Route 1: IOSS, parcel by parcel
Under the IOSS scheme each parcel up to €150 travels directly to the customer, VAT settled at checkout. Zero EU stock, zero warehouse: the lightest structure. The trade-offs: long delivery times, per-parcel shipping costs, and the €150 ceiling.
Route 2: Article 23, bulk with EU stock
Import in bulk through Rotterdam with the Article 23 deferment, stock in a Dutch warehouse, ship domestically across the EU. Delivery in days, unit shipping costs down, the €150 ceiling gone — and the import VAT moment removed from the cashflow. The full comparison of the logistics: bulk import versus direct shipping.
The decision framework
| Signal | Fitting route |
|---|---|
| Testing the market, low volume | IOSS |
| Stable sales, delivery time hurts conversion | Article 23 + EU stock |
| Products above €150 | Article 23 + EU stock |
| Wide catalogue, marketplace-driven | Combination per segment |
The structure behind route 2
Article 23 runs through a fiscal representative or an own Dutch BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company). At structural volume the BV wins: one entity for the licence, the stock, the OSS filing and the growth — the setup on the EU market entry hub.