Only for what you sell on Amazon.fr. Pay on Behalf is Amazon's fallback for sellers who have not given it a valid French EPR number for a category. Amazon reports your Amazon.fr sales to an eco-organisme, pays the eco-contributions and recovers them from your seller account, plus a service fee of €25 per EPR category a year since 1 January 2026. It does not register you: there is no eco-organisme membership and no IDU in your name, so your own website, other marketplaces and direct B2B sales into France are not covered.Sources (2)ChannelXChannelX — Amazon simplifies EPR Pay on Behalf fees (24 Nov 2025)
LégifranceLégifrance — article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Environmental Code (full text)
Backed by data: Marketplace requirements (dataset)
What Pay on Behalf does
- Enrolment is automatic. Amazon enrols you, category by category, if you have not submitted a valid EPR number before the end of the reporting cycle.
- Amazon declares and pays. It reports your Amazon.fr sales in each category to the eco-organismes it works with, pays the eco-contributions and recovers them from your seller account.
- The service fee is €25 per EPR category a year in France since 1 January 2026, on top of the eco-contributions. Until the end of 2025 it was €24.99 plus 3% of the eco-contributions.
- Under the policy in force since 27 August 2025, Amazon may hold amounts in reserve and charge outside the normal reporting cycle.
What it does not do
- It does not make you a member of an eco-organisme and does not give you an IDU. There is nothing in your name to print on your terms of sale or to give another marketplace.
- It covers Amazon.fr sales only. Your own website, Cdiscount, ManoMano, Fnac, Zalando and direct B2B sales into France are outside it.
- It does not appoint a representative. A producer not established in France still needs a French mandataire for the products it sells through any other channel.
When it is enough
| Your situation | Is Pay on Behalf enough? |
|---|---|
| You sell into France only through Amazon.fr | Yes, for those sales, and it is the cheapest route |
| Amazon.fr plus your own website shipping to France | No: the website sales need your own registration |
| Amazon.fr plus other marketplaces | No: they ask for your own IDU |
| Sales to French businesses | No |
One channel outside Amazon is enough to need your own registration. Once you have an IDU for a category, you enter it in Account Health, under Manage your compliance, and Amazon stops paying on your behalf for that category.
Moving to your own registration
You get an IDU by joining an eco-organisme for each stream: see how to get a French IDU. A representative does this in your name; see pricing. For the legal side of marketplaces, see Amazon says it handles EPR. Am I covered?
Frequently asked questions
Does Pay on Behalf give me an IDU?
No. Amazon pays the eco-contributions on your Amazon.fr sales, but no eco-organisme membership and no IDU is created in your name.
Is Pay on Behalf cheaper than my own registration?
If you sell into France only on Amazon.fr, yes: the service fee is €25 per EPR category a year, and the eco-contributions are owed either way. As soon as you sell into France through another channel, you need your own registration as well.
How do I leave Pay on Behalf?
Submit a valid French EPR number for the category in Account Health, under Manage your compliance. Amazon then stops paying on your behalf for that category.
Sources
- ChannelX — Amazon simplifies EPR Pay on Behalf fees (24 Nov 2025)
- ChannelX — Amazon EPR Pay on Behalf policy combined for UK, Spain and France (29 Jul 2025)
- Légifrance — article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Environmental Code (full text)
Founder of EPR France Rep, the France-based EPR authorised representative for companies selling into France.
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