GPSR on Etsy: the Economic Operator

Whichever route you use for the contact, the safety warnings go in the listing (Art. 19(a)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (a)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.-(b)).

What Etsy asks for

Etsy’s Help Center puts the whole demand in three lines. Its words on what sellers selling into EEA states and Northern Ireland need to do for GPSR:

“Add an Economic Operator to your account and/or update the Manufacturers field in your listing forms. Add applicable information to the Product safety info field in your listing forms.”

That is a shop-level box and two per-listing fields. For the contact details Etsy lets one stand for the other on its form. Its Seller Handbook says so in one line:

“You only need to fill either the shop-level or the listing-level field to meet GPSR requirements.”

That is Etsy’s form policy, not the law. The law still needs the manufacturer’s details, and a non-EU manufacturer’s responsible person, visible in each offer (Art. 19(a)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (a)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.-(b)).

The shop-level box suits a shop with one EU Responsible Person for everything it sells. The listing-level field suits a reseller whose items come from different makers. The safety warnings have their own field, Product safety info, on each listing.

The law behind both is the one every marketplace is working from. A distance offer targeted at consumers in the Union counts as making the product available on the market (Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The offer must clearly and visibly show the manufacturer’s contact details, the responsible person where the manufacturer is outside the EU, an identification of the product including a picture, and any warning or safety information in a language consumers easily understand (Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The marketplace has to build fields for all of it (Art. 22(9)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That duty in full is on the GPSR guide and in GPSR marketplace requirements.

Where the shop-level box is: Shop Manager, Settings, Partners you work with

Etsy gives the click path:

“To add an economic operator: On Etsy.com, go to Shop Manager. Select Settings. Select Partners you work with. Select Add economic operator. Enter the name, address, and contact information of the economic operator you work with. Select Save operator.”

Etsy’s two Seller Handbook articles on GPSR are dated 15 April 2025.

Etsy introduces that box as a different law’s requirement:

“If you are a ‘trader’ that sells into the EU (which may include registered businesses or professional sellers), you may be required to appoint and disclose an economic operator to comply with the Digital Services Act.”

The same page then points at GPSR separately:

“If you are a ‘trader’ that sells to EU/EEA states, there may be additional information that needs to be added to your individual listings under General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requirements.”

So Etsy’s shop-level box is one field serving two laws, and nothing in Etsy’s interface text calls it a Responsible Person. Under GPSR the words economic operatorArt. 3(13)the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market ...Click the term for the full definition are the umbrella term for every business role the Regulation puts duties on: manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, distributor, fulfilment service provider and anyone else it obliges (Art. 3(13)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The narrower thing GPSR needs is the one in Art. 16(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.: an operator based in the EU responsible for the Art. 4(3)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. tasks of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. for that product. The three names are pulled apart in EU authorised representative.

Etsy says the same thing in its GPSR article:

“Under the GPSR, products can’t be placed on the EU market unless they have an EU-based economic operator responsible for key safety tasks. If you’re a manufacturer based outside the EU, you may appoint a Responsible Person (such as an Authorized Representative) for your products in the EU.”

Whether the box applies to you at all turns on trader status, and Etsy sets that for you. Its Seller Handbook FAQ:

“If you signed up on Etsy as a ‘business’ seller … and you ship to buyers in the EEA or NI, we’ve automatically designated you as a ‘trader’ within your shop and listings.”

What the two listing fields take

Manufacturers carries the details of whoever is the manufacturerArt. 3(8)any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under that person’s name or trademarkClick the term for the full definition of the item (Art. 3(8)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Put your own name or trademark on somebody else’s product and that is you (Art. 13(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 13, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Which role you hold is what GPSR requires of you, by role.

Product safety info is where Art. 19(d)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (d)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. lands: any warning or safety information that has to be affixed to the product or accompany it, in a language easily understood by consumers in the EU country where the product is made available. What that information has to say, and what has to be physically on the item, is GPSR labelling requirements. That is a separate duty: Art. 16(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. puts the responsible operator’s details on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document, not only in the listing.

Etsy sets no format for Product safety info: no character limit, no file or image rule, no rule on languages. It describes only what goes in. Its Seller Handbook:

“Product safety warnings: Include safety information relevant to your item, such as age restrictions, hazard warnings, disposal instructions, and other safety-related details that buyers need to know.”

On where the contact details go, the handbook says: “Use the open text field labeled Manufacturers and Product safety info. Include: Manufacturer name, email, and address. If applicable, Responsible Person name and address.” The language rule is the Regulation’s, not Etsy’s: warnings in a language consumers in the country of sale easily understand (Art. 19(d)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (d)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Where each label comes from, as Etsy’s pages say it today:

• The GPSR help article tells sellers to “Add an Economic Operator to your account and/or update the Manufacturers field in your listing forms” and to “Add applicable information to the Product safety info field in your listing forms”.
• Etsy’s “How to Add an Economic Operator” gives the click path: “Select Settings. Select Partners you work with. Select Add economic operator.” It adds: “It’s not possible to add or edit economic operator information from the Etsy Seller App at this time.”
• Etsy’s “How to Create a Listing” has a listing-form heading, “GPSR manufacturer and safety information”: “If you’re a ‘trader’ selling to European Economic Area (EEA) states or Northern Ireland (NI), you may need to include manufacturer and safety information to comply with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).”
• The status path is the one in the GPSR help article: “Under Sales channels, select the pencil icon next to your shop. In the Seller details section of your public shop, select Edit. Select your status as a Trader or a Private individual.”

