What a second and third marketplace really costs

The question “what does it cost to open another marketplace" almost always gets the wrong answer, because it is asked as “what is the subscription". The subscription is the smallest and most easily checked line in the whole calculation. What actually decides whether a second or third channel pays is stock, returns and compliance, and none of those three appears in a platform's price list.

Sources checked: 23 September 2026. The figures below come from official price lists and registers, with a verification date against each. Platforms and authorities change rates independently of us, so confirm at source before deciding. This is not tax or legal advice.

Seven layers of cost, one of them visible

Layers 1 and 2: subscription and commission, the easy part

One line in that table matters more than it looks, and it is almost always overlooked: each of these three platforms charges on a different base. Amazon, since February 2024, calculates the referral fee on the amount excluding VAT in the affected transaction types. bol.com states plainly that it charges on the selling price including VAT. Kaufland goes furthest and charges on the gross price plus the delivery charge, so on a cheap item with expensive shipping the base can be noticeably higher than the product price itself.

The practical conclusion is worth keeping: percentages from different price lists are not comparable. Compare the actual amount per unit, worked out from the correct base. At the Dutch 21% VAT rate the same headline percentage hides a difference that a table of percentages will never show. We work it through in our piece on choosing a Dutch channel.

Layer 4: returns, the line that grows on its own

On Amazon returns carry their own fee, and the mechanics surprise people because the return rate is measured across three months: you take the units shipped in a given month and count how many came back during that month and the following two. The amount depends on size tier, weight and store. For a standard parcel up to 400 g the rate card effective 1 February 2026 gives 3.50 EUR in Germany, 4.03 EUR in France, 4.93 EUR in Italy and 3.67 EUR in Spain.

Entering a new market adds a second, quieter cost: a return from abroad to a warehouse in your home country costs more and closes more slowly than a local one. Without a return address on the ground, every returned unit costs more than it does on your home market. The full fee mechanics and thresholds are in our piece on returns processing fees.

Layer 5: integration and product data

This is the cost no platform will calculate for you, because it depends entirely on the state of your data. It has three parts:

• Connecting the channel to the system that holds your stock and prices. With an integrator that is configuration; over the API it is a project.
• Bringing product data up to the platform's requirements. Each one has different mandatory fields, different controlled vocabularies and different limits. This is usually the largest one-off effort and the most common cause of a delayed launch.
• Upkeep. Stock, prices and order statuses have to agree across channels every day, not on launch day.

A practical rule: if your product data was good enough for the first marketplace, the second will still need more. What to check is set out in our piece on product data.

Layer 6: stock, the largest line in the whole calculation

This is the difference between “we are listing on another channel" and “we are entering another market".

Listing from existing stock costs no capital. You sell what you already hold, ship from the same place and accept a longer delivery time. It is a cheap test and almost always the right first step.

Stock held locally costs capital, and that is a decision of a different order. Goods sitting in a warehouse on a new market are money out of circulation for the length of the turnover cycle, plus the risk that the cycle runs slower than you assumed, because you have no sales history there. On a new channel you have no data to forecast that turnover, so the first forecast is an assumption rather than a forecast.

Which is why the order we recommend is always the same: list from existing stock first, get conversion data, then decide about local inventory. Reversing that order is the most expensive mistake in expansion, and we have watched it happen repeatedly.

Layer 7: compliance, the cost that comes back every quarter

A new country means new registration duties, and some of them recur. Germany, with figures from the official fee schedules:

So registration itself is often free or costs a dozen euros. The cost is what comes back: the quarterly charge, the representative's fee and somebody's time on reporting. Enter four markets and those lines multiply by four rather than by sales volume, so at low volume they can consume the margin entirely.

A separate trap: in Germany a company without an establishment there cannot register equipment itself and must appoint a representative. In Italy and Spain the rules provide for both routes. We set this out country by country in our piece on EPR registration. If you would rather someone ran it for you, we handle it as part of EPR and VAT registration.

How to work it out for yourself

1. Take one product, not the whole catalogue. Cost it to the end: price, commission on the correct basis, fulfilment, expected return, a share of compliance.
2. Treat compliance as an annual cost divided by planned volume. 32.80 EUR a quarter across a hundred units a year is a completely different line from the same figure across ten thousand.
3. Separate one-off from recurring. The first come back; the second stay forever.
4. Keep local stock out of the first calculation. If the channel does not work shipping from existing stock, local inventory only makes it look like it does.
5. Set a deadline and an exit criterion before launch. Four weeks and a specific number at which you say no are worth more than an optimistic forecast.

How Amazonway handles it

We treat a new channel as a test with a budget and a deadline, not as expansion. We list from existing stock, set up measurement so that after four weeks the answer is yes or no on numbers, and only then discuss local logistics.

We do the arithmetic before launch, on your range rather than on market averages. If it says the channel does not work, we say so. Running the sales side is described under marketplace account management, and entering a new market as a process under international expansion. Our own rates are published on the pricing page.

Have us cost out your next channel →

FAQ: the cost of another marketplace

What does listing on a new marketplace actually cost?

The least of anything in the calculation. Amazon is 39 EUR a month excluding VAT in the euro-zone stores, Kaufland from 39.95 EUR a month for the whole network, bol.com has no subscription at all. On top comes a commission that depends on category and on market. If you list from existing stock, that is realistically the entire cash cost at launch.

What is the largest line?

Capital tied up in stock, if you decide to hold goods on the new market. On a new channel you have no sales history, so you cannot forecast turnover, which means the first inventory forecast is an assumption. That is why it is more sensible to start by shipping from existing stock.

Can commissions across platforms be compared directly?

No. Each charges on a different base: Amazon since February 2024 on the amount excluding VAT in the affected transaction types, bol.com on the price including VAT, and Kaufland on the gross price plus the delivery charge. The same percentage therefore produces a different amount per unit, so compare amounts rather than percentages.

What does compliance cost on a new market?

The registrations themselves are often free (LUCID in Germany, RII-AEE and RII-PyA in Spain) or cost a dozen euros. The cost is the recurring part: in Germany 32.80 EUR net per quarter for equipment and 3.80 EUR for batteries, plus the representative's fee and time spent reporting. At low volume it is precisely these lines that decide whether the channel pays.

Can I handle EPR registrations myself?

It depends on the country. In Germany a company without a local establishment cannot register electrical equipment itself and must appoint a representative. In Italy and Spain the rules provide for both the direct route and one through a representative. Confirm your own case with the relevant national register.

How long before you can judge whether a channel works?

Listing from existing stock, four weeks is enough to see whether the channel generates traffic and whether the offer converts. One condition: the success criterion and the deadline have to be set before launch, not after the first month without sales.

Sources

• Amazon, selling fees; the FBA Rate Card Europe Fees effective 1 February 2026 (returns processing fee table)
• bol.com, Commissie (basis on which commission is charged)
• Kaufland Global Marketplace, conditions (as of 24 July 2026)
• stiftung ear, costs and fees
• Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister, LUCID