There's a version of Amazon international expansion that sounds straightforward: you have a product selling well in one market, you tick a few boxes in Seller Central, and suddenly you're shipping to three new countries. That version exists mostly in blog posts written by people who haven't done it at scale.
Over nine years, my team at Sellers Umbrella has managed expansion across eleven Amazon marketplaces: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, UAE, and KSA. We've taken more than 50 brands through that process. Some moved outward from the US, others entered the US from Europe or the Middle East, others expanded laterally across multiple regions simultaneously. And in that time, we've learned one thing that almost no expansion guide will tell you: the variables that break your launch depend almost entirely on what you sell.
There is no universal checklist. There are universal categories of problems (compliance, tax, trademark, labelling, documentation), but which ones apply to you, and how severely, is determined by your product and your category. A toy brand and a supplement brand entering the same marketplace on the same day will face completely different blockers. Missing either one can halt shipments, suppress listings, or get an account flagged before a single unit sells.
This is what we've seen break across markets, and why.
Canada: The Market That Looks Easiest Is Often the First to Trip You Up
Canada is the textbook example. English-speaking, geographically close to the US, familiar consumer behaviour. Most brands treat it as a near-automatic extension of their North American presence.
We were managing a cross-border expansion for an apparel brand when this came up in real time. The client had inventory ready to ship to Amazon Canada, the same SKUs already performing well in the US. Before clearing the shipment, we caught that part of the stock carried old labels. The issue: Canada's Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act mandates bilingual English and French across fibre content, care instructions, and all warnings. The old labels were English only. Legally, they could not ship to Canada.
The resolution required physically splitting the inventory. Old-label stock was redirected to the US and UK, where bilingual labelling is not required. Only the new-label inventory, printed across four languages with French included, was cleared for Canada. One product, three destinations, three different label requirements.
That's not an edge case. That's Canada, which is considered the simple market.
Quebec adds another layer. Under the province's Charter of the French Language (Bill 96), French must appear at least as prominently as any other language on product packaging and accompanying documents. For brands targeting Quebec specifically, word-for-word translation isn't sufficient. The language must be properly localised, not just converted.
The broader lesson: proximity and shared language don't equal shared compliance. Canada and the US share a border and a dominant language. They do not share a labelling regime, and assuming they do is an expensive mistake.
EU (Germany, France, Italy): One Account, But the Compliance Overhead Is Anything But Simple
Brands expanding into Amazon DE, FR, or IT often think of "Europe" as a single destination. Amazon's unified European account structure reinforces this: one registration, multiple storefronts. But the compliance requirements underneath are more complex than the account structure suggests.
Since December 13, 2024, the EU's General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) applies to virtually all non-food consumer products sold in the EU. The single most impactful requirement: every brand selling in the EU must appoint an EU Responsible Person, a legal entity based in the EU, named on the product or packaging, who acts as the point of contact for regulators. Non-EU manufacturers cannot sell directly to EU consumers without one.
Amazon is enforcing this. Since mid-2025, sellers who treated the December 2024 deadline as theoretical have been receiving listing removal notices. FBA inbound shipments with missing GPSR Responsible Person information are being rejected at the warehouse level.
This requirement applies regardless of category. It is the baseline. On top of it sit category-specific rules. Toys entering the EU must carry CE marking and comply with EN 71 safety standards, with third-party test reports. Electronics must meet WEEE Directive requirements. Cosmetics must comply with the EU Cosmetics Regulation and cannot contain banned substances. Supplements require labelling with active ingredients in the local language of each market.
Then there's VAT. As of January 2026, sellers must provide VAT registration numbers for a minimum of five EU countries to maintain Pan-European FBA eligibility, up from four. VAT compliance alone, across EU marketplaces, typically runs between $2,000 and $5,000 annually per marketplace when using a compliance provider. That's a real overhead line that needs to be in the expansion business case before the first unit ships.
We saw this play out directly on one EU expansion. The VAT registrations across the required countries weren't through in time, so Amazon wouldn't activate Pan-European FBA. Rather than delay the launch, we rerouted to the European Fulfilment Network out of Germany as an interim. The brand stayed live across EU storefronts but at higher per-unit fulfilment fees and slower delivery times. Once the registrations cleared, we switched on Pan-EU, which cut fulfilment costs, improved delivery speed, and strengthened Buy Box eligibility across all EU markets. That same brand now does $402,738 on Amazon Germany against a $968,465 US baseline. Germany alone generates 42% of what the brand does in its home market. That number doesn't happen if the VAT sequencing breaks the launch in week one.
