumers from outside the EU. The European Commission defines an item as goods sharing the same tariff classification, description and, where applicable, origin, whatever the quantity.
An order picked from stock already released for free circulation ships from inside the EU. It is not an import, so the per-item duty does not apply. The bulk shipment pays the normal duty and import VAT at its release.
| Compared | Parcel shipped from outside the EU | Order shipped from stock in Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Customs formalities | Each parcel is an import | Once, on the bulk shipment |
| Customs duty | EUR 3 per item on low-value consumer consignments, 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, plus a EUR 2 per item EU handling fee from 1 November 2026 | Normal duty on the bulk shipment, at release |
| VAT | VAT on each parcel: charged at checkout under IOSS, or collected at import | Import VAT on the bulk shipment; VAT on cross-border consumer sales through the Union OSS scheme |
| At the door | Possible charges or delay at delivery | A delivery within the EU VAT area, nothing to collect |
| Returns | Back across the customs border | To an address inside the EU, then restocked |
One stock, every channel
Which sales channels can one stock in Portugal serve?
One stock pool serves your own webstore, your marketplaces and your business buyers. A consumer parcel, a marketplace order and a wholesale pallet all draw on the same inventory, so you hold one stock in Europe, not one per channel, and you see it from your own systems.
On marketplaces, VAT works differently for a seller established outside the EU: the marketplace is treated as the seller for VAT, and it charges and pays the consumer VAT (Article 14a(2) of the VAT Directive).
Delivery
How do orders reach customers in Portugal, Spain and across the EU?
In Portugal we deliver single parcels and full pallets alike: last-mile, express, groupage and full truckloads, from our warehouses with dedicated vehicles.
Beyond Portugal, we have our own road lines to Spain, Benelux, Italy, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, with express options, plus sea and air freight. Deliveries inside the EU move with no customs step. Orders to the United Kingdom and Switzerland leave the customs union and go through export and import formalities on the way.
Consumer VAT
What VAT applies when you sell to consumers across the EU?
When you sell from stock in Portugal to a consumer in another member state, VAT is due in the customer's country. The EUR 10,000 threshold in Article 59c of the VAT Directive applies only to sellers established in a single member state. A seller established outside the EU therefore owes VAT in the customer's member state from the very start.
The Union One-Stop-Shop (OSS) lets that VAT be reported through one return instead of a registration in each country, and we take care of OSS VAT on your consumer sales, under one OSS registration in your name. Import VAT on the bulk shipment is separate: it falls due when that shipment is released.
IN ONE SENTENCE
An order picked from stock already released for free circulation is not an import, so the EUR 3 per‑item duty does not apply to it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a fulfillment center in Portugal to sell across the EU?
You need stock inside the EU if you want orders to reach customers as EU deliveries rather than as imports. It does not have to be in Portugal: stock released for free circulation anywhere in the EU can go to any member state. We hold it in Portugal and ship from there across the EU.
Who pays the duty and import VAT on my stock?
They fall due once, on the bulk shipment, when it is released for free circulation. Who carries them depends on the import route. You can import under your own EU VAT and EORI numbers, or our operation acts as importer of record (not for medical devices); our operation provides the fiscal representative. Your orders then ship from that stock without a further import.
Where do my customers send their returns?
To an address inside the EU, not back to your country of origin. Each return comes to us in Portugal, is inspected and routed by its condition, and a unit that passes goes back into stock for the next order. For orders delivered inside the EU, the goods never left the customs union, so restocking needs no new import.
Can you connect to my online store and my marketplaces?
Yes. Our integration layer connects your store, your marketplaces and your ERP to the warehouse. Orders flow in, and stock, movements and order status flow back, so you see your inventory line by line from your own systems.
Sources
Primary sources.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 (temporary EUR 3 duty)
- European Commission, Access2Markets, 30 June 2026 (definition of item, dates)
- Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) No 952/2013
- VAT Directive, Article 14a(2) (marketplace deemed supplier)
- VAT Directive, Article 59c (EUR 10,000 threshold)
- Código do IVA, article 30 (fiscal representative)