D2C Cosmetics
Selling beauty direct into Europe but tripping over compliance and customs every single launch?
You keep your Cosmetics-Regulation obligations, the Responsible Person and CPNP under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009. We run the operation from inside Europe, with the bonded landing, fulfillment, VAT and Importer of Record, and the GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies, so the customs is handled before your order ever moves.
How we work with beauty brands
Cleared to sell, and still your brand.
You keep your Cosmetics-Regulation obligations, the Responsible Person and CPNP notification under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009. We give you the bonded landing, fulfillment, VAT and Importer of Record, and the GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies as a consumer product, so customs is handled before the order moves and your unboxing stays fully branded, because we pack it your way.
The compliance is ours to hold, so your team is free to keep launching.
How we run it
Cleared to sell, then shipped looking like your brand.
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GPSR Responsible Person, where it applies
We act as your GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies as a consumer product. Your cosmetics Responsible Person under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 stays yours.
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Customs handled first
We ship from inside the EU, so customs is handled before the order moves, not at every parcel.
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Fully branded unboxing
We pack it your way, so the unboxing your customer opens stays fully your brand.
Where your orders go
Direct to customers, and to the shelves between.
A beauty brand rarely sells one way for long. The same stock we hold for you serves your direct orders and your wholesale orders to retailers and distributors, cleared and ready inside the EU.
| Where | What happens |
|---|---|
| Direct to your customer | Every D2C order ships from inside the EU, packed your way, with customs already handled before it moves. |
| Retailers and distributors | Wholesale orders go out as B2B freight from the same held stock, so a retail launch does not need a second supply chain. |
| Available inside the EU | Stock is already in and already cleared, so an order, retail or direct, dispatches instead of waiting at a border. |
IN OPERATION
GPSR compliance held by us, customs handled once, at bulk import, and every parcel dispatched carrying your brand identity.
THE BASE FOR THIS SECTOR
How the European base serves D2C Cosmetics.
For cosmetics the brand brings stock into a bonded customs warehouse inside the EU, where duty and import VAT defer until each order ships and the operation runs OSS VAT across the 27. The brand keeps its Cosmetics-Regulation obligations under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, the Responsible Person and CPNP notification. The stock is held to the conditions a beauty product needs, with the GPSR Responsible Person credential held by us where the product qualifies as a consumer product, then dispatched across the channels cosmetics brands sell through: direct-to-consumer and marketplace. One bonded pool serves every channel.
- Bonded customs warehouse Direct-to-consumer Stock can be held in a bonded customs warehouse, so duty and import VAT are deferred until each order ships.
- OSS VAT across the 27 Direct-to-consumer One-Stop-Shop VAT is filed across the 27 EU member states from a single registration, so cross-border sales settle through one return.
- Full fulfilment Direct-to-consumer Full fulfilment covers B2C and B2B pick and pack, assembly and kitting, returns and RMA, repairs, marketplace prep, and tailor-made work.
- Duty and import VAT deferred Direct-to-consumer Duty and import VAT are deferred until the goods are sold, so unsold inventory carries no border tax.
One bonded pool serves every channel: a consumer parcel and a marketplace order, all from the same cleared stock.
How it plays out
Two situations, run this way, end to end.
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The situation
A beauty brand whose European launches kept stalling at the same gates: who is the Responsible Person, and what happens to each parcel at the border.
What runs
The brand keeps its cosmetics Responsible Person and CPNP notification under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009. We give the bonded landing, fulfillment, VAT and Importer of Record, plus the GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies as a consumer product, and ship from inside the EU so customs is handled before the order moves.
What changes
A launch becomes a stocking decision, not a compliance project.
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The situation
A D2C brand whose unboxing was its marketing, watching European customers receive a generic box from a generic operation.
What runs
We pack every order the way the brand specifies, from inside the EU, so the unboxing ships fully branded.
What changes
What the customer opens in Europe is the experience the founder designed, not a substitute for it.
What you can count on
Branded. Protected.
The unboxing your customer opens stays fully yours, while the work that makes it sellable in Europe sits with us.
What you can count on
- Branded
- Cleared
- Expedited
What buyers ask
What D2C Cosmetics brands ask before they move stock into Europe.
Who is the Responsible Person for our cosmetics in Europe?
Under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, the cosmetics Responsible Person is the brand's own obligation, and that role stays with you. EFC is not your cosmetics Responsible Person. EFC gives you the bonded landing, fulfillment, VAT and Importer of Record, and acts as the GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies as an in-scope consumer product.
What does the GPSR Responsible Person cover, and what stays with us?
Where a product qualifies as an in-scope consumer product under GPSR, EFC acts as the EU-based GPSR Responsible Person, the point of contact authorities deal with for that general-safety role. Your Cosmetics-Regulation obligations stay yours: the cosmetics Responsible Person under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, the CPNP notification, the safety dossier, the formulation, and the claims. EFC carries the GPSR role and the operation around it.
Does EFC handle our Cosmetics-Regulation notification and dossier?
No. The EU Cosmetics Regulation, Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, is your regulatory front-end: the cosmetics Responsible Person, the CPNP notification, and the safety dossier are all the brand's own obligations, and EFC does not perform them. EFC's operation runs within that frame, providing the bonded landing, fulfillment, VAT and Importer of Record, and the GPSR Responsible Person where the product qualifies as a consumer product.
How does VAT work when we sell cosmetics direct to customers across several EU countries?
Because EFC ships your D2C orders from stock already inside the EU, each sale is a domestic dispatch rather than an import into the customer country, which is what the EU One-Stop-Shop VAT scheme is built for. EFC runs the operation from an EU base so cross-border consumer sales are handled on one VAT logic instead of a customs event per parcel.
When is duty due on cosmetics stock we hold in Europe?
EFC ships from inside the EU with customs handled before the order moves, so duty is dealt with once when stock enters, not at every parcel. A unit sitting in stock and not yet sold has not triggered a per-order border charge.
Will the unboxing still look like our brand, and can EFC ship to retailers too?
EFC packs each order your way, so the unboxing your customer opens stays fully your brand, and wholesale orders go out as B2B freight from the same held stock as your direct orders, so a retail launch does not need a second supply chain.
What happens to cosmetics returns from European customers?
EFC brings returns back into one workflow that checks each item and restocks what is fit to sell again, so sellable stock goes back on sale instead of sitting unsorted. Items that cannot be resold are kept out of inventory.
How do we start with EFC for cosmetics?
EFC starts from what you sell and where, then shows you how the compliance, the customs, and the unboxing get handled. Tell us those two things to begin.
D2C Cosmetics
Talk to us about launching your beauty brand into Europe.
Tell us what you sell and where. We will show you how the compliance, the customs, and the unboxing get handled.
Get a quote