- Start with the rights: your designs, characters, name and likeness — and whatever your agency, label or MCN contract says about merchandise. Then file trademarks in each market.
- EU: since 13 December 2024 every product sold to EU consumers needs an EU-based responsible economic operator under the GPSR; low-value parcels pay VAT through IOSS and, from 1 July 2026, a €3 customs duty per item category.
- UK: an overseas seller’s own-site sales up to £135 require UK VAT registration and VAT at checkout; marketplaces collect it on their sales.
- US: duty-free de minimis has been suspended since 29 August 2025; Korean goods face an additional duty since 24 July 2026; sales tax applies state by state once sales pass nexus thresholds.
- Merch made in China or elsewhere is not Korean-origin and does not get FTA treatment just because it ships from Seoul.
The economics of creator merch are simple. Fans want something physical from someone they watch, read or listen to every day; margins on designed goods are good; and the audience is already global. The legal economics are less simple. A Korean creator selling a hoodie to a fan in Lyon is, for the French state, a non-EU business placing a consumer product on the EU market, making a distance sale that owes French VAT and, since July 2026, EU customs duty. The same hoodie in Manchester or Ohio raises a different set of questions. Creators who scale merch abroad without answering them meet the answers in the form of held parcels, delisted products and unexpected tax bills.
This guide is written for Korean creators and their companies, managers and agencies. Personal tax on overseas merch and advertising income is in our companion guide to creators’ tax; brand protection in Korea is in trademark registration.
First, the rights
Merch is a licence of rights before it is a product. A creator’s original drawings, logos and characters are protected by copyright from creation under the Copyright Act. A creator’s name, face, voice and signature have commercial protection in Korea under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, which since 2022 treats unauthorised commercial use of a well-known person’s identity as unfair competition. Abroad, the equivalent protection varies — the US protects the right of publicity state by state; most of Europe relies on image and personality rights — which makes trademark registration the most dependable tool.
The second question is who owns the merch rights. Creators under an agency, a label or a multi-channel network should read their contract: entertainment exclusive contracts in Korea commonly give the agency the right to commercialise the artist’s name and likeness during the term, with revenue sharing, and MCN contracts often cover merchandise. Collaborations — a creator’s character on another brand’s product — need a written licence with territory, term, approval rights and royalties. Fan-made merchandise is a separate problem, best handled through a clear policy and takedowns of commercial copies.
Then file trademarks where you will sell. A Korean application with KIPO can be extended through the Madrid system to the EU (one filing for all member states), the UK and the US; US filings need evidence of use in commerce in due course. File in the classes for the goods you sell — clothing, printed matter, toys, accessories — and for online retail services. Platforms’ brand-protection programmes generally require a registered or pending mark before they act on counterfeits.
Four ways to get merch to fans abroad
| Model | How it works | Strengths | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ship from Korea | Your global store (Shopify, Cafe24 and others) ships each order from Korea | Simple, one stock, Korean production | Customs and VAT on every parcel; slower delivery; US duties now on all parcels |
| Print-on-demand abroad | A partner prints and ships in the EU, UK and US when orders arrive | No stock, local delivery, partner often handles GPSR and VAT on its side | Limited to its product range and quality; lower margin |
| Stock in local 3PLs | Bulk shipments to fulfilment warehouses in each market | Fast delivery, lowest unit cost, marketplace eligibility | You become an importer: customs, VAT, product safety and labelling in each market |
| Licensing | A local merch company makes and sells under licence | Least work; local expertise | Control of quality and image; royalty audits |
The four channel models.
The European Union
Product safety. Since 13 December 2024 the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requires every non-food consumer product sold to EU consumers to have an economic operator established in the EU (EU 책임자, EU chaegimja) — a manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or fulfilment service provider — responsible for its safety, whose name and contact details, with the manufacturer’s, appear on the product or packaging and on the online listing. Listings must also show product identification and any warnings and instructions in the language of the market. Marketplaces enforce this: listings without GPSR information are hidden. Toys follow the Toy Safety Directive with CE marking and EN 71 testing, moving to a new Toy Safety Regulation over the coming years; plush, figures and anything aimed at children under 14 count. Textiles need fibre-composition labels under the EU Textile Regulation.
