How to Sell on Kaufland Global Marketplace — Guide

Kaufland Global Marketplace is one of the fastest-growing European sales platforms — a single account opens the door to Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and several other markets. In this guide we show you step by step how to get through onboarding: registration and verification, the EAN code requirement, the fee model, logistics, translations, and a ready-made startup checklist for the Polish seller.

Kaufland Global Marketplace in a nutshell — what kind of platform it is

Kaufland Global Marketplace is a marketplace owned by the German Schwarz Group (owner of the Kaufland and Lidl chains). It was built on the acquired real.de portal and today is one of the fastest-growing European sales platforms. For a Polish seller, it’s an opportunity to reach customers in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and several other countries with a single account — without setting up separate stores in each of them.

In this guide we’ll walk through the entire process: from registration and verification, through the EAN code requirement, the fee model and logistics, all the way to a concrete startup checklist. One important caveat up front: treat the prices and the list of countries as approximate. Kaufland updates them regularly, so always confirm the final terms in the platform’s official pricing before you calculate your margin.

Reach: in how many countries you can sell with one account

Kaufland’s biggest advantage is that a single seller account gives access to many national marketplaces at once. As of mid-2026, the network covers nine markets: Germany (kaufland.de), Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, France, Italy, and — launching in summer 2026 — Spain and the Netherlands. B2B onboarding for the two new markets started in June 2026, and the sales launch for customers is planned for late summer.

The heart of the platform remains the German market — kaufland.de attracts tens of millions of visits per month and offers tens of millions of products. According to Kaufland’s announcements, after full expansion the entire network is set to reach on the order of 220 million European consumers. For you, the key takeaway is simple: a catalog prepared once can be gradually “rolled out” to new countries, instead of building a presence from scratch on each of them. This is exactly the same logic we describe in our article on where to start with multichannel selling.

The exact list of countries and the timing of the sales launch in Spain and the Netherlands change dynamically. Before you enter a specific market, check its current status in the seller panel and on the Kaufland Global Marketplace website.

Registration and verification step by step

Registration takes place in the Kaufland Seller Portal, entirely remotely. The process usually looks like this:

1. Create a seller account — provide your company details, address and a contact person. Kaufland operates exclusively in a B2B model, so you need a registered business.
2. Complete company verification (KYC) — prepare your tax ID (NIP) and EU VAT number, registration data and a document confirming the identity of the person representing the company. Selling to Germany means VAT obligations, which we cover below.
3. Accept the terms and connect a payout method — Kaufland settles with sellers through an internal payment system, and funds reach your account on a set payout cycle.
4. Configure your sales profile — fulfillment time, shipping zones and costs, return policy, and customer service details.
5. Upload your first offers — manually, via a CSV file, through the API, or through an integration with an external sales management system.

Verification tends to be the longest stage — the more complete the set of documents you upload right away, the faster you’ll get going. Make sure the company name and address in the panel match your registration data and VAT invoices down to the character. Discrepancies are the most common reason for a drawn-out verification.

The EAN/GTIN requirement — you can’t list a product without it

This is the point that surprises many sellers coming from Allegro. Kaufland operates in a catalog model based on EAN/GTIN codes: every product must have an official, unique barcode. Offers attach to an existing product listing in the catalog (similar to Amazon), rather than creating a separate entity for each seller.

Practical consequences:

• Codes must come from GS1 — the organization that officially assigns pools of EAN numbers. Buying “cheap EANs” second-hand can be risky: the platform may reject codes whose registration doesn’t point to your company.
• Own-brand products (private label, handmade) also need an EAN — you have to assign them yourself after purchasing a pool from GS1.
• If a product listing already exists, you add yourself to it with your price and stock. If not, you create a new listing with a full description, photos and attributes matching the category.

If you also sell on Amazon, you know this mechanism. That’s why many people first tidy up their catalog for Amazon (see the Amazon integration) and then reuse the same EAN codes on Kaufland — one well-described product then serves both channels.

Fee model: what selling really costs

Kaufland combines a fixed subscription with a sales commission. Listing offers itself is free and unlimited. The rates below are approximate (as of 2026, check at the source):

A few things worth remembering when calculating profitability:

• The commission is usually charged on the gross price including the shipping cost — calculate your margin with that in mind, not just on the price of the goods alone.
• You pay one subscription, even if you sell on several of Kaufland’s national marketplaces. This genuinely lowers the cost of entering new markets.
• The bill also includes items Kaufland doesn’t charge directly: VAT in the countries of sale, any EPR and packaging obligations (e.g. in France or Germany), and the costs of translations and foreign-language support.

VAT and tax obligations when selling to Germany

Cross-border selling isn’t only about logistics, but also about taxes. When shipping goods to consumers in other EU countries, a distance-selling threshold applies (EUR 10,000 in total for the entire EU). Once it’s exceeded, you account for VAT in the consumer’s country — most simply through the VAT OSS procedure instead of local registration. If, however, you start storing goods in Germany (e.g. as part of fulfillment), an obligation to register for VAT locally usually arises.

This is an area where it’s worth consulting an accounting firm specialized in cross-border e-commerce. VAT mistakes can cost more than the entire marketplace commission, which is why it’s better to set it up correctly before your first sale than to fix it later.

Logistics, shipping and returns

Kaufland operates mainly in a fulfillment by merchant model — you are responsible for the warehouse, packing and shipping. Kaufland’s own logistics program is also available (storage and shipping handled by the platform), but many Polish sellers start with their own cross-border shipping, because it gives full control over costs.

