GPSR for small webshops: 7 things to do in 2026

The GPSR — Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — replaced the old General Product Safety Directive and has applied since 13 December 2024. As a regulation it applies directly and identically in every EU country. It is written for all sizes of business, and the Commission published separate guidelines for small and micro-enterprises in November 2025. This article turns both into a working list for a small online shop.

Does the GPSR apply to your webshop? #

Almost certainly, if you sell physical products to consumers in the EU. An online offer counts as placed on the EU market when it is targeted at EU consumers — when you direct your activities, by any means, to one or more EU countries. Where your company is based does not matter.

• ✓New products, and also used, repaired and refurbished ones sold in the course of business.
• ✓Products sold through your own site, a marketplace or any other form of distance selling.
• ✓Products that also fall under specific EU laws (toys, electronics, cosmetics) — the GPSR fills the gaps those laws leave.
• ✕Food, feed and medicines; they have their own safety rules.
• ✕Living plants and animals, animal by-products and plant protection products.
• ✕Products clearly sold as needing repair before use.

Which role do you have under the GPSR? #

Your obligations follow from your role, and one shop can have different roles for different products. Decide it per product line.

What must a small webshop do under the GPSR? 7 steps #

1. 1

   1. Settle your role per product

   Use the table above. A private label is easy to miss: a white-label product with your logo on it makes you the manufacturer, not a reseller.

2. 2

   2. Make sure there is an EU responsible person

   Article 16 bans placing a product on the market without an economic operator established in the EU who is responsible for it. That is the EU manufacturer, the importer, an authorised representative with a written mandate, or — only if none of those exists — a fulfilment service provider. Their name and postal and electronic address go on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document.

3. 3

   3. Update every product listing

   Article 19 sets the minimum for any online offer. The table below lists the four fields.

4. 4

   4. Check the product itself

   It needs a type, batch or serial number visible to the consumer (or on the packaging if the product is too small), the manufacturer’s name and postal and electronic address, and clear instructions and safety information in a language consumers in that country easily understand.

5. 5

   5. If you are the manufacturer: do the paperwork

   Before selling, carry out an internal risk analysis and draw up technical documentation: at least a general description of the product and the characteristics relevant to its safety, plus, where the risks call for it, the risks and your solutions and the standards you applied. Keep it up to date and available to authorities for 10 years.

6. 6

   6. Set up a route for accidents and dangerous products

   The manufacturer reports an accident — death or serious harm to health — through the Safety Business Gateway without undue delay. A reseller who hears of one tells the manufacturer. A dangerous product means corrective action and informing authorities through the same gateway.

7. 7

   7. Know what a recall costs

   In a recall you must offer a remedy that is effective, cost-free and timely, with a choice of at least two of repair, replacement or a refund of at least the price paid. The postage is yours; see the measured costs below.

What must a GPSR product listing show? #

Online marketplaces are not supposed to list an offer until the trader has provided this information, so on a marketplace you will be asked for it. On your own shop nobody asks until a market surveillance authority does.

What does a recall cost you in postage? #

If the remedy is a replacement sent by post, one recalled unit takes two parcels: the unsafe product back, the safe one out. We measured the cheapest small domestic parcel in eight countries on our shipping options on 29 September 2026. With stock near the customer, both legs are domestic.

Batch and serial numbers keep this number small. If you can tell which 50 units came from the faulty batch, you recall 50, not your whole year’s sales. That is the practical reason step 4 matters.

What if your stock sits in several EU countries? #

The language rule is per country: instructions and safety information must be in a language consumers in the country where the product is made available can easily understand. A batch sent to a sender in France needs French safety information in the box or on the product; a batch for Poland needs Polish.

With local fulfilment through AirPost you send each sender your stock and your own packaging and packing slips, and they ship what you sent. So the GPSR information travels with your batch: print it on the product or packaging, or add an accompanying leaflet in that country’s language before the batch leaves you. You pay per shipment — label, your sender’s fee and our €0.85 platform fee — with no storage costs.

Start with a batch you can check label by label; how much stock to send in a first batch walks through the sizing. For a recall or a normal return, the sender who holds your stock can take the parcel back and report it with photos — see returns without a warehouse and the EU 14-day returns rule.

What happens if you ignore the GPSR? #

Each EU country sets its own penalties; the regulation only requires them to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. In practice the first contact is usually a market surveillance authority asking for your technical documentation or your responsible person, or a marketplace taking your listing down. Both are cheaper to prevent than to answer.