A seller in r/FulfillmentByAmazon ran into a common EU compliance snag: Amazon.de rejected a valid German WEEE registration number because the equipment category on the registration didn’t match the category Amazon assigned to the product. If you sell any electronics into Germany, this is worth understanding before your listing gets blocked.
What happened
- The seller was listing an FSP NB PRO 90W laptop power supply (model FSP090-DBBN3, EAN 4713224522499, ASIN B08BKPNCNY) on Amazon.de.
- They submitted WEEE registration number DE 89278420, which is registered to the manufacturer (Fortron/Source) in the EAR register.
- Amazon rejected it. Amazon classified the product under “Small Equipment except photovoltaic panels” (Kleingeräte).
- In the official EAR register, that same WEEE number is listed under a different equipment type: small IT and telecommunications equipment for private household use.
- Result: a legitimate registration number that Amazon’s system treats as invalid for this ASIN, and an open question about which WEEE number actually applies.
Why this happens
- German WEEE (ElektroG) registrations are granted per manufacturer and per equipment category. One brand can hold several numbers across different categories.
- Amazon maps each ASIN to its own internal WEEE category, which does not always line up with how the manufacturer registered the device.
- Power supplies, adapters, chargers and accessories are especially prone to this because they can plausibly sit in either the “small equipment” or “small IT equipment” bucket.
- Amazon’s automated check is a category-to-number match. If the category on the certificate differs from the category on the ASIN, the number is refused even when the registration is real and current.
Practical steps sellers use in this situation
- Verify in the source register first. Look the number up in the EAR/stiftung ear public register (Verzeichnis der registrierten Hersteller) and note the exact equipment category text it is filed under.
- Ask the manufacturer for the matching number. Brands like FSP/Fortron often hold multiple WEEE registrations; request the one filed under the category Amazon is asking for, in writing.
- Check whether the ASIN category is wrong. If Amazon has classified a laptop PSU as generic small equipment when it is IT equipment, the fix may be a category correction on the ASIN rather than a new WEEE number. Open a case with the listing’s browse node and product type details attached.
- Escalate with documentation. Include a screenshot or PDF of the EAR register entry plus the manufacturer’s confirmation. Compliance teams respond better to register evidence than to free-text explanations.
- Remember the authorised representative rule. If you are the one placing the product on the German market (not the brand owner), the compliance obligation may fall on you or on a designated authorised representative, and you may need your own registration per category.
- Keep a category-to-number map. Sellers with broad electronics catalogues maintain a simple sheet: ASIN, EAN, Amazon WEEE category, matching registration number, expiry/renewal date.
How Squatio helps
Compliance friction like this is usually discovered after you’ve bought inventory, which is the expensive way to find out. A couple of places where research helps:
- Before committing to an electronics ASIN or resale opportunity, use Squatio Decode (ASIN lookup, listing visibility & Sentiment IQ review analysis) to pull the ASIN’s category, browse node and listing attributes so you can see exactly how Amazon classifies the product and anticipate which compliance category it will demand.
- If you’re evaluating whether to enter powered electronics and accessories at all, Cortex (AI niche & category analysis) helps you weigh a category’s demand against its overhead, including the extra documentation load that regulated electronics carry in EU marketplaces.
- When you’re scanning for new products and want to filter toward categories with lighter compliance requirements, Prospect (Product Database) lets you screen by category before you ever contact a supplier.
If you’ve had a WEEE number rejected on Amazon.de, did you resolve it by getting a second registration from the brand or by getting Amazon to reclassify the ASIN? Curious which route actually moved faster.
Source: r/FulfillmentByAmazon — FSP Netzteil Verkauf auf Amazon