VAT. For parcels up to €150 shipped from outside the EU, the seller charges the buyer’s national VAT at checkout and declares it through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS); a non-EU seller selling from its own store generally needs an EU intermediary to register. Marketplaces act as the deemed supplier for their own sales and use their own IOSS number. Above €150, import VAT and duty are paid at import, preferably by the seller (delivered duty paid) so that fans are not asked to pay at the door. Stock held in an EU warehouse requires VAT registration in that country and the Union One-Stop Shop for sales to other member states.
Customs. The EU abolished the €150 customs-duty exemption for low-value consignments from 1 July 2026. Until a full reform in 2028, a flat €3 duty applies to each item category in a parcel up to €150, usually collected by the platform at checkout; a handling fee is expected to follow. Goods of Korean origin can enter duty-free under the EU–Korea free trade agreement with a statement on origin; above €6,000 per consignment the exporter must be an approved exporter. Packaging and, for electronics, waste-electrical rules bring extended producer responsibility registrations in several countries, notably Germany and France.
The United Kingdom
The UK left the EU’s system and built its own. For goods up to £135 sold to UK consumers from abroad, VAT is due at the point of sale: an overseas seller selling from its own store must register for UK VAT and charge it at checkout, and online marketplaces collect it for sales they facilitate. Above £135, import VAT and any duty are paid at import. The UK’s customs-duty relief for low-value imports up to £135 continues until a new low-value import system replaces it, which the government plans by March 2029 at the latest.
Product safety in Great Britain still rests on the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, now being modernised under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025; toys need UKCA marking (CE is still accepted) and a UK importer’s or manufacturer’s details on the product. Goods of Korean origin can enter duty-free under the UK–Korea free trade agreement, upgraded in December 2025.
The United States
Duties. The United States suspended its USD 800 duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries from 29 August 2025, made the suspension indefinite for postal shipments in 2026, and legislated its end from July 2027. Every parcel now pays duty. On top of normal duty, Korean goods have carried a changing additional tariff: a 15% rate under the 2025 trade arrangement, struck down with the other IEEPA tariffs by the Supreme Court in February 2026; a temporary surcharge; and, since 24 July 2026, an additional duty under Section 301 that sources put at around 10–12.5%. Rates move; confirm the current one with a US customs broker before pricing, and decide whether you or the fan pays it.
Sales tax. There is no federal VAT. Each state taxes retail sales and, since the Wayfair decision, requires remote sellers to register once their sales into the state exceed an economic-nexus threshold — commonly USD 100,000 a year, and higher in California, Texas and New York. Marketplaces collect sales tax on their own sales; your own store does not. Stock in a US warehouse creates nexus in that state regardless of sales.
Product rules. Children’s products — toys and anything designed primarily for children 12 and under — need third-party testing at a CPSC-accepted laboratory, a Children’s Product Certificate and permanent tracking labels under the CPSIA. Clothing needs fibre content, country of origin and an identity on the label under the FTC’s textile rules. California requires Proposition 65 warnings where products contain listed chemicals. Cosmetics collaborations fall under MoCRA; see our guide to K-beauty exports.
Three markets compared
| Question | EU | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local person required? | Yes — EU responsible economic operator (GPSR) | UK importer or manufacturer details for many products | No general rule; importer of record on each shipment |
| Tax on low-value own-store sales | VAT via IOSS, intermediary needed | UK VAT registration, VAT at checkout up to £135 | State sales tax once nexus thresholds are passed |
| Duty on small parcels | €3 per item category up to €150 since July 2026 | Relief up to £135 continues for now | No de minimis; normal and additional duties |
| Korean-origin goods | Duty-free under the EU–Korea FTA | Duty-free under the UK–Korea FTA | KORUS removes normal duty, not the additional tariff |
| Children’s products | CE, EN 71 | UKCA (CE accepted), UK details | CPSIA testing, certificate, tracking labels |
Simplified; check each product.