United Kingdom: Looks Like Europe, Operates Like a Completely Different Market Post-Brexit
Many brands assume the UK and EU are interchangeable — one account, one compliance framework, one set of certifications. Post-Brexit, that assumption is wrong, and it costs brands real money.
The UK now runs its own product safety regime entirely separate from the EU. Where the EU requires CE marking for toys, electronics, PPE, and machinery, the UK requires UKCA marking. The two systems are not mutually recognised. A product fully certified for Amazon DE is not automatically legal to sell on Amazon UK. Brands entering both markets need both certifications, which means separate conformity assessments, separate documentation, and separate declarations.
Northern Ireland adds a further layer. Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules for goods, meaning CE marking applies there even though the rest of Great Britain has moved to UKCA. A brand selling across the UK cannot treat it as a single compliance zone.
VAT in the UK is separate from EU VAT entirely. A UK VAT registration covers UK sales only. Brands already VAT-registered across EU countries still need a standalone UK VAT number, and the filing obligations, rates (20% standard), and thresholds are governed by HMRC, not any EU body.
The single biggest mistake we see: brands enter Amazon UK assuming their EU compliance work covers them. It does not. UKCA marking, UK GPSR obligations, UK VAT, and UK Brand Registry (UKIPO trademark) are all separate requirements that need to be addressed independently.
Japan: A Completely Different Operational Setup That Most Brands Underestimate
Amazon Japan is the world's third-largest Amazon marketplace by traffic. It's also the one where brands most consistently underestimate the operational gap between their existing setup and what's actually required to compete.
The language barrier runs deeper than most brands expect. Over 90% of Japanese consumers are not comfortable using English in their daily commerce. That means product listings, customer service, backend search terms, and marketing materials all need to be in fluent, native-sounding Japanese, not machine-translated or converted word-for-word. Japanese consumers have high expectations around product accuracy: packaging images must match the product precisely, and any inconsistency, even a minor one, damages trust in a way that's difficult to recover from.
On the account and documentation side, Japan requires a separate seller account. It's not part of any unified regional structure the way Europe is. Identity verification requires documents, and Amazon Japan requires those documents in Japanese. A common failure point we've seen with brands entering Japan: they submit documentation in English and assume it will be processed normally. It won't. Account setup stalls, sometimes significantly, while documents are returned for proper translation and notarisation.
Japan also operates its own Consumption Tax (JCT) framework, which requires engagement with a local tax advisor to navigate correctly. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) is the required trademark registration body for Brand Registry in Japan. A US or EU trademark does not automatically extend protection to the Japanese marketplace.
Australia: The FBA Tax Obligation Nobody Plans For
Australia is a relatively straightforward market in terms of language and consumer behaviour. The compliance trap is tax-specific, and it catches sellers consistently.
The assumption most brands make: Amazon handles GST collection on Australian sales, so nothing extra is required. This is partially true and partially not, and the distinction matters enormously.
Amazon Australia does collect and remit 10% GST on low-value imported goods (items under AUD 1,000) sold by overseas sellers who haven't warehoused stock locally. But the moment a brand sends inventory into an Amazon FBA warehouse in Australia, the situation changes entirely. Stock held in Australia is a domestic taxable supply. GST becomes the seller's obligation, not Amazon's. The threshold for mandatory GST registration is AUD $75,000 in annual turnover. Cross it and registration is required within 21 days.
Brands that send their first FBA shipment to Amazon AU without understanding this end up with a compliance gap that grows with every sale. The fix requires ABN registration, GST registration, and quarterly Business Activity Statement (BAS) lodgements. None of these are complicated, but all of them need to be in place before inventory arrives, not after.
UAE and KSA: Two Adjacent Markets That Operate Nothing Alike
The UAE and KSA look like a natural pair. Same region, Arabic language, adjacent geography. In practice, they operate differently enough to require separate expansion strategies.
In the UAE, English is widely used in commerce. Listings and marketing can lead in English, though Arabic support improves conversion. VAT in the UAE is 5%, and FBA sellers must register within 30 days of their first FBA sale.
