Quick Answer
Shopify doesn’t let you add France’s eco-participation fees natively, leaving merchants at risk for non-compliance. The best way to charge them is with an app like Magical Product Fees, which displays fees clearly and applies them automatically to ensure compliance with French regulations.
Detailed Answer
Eco-participation fees, also known as eco-contribution fees, are mandatory charges in France designed to fund the recycling and proper disposal of certain products at the end of their lifecycle. These fees apply to all kinds of products in France, and for some of these products such as electronics, furniture, and home appliances, eco-participation fees must be displayed to customers clearly on product pages and at checkout.
Eco-participation fees are legally required in France, yet Shopify lacks built-in support to charge them. This puts merchants in a tough spot: either find a workaround or risk non-compliance.
As a retailer, you are legally required to:
- Charge the correct fee for each eligible product
- Display fees transparently on product pages and receipts to ensure compliance.
- Keep records of collected fees for reporting and tax purposes.
Manually adding eco-participation fees on Shopify is not straightforward because the platform does not support adding fees to products. Some merchants will attempt to find workarounds, such as including the fee in the product price or building them into shipping fees, but these methods are inefficient and prone to compliance issues.
Using an app like Magical Product Fees is the best way to automatically charge eco-participation fees. With an app, fees are applied correctly for each product category, shown as a separate line item, and tracked for reporting. This saves time, ensures compliance, and improves customer trust by making the fees clear and transparent.
Video Explainer
I know from working with hundreds of Shopify stores that adding fees can be daunting, so I put together a 30-second video to show how easy it is to add eco-participation fees with an app.
Supporting Answers
What Are France’s Eco-Participation Fees?
France’s eco-participation program is part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which mandate that producers and retailers contribute to the environmental costs associated with their products.
These fees are part of a large, complex schedule and are applied to many types of products including electronics, furniture, and household appliances. The fees typically range from €0.01 to €20, depending on the product category, and are administered by a number of government-approved eco-organizations.
Do I Need to Charge Eco-Participation Fees in France?
As a retailer in France, you are required to charge the eco-participation fee in accordance with EPR laws. These responsibilities include:
- Charging the correct eco-participation fees, dependent on the type of product being sold.
- Clearly display fees to customers, both on product pages and during the checkout process.
- Keep detailed records of the fees collected for reporting and remittance.
Failure to adhere to these obligations can result in fines reaching thousands of euros.
What Are the Challenges of Manually Adding Eco-Participation Fees?
Shopify doesn’t provide built-in features to add separate fees to products. The following workarounds may work for some stores, but will come with significant drawbacks:
- You could build the price into the product, however, this isn’t recommended by authorities because it won’t be visible to customers. This also eats into your profits.
- You could build a fee into shipping rates, but this won’t adapt to the quantity. This may lead to undercharging customers which could further lead to non-compliance.
- You could create products for fees, and then instruct customers to select or add these manually, but customers could just avoid paying fees altogether, leading to non-compliance.
To avoid struggling with these limitations, use an app like Magical Product Fees o ensure your fees are applied correctly and compliance.
Why Should I Use an App to Automate Eco-Participation Fees?
Utilizing an app like Magical Product Fees makes it easy to charge eco-participation fees on your Shopify store.
- An app automatically adds the correct eco-participation fee to applicable products.
- An app displays fees transparently, showing fees as separate line items, ensuring customers are well-informed.
- Using an app will provide detailed reports of collected fees, helping with tax reporting and remittance of fees.
- Apps also usually come with human support, so you have assistance when you need it to set up and manage your fees.
How Do I Display Eco-participation Fees on my Shopify Store?
Regulations require visible disclosure for certain products like electronics, furniture, and textiles, requiring eco-participation fees must to be displayed to customers on product pages and checkout.
To ensure transparency and avoid surprises at checkout, follow these tips:
- Show fees on product pages so customers see them before adding items to their cart.
- Label fees clearly as “eco-participation fee” or “eco-contribution fee” to explain their purpose.
- Provide an itemized breakdown at checkout to keep costs clear.
Use an app like Magical Product Fees to display fees throughout the shopping process. This will build trust with your customers.
Real-Life Experiences
I recently worked with a French Shopify store that was setting up a Fees app. Not all products on their store required mandatory fees, so they needed help setting up some exclusions. Since they were new to Shopify and feeling overwhelmed, my team and I stepped in to assist at no extra cost. Now, their store is up and running, charging eco-fees where needed. For some merchants, having real, human support makes all the difference when navigating fee setups.
-Kyle Godon, Shopify App Expert
Key Takeaway
Implementing France’s eco-participation fees on your Shopify store is essential for legal compliance and customer transparency. Using an app like Magical Product Fees makes it easy to charge fees, display them on products and at checkout, and report and remit fees.
Ready to simplify eco-participation fees on your Shopify store? Try Magical Product Fees today and stay compliant worry-free.
Magical Product Fees
The Magical Product Fees app is a fast and easy way to build, customize, and attach fees to products or entire orders.