What to watch out for:

• International shipping — you need a carrier that handles, say, Germany with a sensible time and price (DPD, DHL, InPost International and the like). The tracking number has to be uploaded to the order in the panel.
• Fulfillment time — you declare it in the offer; overly optimistic promises quickly show up in your reviews and account quality metrics.
• Returns — in the EU there is a 14-day right of withdrawal from the contract. It’s worth having a return address within the destination country or a clear, cheap cross-border return procedure.
• Customer service — Kaufland expects fast responses. In Germany, communicating in German significantly improves conversion and reviews, so prepare at least some message templates.

Offer translations and multilingual support

Every market means a different language: kaufland.de in German, kaufland.cz in Czech, and so on. A good-quality translation of titles, descriptions and attributes isn’t cosmetic — it’s a condition for visibility in the marketplace’s search engine and for customer trust.

• Avoid “machine translation without proofreading” in key fields (title, selling points) — language errors genuinely lower conversion.
• Make sure the attributes match the category (sizes, units, materials). Kaufland relies heavily on structured data, and it’s this data that powers the filters and the search engine.
• After-sales support should also work in the market’s language, at least in the form of ready-made templates.

How to increase visibility and sales on Kaufland

Once your offers are live, results come down to a few levers. It’s worth planning them from the start:

• Price and Buy Box — if there are several sellers under one product listing, you compete for the featured offer. Price with shipping, availability and account quality all count.
• Reviews and quality metrics — on-time shipping, a low cancellation rate and fast service build a reputation that translates into visibility.
• Sponsored Product Ads — paid promotion of offers; the higher subscription plan adds a budget for them, which lowers the cost of starting out with ads.
• Listing completeness — full attributes, photos and descriptions improve matching to queries and conversion.

Kaufland vs Allegro vs Amazon — pros and cons

To decide whether Kaufland fits your business, let’s compare it with the two platforms a Polish seller knows best:

In short: Kaufland is a good “second or third channel” for a seller who already has their catalog in order and wants to enter the German market with less competition than on Amazon. If you’re only just setting up selling on two platforms at once, start with our guide on how to sell on Allegro and Amazon at the same time — the same principles (a consistent catalog, a single stock level, price control) carry over directly to Kaufland.

It’s also worth remembering when Kaufland will not be the best first choice: if you sell exclusively in Poland, don’t have EAN codes and are only just learning marketplaces, it’s simpler to start with Allegro. Kaufland starts to make sense once you have a product ready for export and want to reach a German-speaking customer without building your own store abroad.

The most common mistakes when starting on Kaufland

Onboarding looks simple, but a few traps can stall your sales for weeks. Here are the ones that most often recur among Polish sellers entering the German market:

• Missing or wrong EAN codes. Codes bought “second-hand” often get rejected, and without a correct GTIN an offer won’t enter the catalog at all. This is the most common blocker at the first stage.
• Margin calculated without shipping and VAT. The commission is charged on the gross price plus the shipping cost, and on top of that come the subscription and VAT settled in the customer’s country — it’s easy to drop below the profitability threshold if you only count the price of the goods.
• “Shortcut” translations. An automated tool without proofreading in the title and attributes lowers visibility and conversion. A German customer quickly spots language errors and loses trust in the offer.
• Unrealistic delivery times. Declaring short deadlines that shipping from Poland can’t meet ends in bad reviews and a drop in offer visibility.
• Ignoring EPR and packaging obligations. In Germany (VerpackG) or France, a lack of registration can block sales or expose you to penalties.
• No stock synchronization. When selling on several platforms at once, manually watching your warehouse leads to overselling and cancellations that damage your account metrics.

The good news: each of these mistakes can be eliminated before your very first offer. Just go through the checklist below and confirm the current terms at the source.

Startup checklist for a Polish seller

Before you list your first offer, go through this list:

1. A registered business and an active EU VAT number, plus a well-thought-out approach to settling VAT in the country of sale (e.g. OSS for DE).
2. A complete set of EAN/GTIN codes from GS1 for your entire assortment.
3. An organized catalog: titles, descriptions, attributes and photos compliant with Kaufland’s requirements.
4. Translations of offers into the target market’s language (German at minimum for kaufland.de).
5. A chosen carrier for international shipping and a clear return policy (14 days).
6. A margin calculated taking into account the commission on the gross price + shipping and the subscription.
7. Checked EPR and packaging obligations wherever they apply to you.
8. A customer service process in the market’s language (even if only in the form of templates).
9. A way to synchronize stock levels across channels, so you don’t sell goods “into the negative”.

This last point is critical with every additional channel: the more platforms, the easier it is for stock to drift out of sync and cause overselling. This is exactly the pain — one stock level and one order stream for Allegro, Amazon and Kaufland in a single panel — that we want to solve in Nimo (launch planned for 2026).

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell on Kaufland as a private individual?

No. Kaufland Global Marketplace operates in a B2B model — you need a registered business, VAT details and to pass company verification.

Does every product really have to have an EAN?

Yes, an EAN/GTIN code is required and should come from GS1. Own-brand products must also have their own, correctly registered codes.

How much does it cost to start on Kaufland?

Approximately: a subscription from about EUR 39.95/month + VAT plus a category commission (approx. 4–12% on kaufland.pl, approx. 7–16% on the Western markets). Check the current rates in the platform’s pricing, as they are sometimes adjusted.

Will one account let me sell in all countries?

In principle yes — one account gives access to the network of Kaufland’s national marketplaces, and you pay the subscription once. However, you must meet local requirements (VAT, translations, EPR) on every market you enter.

Is Kaufland better than Amazon for entering the German market?

Not “better”, just different: it has less competition and a lower cost of entry, but also less traffic than Amazon. It’s most often treated as a complementary channel rather than a replacement.