KSA is a different operating environment. Arabic is the dominant language of daily commerce, not a secondary option. Product listings, customer service, and marketing that lead in English will underperform. The Arabic used must reflect the Saudi dialect specifically, not just standard modern Arabic. Cultural alignment matters beyond language: imagery and branding must respect local Islamic values and cultural norms.
KSA VAT is 15%, three times the UAE rate, with a mandatory registration threshold of SAR 375,000 (approximately USD $100,000) in annual taxable sales. The VAT registration platform in KSA is Arabic-only with local phone verification, which makes self-registration practically inaccessible without local support. For brands already operating in the UAE, Amazon's remote fulfilment option allows KSA sales from UAE warehouses without triggering KSA VAT registration. But the moment inventory is warehoused locally in KSA, registration becomes mandatory.
On Brand Registry: both markets require trademark registration with their respective local IP offices. Arabic-language filings may be required for KSA. A US, EU, or UK trademark does not confer automatic protection in either market.
Trademark: Not One Global Action — Every Market Needs Its Own Registration
Brand Registry on Amazon operates by marketplace. Enrolling your brand on Amazon US does not protect you on Amazon DE, JP, or AE. Each marketplace requires a trademark registered with the relevant IP office in that jurisdiction:
- EU marketplaces: EUIPO (covers all EU storefronts)
- UK: UKIPO
- Japan: JPO, with local language and representation requirements
- Australia: IP Australia
- UAE/KSA: local IP offices in each country; Arabic filings may be required for KSA
For brands expanding across five or more marketplaces, trademark strategy is a multi-year, multi-jurisdiction programme, not a one-time action. We've seen brands delayed for months in markets like Japan because trademark registration with the JPO wasn't started early enough. The process takes time, and Brand Registry benefits don't apply until it's in place.
Pre-Expansion Checklist: Five Questions Every Brand Must Answer First
Before a brand we work with enters any new marketplace, we work through the same set of questions. The answers change completely depending on the product.
Tax and entity: What is the GST/VAT obligation in this market? Does warehousing inventory trigger local registration? Is there a fiscal representative requirement?
Labelling and compliance: What does this product category require on the label in this market: language, ingredients, warnings, care instructions, certifications? Does the existing label meet those requirements, or does it need to be reprinted?
Trademark and Brand Registry: Is there an active trademark registered with the correct IP office in this jurisdiction? If not, how long will registration take, and what is the cost?
Responsible Person and local representation: Does this market require a local legal representative? An EU Responsible Person for GPSR, a local agent for Japan documentation, a fiscal representative for KSA?
Product certification: Does this category require market-specific certification (CE or UKCA marking, EN 71 testing, local safety standards) before the product can be listed?
None of these questions have a universal answer. A supplement brand and a toy brand entering Amazon Germany on the same day face entirely different compliance landscapes. The supplement brand needs to focus on EU supplement regulations and German-language labelling. The toy brand needs CE marking, EN 71 test reports, and GPSR documentation. Both need an EU Responsible Person and VAT registration, but everything category-specific diverges from there.
The brands that expand successfully treat each marketplace as a distinct operational project, not a checkbox. The ones that treat it as a switch to flip tend to find out what they missed when a shipment gets rejected or a listing gets suppressed.
Sequencing: Where You Expand First Matters as Much as Where You Expand
The question we get most often isn't "can we expand?" It's "where should we expand first?" The honest answer is that the right first market depends on where your product has the lowest compliance friction relative to the size of the opportunity.
For most US brands, Canada is operationally close but, as we've seen, not friction-free. The UK is often the better first international step: English-language, strong demand, and manageable compliance. The EU is the largest opportunity in Europe but carries the highest compliance overhead, particularly post-GPSR. Japan is high-reward but requires the longest runway. The Middle East is growing fast and less saturated than Western markets, but requires meaningful localisation investment to do properly.
The sequence matters as much as the destination. Trying to enter five markets simultaneously without the operational foundation in place is one of the most reliable ways to compromise performance in all of them.
If you're working through what expansion looks like for your brand, across marketplaces, categories, and compliance landscapes, the strategic consulting team at Sellers Umbrella works through exactly this kind of pre-launch framework with brands at every stage.
Further reading from MerchantSpring:
