Posts: 1370 from 2003/2/15
From: Central Europe
Quote:
Zylesea wrote:
There's no such thing as hobbyists selling stuff to other hobbyists in the EU.
Well, there are cases of items being sold as either "non-operational" and / or purely for "decorative purposes", which allows to circumvent certain restrictions / obligations that would otherwise apply.
That said, electronics are very special in the sense that a) they can potentially hurt people / pose a fire hazard even while not in use, b) they can severely interfere with other electronics devices, and c) often include many dangerous materials that need to be properly deposed so they do not cause harm to the environment / people.
Are there any good reasons to exclude anybody who plans to sell electronics from being required to test and guarantuee proper operation or from ensuring the cost of proper waste disposal is included in the price of goods? If there are any, how do you ensure they do not get exploited on a large scale?
Quote:
The only exception is selling used stuff at flea market. All other sales must be cone with a registered business and then all these CE, RoHS, WEEE, warranty things apply from sale #1 on. Europe is not particularly founder friendly.
Any diverse region with a similar amount of countries and languages would be difficult to navigate for entrepreneurs aiming to sell their physical goods in as many areas as possible. I am not sure Europe is really special in that sense.
Furthermore, even in single countries like the US you have substantial differences with regard to the waste regulations in individual states (see California display recycling fee).
