Note: this article explains OTTO's requirements and the general mechanics of the EU OSS scheme. It is not tax advice. Confirm your specific setup with a tax advisor before you start selling.
What OTTO requires
For sellers from other EU countries, OTTO's checklist on the VAT side has exactly two items:
- a valid VAT ID from your home country (for example a Dutch or Polish VAT ID), and
- participation in the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) scheme, registered through your home country's tax authority using that VAT ID.
You do not need a German company, and for the standard setup (shipping from your home country) you do not need a German VAT registration either. German small-business status (§ 19 UStG) is excluded for German sellers; as an international seller you sell as a regular VAT-registered business. Note that OTTO cannot connect VAT groups that share one VAT ID (German: Organschaft): your company needs its own VAT ID.
Why OSS: the mechanics in one paragraph
When you ship goods from, say, Rotterdam or Poznań to a consumer in Germany, that is an intra-EU distance sale. Above the EU-wide threshold of EUR 10,000 per year (total cross-border B2C sales into all EU countries), German VAT applies to those sales: 19% standard rate, 7% reduced rate for a small set of goods. OSS exists so you do not need a separate German VAT registration for this: you declare the German VAT through a single quarterly OSS return filed with your own tax authority, which forwards the tax to Germany. One registration, one return, all EU consumer countries covered.
Practical implications for your otto.de pricing
- Your otto.de prices are gross prices including German VAT (typically 19%). When you calculate margins, deduct German VAT, not your home country's rate.
- OTTO's commission is calculated on the gross price including that German VAT — see OTTO marketplace fees explained.
- Payouts are in EUR, so for Polish sellers the EUR/PLN conversion happens in your accounting, not on the marketplace.
The warehouse caveat
OSS covers sales you ship from your home country (or another country where you are VAT-registered). If you store goods inside Germany, for example in a German fulfilment warehouse, the sales from that stock are domestic German sales, and those are not covered by OSS: a regular German VAT registration becomes necessary. OTTO allows shipping from any EU warehouse, so both setups are possible. Which one is right for you is a cost-and-logistics question; clarify it with your tax advisor before committing to a German warehouse.
Checklist before you apply
- National VAT ID valid and active
- OSS registration through your home tax authority completed
- Decision made: ship from home country (OSS) or from a German warehouse (German VAT registration), confirmed with your tax advisor
- German-language customer service organised (an OTTO requirement regardless of VAT setup)
- Returns address in Germany or one of the accepted EU countries
The full requirements beyond VAT (legal forms, shipping, returns, timeline by country) are covered in Selling on OTTO Market as an EU seller and on the international expansion data page.
Once you are live: know your real margin
German VAT, OTTO fees, shipping and returns stack up on every order. profitkonsole calculates your real profit per product from your OTTO Partner Connect data. 14-day free trial.
Sources & notes
Status: June 2026. OTTO requirements based on official OTTO Market partner communication and a direct inquiry to OTTO Market by profitkonsole as a listed service partner. OSS mechanics per the EU VAT e-commerce package (in force since July 2021). Not tax advice.
