In electronic commerce, Marketplaces they have become an essential channel for the sale of physical products. Companies and individuals use these platforms to reach a wider audience efficiently. However, it is important to understand the role and responsibilities that these marketplaces have, especially when it comes to problems with the products sold. In this post, we will explain what marketplaces’ subsidiary responsibility is, how it affects sellers and consumers, and what obligations these platforms must fulfill to protect all parties involved.
What is subsidiary liability?
Subsidiary liability is a legal concept that implies that, although the main seller of a product is the primary responsibility for the consumer, the marketplace may be secondarily responsible in certain cases. This means that if the seller fails to comply with his obligations, for example, he does not process a guarantee or does not liable for a defective product, the marketplace may be forced to answer in front of the client.
Until a few years ago, marketplaces were considered simple technological platforms. However, the new regulatory framework defines them as “online intermediation service providers”, they should:
- Verify That the products marketed indicate an economic operator established in the EU (manufacturer, importer or authorized representative).
- Cooperate Actively with surveillance authorities when dangerous or non-conforming products are detected.
- Remove or block unsafe product offerings once notified through Safety Gate (Rapex) or by national requirement.
Marketplace Responsibility to Consumer
Current legislation states that, in general, the consumer must initially address the seller for any claim related to the product. However, the marketplace must assume certain subsidiary responsibilities to ensure that the consumer is not left unprotected in the absence of the seller. This includes:
- Guarantee That the information provided on the products and sellers is clear and truthful.
- Respond for technical failures in its platform that may affect the purchase.
- Act as a collection agent in case of payments made through the Marketplace.
- Facilitate mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts and claims.
When the Marketplace offers additional or secure warranties, you must explicitly inform the consumer about these conditions.
The entry into force of new regulations, such as the General Product Safety Regulations (RGSP), have notably reinforced the role of marketplaces within the market control ecosystem. These platforms are no longer simple digital storefronts: they are required to act with the same diligence as an economic operator in the supply chain. The RGSP establishes that they must guarantee the traceability of the products offered, ensuring that they can clearly identify the manufacturer, importer or authorized representative within the European Economic Area (EEA).
They are also imposed on them the obligation to cooperate with the surveillance authorities, providing information and maintaining agile communication channels that allow the early detection and withdrawal of non-conforming or dangerous products. besides, the Marketplace must ensure that the products removed or alerted do not go back on sale under any circumstances, thus avoiding recidivism that compromises the safety of the consumer. Failure to comply with these obligations may result in serious administrative penalties, especially in regulated sectors such as toys, electrical appliances, personal protective equipment or any product subject to CE marking.
Practical cases of subsidiary liability
For manufacturers and sellers who use marketplaces as a sales channel, this new scenario implies a substantial change in their operations. Regulatory compliance no longer depends only on the direct relationship with the consumer, but also on the interaction with the platform itself.
Those manufacturers located outside the European Union must designate a authorized representative in the EU, responsible for having the technical documentation and responding to the authorities if necessary.
For their part, sellers must keep and make available the documentation that proves the conformity of the product, such as the EU Declaration of Conformity, , essay reports or risk Assessments, to avoid locking, suspension or automatic withdrawals of your listings.
The marketplaces, increasingly pressured by the authorities and by their own internal compliance policy, do not hesitate to withdraw lists of products in the slightest doubt about their legality.
Ultimately, the administration has opted for a pragmatic solution: transfer part of the control to those who concentrate the largest volume of operations. Since the authorities cannot individually supervise millions of references, have turned marketplaces into forced allies of the market surveillance system. It is an intelligent strategy, which downloads the administration of an impossible task and forces platforms to take an active role in guaranteeing the conformity and security of products sold in Europe.
In this context, normative evolution not only redefines the obligations of marketplaces, but also reconfigures the balance between economic operators and administration. Until a few years ago, market surveillance depended almost entirely on national authorities, with limited resources and slow procedures. The rise of e-commerce and the massive entry of non-EU products made evident the impossibility of maintaining that model. The response has been as logical as it is forceful: to delegate part of the burden to those who have the technical and economic capacity to exercise real previous control over what is sold in Europe.
Thus, marketplaces become a kind of extension of the European market control system, obliged to actively supervise, filter and cooperate with the authorities. They are not inspectors, but they are guardians of traceability. Its function is to guarantee that each product offered on its platform is linked to an identifiable economic operator and that, in case of alert or non-compliance, it can be withdrawn with agility. This approach not only reinforces the consumer safetybut imposes an accelerated professionalization of digital trade.
For sellers, this transformation implies a paradigm shift. Online sales are no longer limited to logistics and marketing: now requires document management, traceability and compliance, which have always been demanded, but now it is one more step of control. A product without EU declaration of conformity, without an authorized representative (in the case of sellers from outside the EU) or without valid technical reports can be automatically excluded from the catalog. Consequently, manufacturers and importers must incorporate regulatory management as a central part of their operations, not as an accessory procedure.
From a broader perspective, the legislator has acted intelligently. Instead of increasing public inspection resources, which is an impossible task in the face of millions of active references, it has forced marketplaces to share the responsibility of supervision. It is a strategic movement that transfers compliance to the origin of the commercial flow and creates a multiplier effect: each platform acts as a preventive filter, reducing the risk of unsafe products reaching the final consumer.
This model, which combines public and private responsibility, anticipates the future of European digital trade. Traceability, transparency and accountability are no longer values added, but requirements to compete.
Marketplaces are consolidated as normative actors, sellers must operate with documentary rigor and the consumer gains in confidence and security.