What goes in each field, and what the law needs besides, is in the sections above. Which role the Manufacturers details name is what GPSR requires of you, by role.

• Handmade: making the item and selling it under your shop name makes you its manufacturerArt. 3(8)any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under that person’s name or trademarkClick the term for the full definition (Art. 3(8)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• Vintage: GPSR covers products “whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned” (Art. 2(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Age alone does not make an item an antique. The test is whether consumers “cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standards” (Art. 3(28)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 28Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The edge cases are on GPSR exemptions.

What happens if you leave the fields empty

Already filled it in and still blocked? That is a different problem: what keeps a listing down after you send your details.

Etsy names no penalty for an empty field. It acts when an authority tells it a product is non-compliant. Neither Etsy Help page says Etsy will remove a listing, hide it or act against a shop over a missing field. Etsy’s Seller Handbook states what happens after an authority’s notice:

“Should Etsy receive notification from an authority that your product is non-compliant, we’ll take appropriate action, which may include removing your listing and/or suspending your account.”

What Etsy also offers is a way out: an opt-out from selling to the EEA and Northern Ireland. The click path, what it covers and what it leaves alone are in the opt-out section below. When the EEA orders are worth less than the work they cost, it is the answer. While it stands, those orders stop.

What Etsy does not state, the law still does. GPSR sets no figure itself: each EU country lays down the rules on penalties for infringements and takes the measures needed to implement them, and the Regulation asks only that they be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). What each country actually sets is GPSR fines.

Every marketplace, Etsy included, must also suspend its services for a reasonable period, after a prior warning, to traders that frequently offer non-compliant products (Art. 22(11)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That one binds the platform whatever its help pages say.

What Etsy’s help page and FAQ say about the setting, as read on 2026-10-03:

“You can opt out of selling your products to GPSR countries. Once you opt out, buyers in EEA States and Northern Ireland won’t be able to purchase items from your shop.”

On visibility, Etsy’s FAQ:

“If you opt out, visibility of your listings will only be minimized in the EEA and NI. It will still be possible for buyers in the EEA and NI to access your listings if they have a direct link, but these buyers will not be able to check out if they have your listings in their cart. Your visibility in non-EEA and NI countries will not be impacted.”

On Northern Ireland:

“In Shop Manager, you can now choose not to sell your listings to buyers in regions where GPSR currently applies, which includes Northern Ireland and all EEA states.”

Two details do not match. Etsy’s help page lists Physical items and Digital items as two choices, and its step text says “EEA countries” where the sentence above it says “EEA States and Northern Ireland”. Its FAQ, dated 15 April 2025, says the setting “applies to all of your physical or digital goods” and that Etsy does not offer “the option to opt-out only your digital listings”. The steps above follow the help page, which has shown the two choices since at least March 2025 and is Etsy’s step-by-step page. The FAQ text is from an archived copy of 2026-03-07.

A second route, by country. Etsy’s shipping help says: “You can use shipping profiles to prevent your products from being sold in specific countries. Buyers in those countries will be unable to purchase listings connected to those shipping profiles.” The path it gives: Shop Manager, Settings, Shipping settings, then under Shipping profiles & processing scroll to Shipping profiles, select the pencil icon to edit a calculated shipping profile. The path then reads What countries will you ship to?, where you choose the countries. Etsy says only sellers who use USPS or Canada Post can use calculated shipping. On a fixed-price profile, remove Everywhere Else with the trash can icon and keep rates only for the countries you sell to. Etsy adds that a listing or profile that ships to “Everywhere Else” ships worldwide, and that listings with no shipping profile are a common reason for orders from places a seller did not mean to ship to. This route goes country by country. The GPSR opt-out is the one setting that takes in the whole EEA and Northern Ireland at once.

Etsy’s pages do not say what happens to an order placed before you opt out, how to turn the setting back, or when the setting takes effect.

Whether an offer is “targeted at consumers in the Union” is the test in Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.:

“An offer for sale shall be considered to be targeted at consumers in the Union if the relevant economic operator directs, by any means, its activities to one or more Member States.”

Who can fill it for you

Art. 16(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. is a condition on the product, not a purchase. If an economic operatorArt. 3(13)the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market ...Click the term for the full definition based in the EU is already in your chain - an EU subsidiary, an EU importer (the business that places your goods on the EU market, not merely the customs broker that declares them, as importer of record explains), or an EU business already holding a written mandate for the Art. 4(3)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. tasks - the condition is met and their details are what goes in Etsy’s box. Nothing is bought. Who is eligible, and what the market charges where nobody in your chain qualifies, is the EU Responsible Person.

For a toy, an electrical or radio product, machinery or protective equipment, GPSR Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. does not apply (Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. asks for the same EU company instead (Art. 4(1)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and its details go in Etsy’s box the same way (Art. 19(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(9)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Which rule covers your product is on the EU Responsible Person.

Etsy names two providers it has partnered with, and any EU-based operator qualifies, not only these two. What each published:

Two things come before that. First, whether the item is inside GPSR at all: does GPSR apply to me. Second, whether the EEA orders are worth the work; if they are not, opt out of selling to GPSR countries.

What you can skip