Extended Producer Responsibility selling in France

As a global marketplace, eBay has a legal obligation to ensure that our sellers are compliant with certain EPR regulations, including the Law against Waste and for the Circular Economy. For more information about these regulations, and to help you understand your responsibilities as a seller, see our sections below. Sellers who don’t comply with these regulations may have their selling activities restricted.

Tip
To comply with EPR regulations in France, business sellers will need to make sure they are using eBay’s advanced listing tool to add information to their listings.

The Law against Waste and for the Circular Economy

If you’re an importer or business seller with buyers based in France, you need to make sure you’re compliant with the Law against Waste and for the Circular Economy. This means that importers and business sellers have more responsibility for the entire life cycle of products they sell to buyers based in France. To comply with this law, business sellers selling new items in certain categories in France will need to add extra information to their listings or to their eBay account.

Unique Identification Number (UIN)

If you’re an importer or business seller with buyers based in France and you’re selling new items, you need to add a Unique Identification Number (UIN) to your account for each EPR category you’re selling in. Additionally, if your item has packaging, the packaging also requires a UIN, regardless of whether the item is new or second-hand. Each UIN shows that your company is registered with a relevant recycling organization.

You can find the UIN for your product by contacting your supplier. If you have multiple suppliers in one category, you only need to add one UIN in any given category.

Alternatively, if you're the producer or first importer into France, or if your suppliers don’t provide a valid UIN in a given category, you need to obtain a UIN by registering with the relevant recycling organization.

Here's how to add a UIN to your account:

1. Select Business Information under Account Settings - opens in new window or tab.
2. Scroll down to the Business details section and select Add next to the EPR FR number.
3. Select a category from the drop-down menu.
4. Enter the UIN and select Add.

Please bear in mind that a single listing may require multiple UINs. For example, if you’re selling a laptop on eBay in France, you need one UIN for the electronics, one UIN for the battery, and one UIN for the packaging.

Tip
If you don’t comply with the UIN regulations, eBay may charge you the corresponding eco-participation fee. This may be more expensive than paying the recycling organization directly. Alternatively, eBay may prevent you from creating new listings or restrict your existing listings, until you comply with the UIN regulations.

Eco-participation fee display

If you’re an importer or business seller with buyers based in France, and you’re listing in the Furniture or Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) categories, you need to add an eco-participation fee to each item you list. An eco-participation fee is a monetary amount from each listing used to fund recycling programmes for the electronic or furniture products you sell. For example, if you’re selling a laptop on eBay in France, you may list it for €1000, with an eco-participation fee of €1.

You can find the eco-participation fee for your product by contacting your supplier. Alternatively, if you’re the producer or importer in France, you can obtain the eco-participation fee by registering with the relevant recycling organization, who will provide the relevant fees for your categories.

Here's how to add the eco-participation fee to your listings:

1. Create a new listing or revise an existing listing.
2. Go to the Item disclosures section and select Eco-participation.
3. Add a monetary amount to the Eco fee.

Repairability score

If you’re an importer or business seller with buyers based in France, you need to add a repairability score to certain electronic items you list. You can find the repairability score for your item by contacting your supplier.

The repairability score lets buyers know how easy it will be to maintain or repair a product. The product will get a rating of 0 to 10, where 0 is seen as not very repairable and 10 as highly repairable.

Here's how to add a pictogram of your repairability score to your listing:

1. Create a new listing or revise an existing listing.
2. Go to the Item disclosures section and select Repairability index.
3. Enter a score from 0 to 10.

Once added, the repairability score will be automatically displayed on the view item page.

As of November 2022, the repairability score applies to the following categories:

• Washing machines
• Smartphones
• Laptops
• Televisions
• Electric lawnmowers
• Dishwashers
• Vacuum cleaners
• High pressure cleaners

As these categories may change, we recommend visiting the Ministry of Ecological Transition - opens in new window or tab website to learn more about which categories are included, and the calculation method used for the repairability score.

Take-back policies

If you’re an importer or business seller with buyers based in France, you may be obliged to take back the buyer’s used product free of charge when listing in the EPR categories below:

• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Furniture parts, including upholstered seating or sleeping products, if your annual turnover associated with this category exceeds €100,000
• Single-use fuel gas cartridges
• Pyrotechnics and fire extinguishers
• Tyres
• Contents and containers of chemical products, if your annual turnover associated with this category exceeds €100,000
• Toys, sports and leisure articles, and garden and DIY articles, if your annual turnover associated with this category exceeds €100,000

To comply with this regulation, you need to create your take-back policy on eBay, then add your policy to your listings.

Here’s how to create your take-back policy:

1. Go to the Account section - opens in new window or tab of My eBay.
2. Go to Selling and select Seller disclosures.
3. Select Create and choose Take-back of old items.
4. Enter the details of your take-back policy and select Save.

Here's how to add your take-back policy to a listing:

1. Create a new listing or revise an existing listing.
2. Go to the Item disclosures section.
3. Select a Take-back policy from the drop-down menu.
4. Select Add a policy for a specific country and select France from the drop-down menu.

Once added, buyers will see a link to your take-back policy below the item description of your listings. To ensure your take-back policies are compliant with the law, check with the relevant recycling organization.

Recycling organizations

Here are some of the recycling organizations that can help you be compliant with regulations. For more information, see the current recycling organizations - opens in new window or tab website.

Helpful links

For more information about how the Law against Waste and for the Circular Economy may affect your selling on eBay, see the helpful links below:

• French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) - opens in new window or tab
• Ministry of Ecological Transition - opens in new window or tab