Germany: Etsy collects three producer registration numbers before you can sell
Of the countries in this calculator, Germany is the only one where Etsy runs a dedicated extended producer responsibility page and asks you to hand over registration numbers. That makes it the one place where a compliance step, not a fee, is the thing most likely to stop a new shop trading.
Etsy collects three, under Shop Manager, then Finances, then Legal and tax information, then EPR Registrations:
- Packaging, registered in the LUCID register operated by the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister
- Electrical equipment, under the WEEE rules, registered with Stiftung EAR
- Batteries, likewise registered with Stiftung EAR
Packaging is the one that catches ordinary makers, because the box and the void fill you post an order in are packaging whether or not the product itself is. A seller established outside Germany must also appoint an authorised representative in the country.
Note that the European packaging regulation does not replace the German framework. Etsy's own wording is that from 12 August 2026 it applies alongside the national rules, so the German registrations continue rather than lapsing.
The fee schedule itself is unremarkable
Nothing about the German fee card distinguishes it from its euro-zone neighbours. Processing is 4% plus EUR 0.30, the transaction fee 6.5%, Offsite Ads 15%.
Germany pays no regulatory operating fee. That charge applies in Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Türkiye, Vietnam, India and Canada, and Germany has never been on the list, so a German seller keeps between 0.48% and 1.14% of item price plus postage that competitors in those countries hand over. It is a small number that compounds across a year of orders.
Germany is also not among the countries Etsy charges a deposit fee.
VAT on Etsy's fees, and where the rate comes from
Germany sits in Etsy's ordinary arrangement: VAT is charged on your seller fees unless you supply a VAT number, after which it stops and you self-account under the reverse charge. If you are registered, that makes the VAT a timing question rather than a cost, since you deduct it as input tax.
For a small seller below the registration threshold it is a genuine cost with no recovery, which is worth weighing when deciding whether to register voluntarily.
One caveat that applies everywhere: Etsy publishes no VAT percentage for its fees in any country, saying only that VAT "may vary". Any rate quoted for Germany comes from the tax authority, not from Etsy.