Origin: made in Korea, or shipped from Korea?
Much creator merch is designed in Korea and made in China, Vietnam or elsewhere. Free trade agreements reward origin, not shipping address: a hoodie sewn in China and printed in Seoul is usually not Korean-origin under the EU, UK or US rules, and claiming the preference anyway is a customs offence that can be checked years later. Korean-made items — printed goods, acrylics made in Korea, Korean-sewn apparel — can qualify, with the right documents. Know the origin of every product line before you price it.
Platforms, payments and consumer rights abroad
Where fans buy shapes the obligations. Marketplaces such as Amazon and Etsy take over VAT collection in the EU and UK for low-value goods and sales tax in US states, and ask for GPSR data, trademark registration for brand programmes and product certificates before listing. Creator-commerce platforms and fan-community shops run their own compliance, but their terms usually make the creator or its company responsible for rights and product safety. A creator’s own store keeps the margin and the customer data but also every registration described above.
Fans abroad also have consumer rights that do not depend on Korean law. EU consumers can withdraw from online purchases within 14 days and have a two-year legal guarantee for faulty goods; UK consumers have similar rights; US rights vary by state but card chargebacks are easy. Publish returns terms for each market, offer a local returns address or a refund-without-return threshold for cheap items, and price returns into the margin. Pre-orders and limited drops need clear delivery dates: late delivery is one of the most common causes of complaints and chargebacks for creator merch.
The Korean side
Exports of goods are zero-rated for Korean VAT, so a Korean company or registered sole trader exporting merch recovers the VAT on production. Small parcels can be exported through simplified postal and courier export declarations, which are the evidence for zero-rating. Duty paid on imported materials used in exported goods can be refunded under the duty drawback rules. Income from overseas sales is taxable in Korea — through the creator personally or a Korean company — and foreign taxes can be credited; see creators’ tax for the personal side and exporting from Korea for the company side.
Structures
Most creators start as sole traders shipping from Korea. Three changes make sense as the business grows. A Korean company separates merch from the creator’s personal income, contracts with manufacturers, platforms and partners in its own name and can hold stock and trademarks. A company or registration in the main foreign market — an EU company, a UK limited company, a US LLC or corporation — becomes useful when stock sits in local warehouses, local retailers want a local supplier, or local tax registrations would be needed anyway; it carries its own tax returns and should be planned with Korean controlled-foreign-company rules in mind. And a licensing structure — the creator or Korean company licensing rights to the foreign entity or a third-party licensee — keeps the intellectual property where it was created and moves only margin abroad, at arm’s length.
How we help
- Rights audit — what you own, what your agency or MCN owns, and what you need to license.
- Trademarks — Korean filings and Madrid extensions to the EU, the UK and the US.
- Market set-up — IOSS intermediary, UK VAT registration, US sales-tax registrations, EU responsible-person arrangements and EPR registrations, through our partners in each market.
- Companies — a Korean company for the merch business and, where needed, an EU, UK or US entity through the BCA group, which works across more than 40 jurisdictions.
- Contracts — manufacturing, print-on-demand, fulfilment, licensing and collaboration agreements.
- Compliance plan — product by product: labels, testing, origin and customs.
A worked example
A Seoul webtoon artist with 1.2 million followers, most of them in the US and Europe, sells art books, acrylic stands and plush through her own store, shipping from Korea. When EU parcels start arriving with charges and a marketplace hides her plush for missing GPSR details, she restructures. Her Korean company takes over the store and the trademarks, extended to the EU, UK and US. Art books and acrylics, made in Korea, ship from Seoul with IOSS for the EU — through an intermediary — and UK VAT registration for British fans; Korean origin keeps EU and UK duty at zero on the printed goods.
Plush, made in China, moves to a 3PL in the Netherlands and another in New Jersey after EN 71 and CPSIA testing; the Dutch fulfilment company acts as EU responsible operator, and the US warehouse creates sales-tax nexus in New Jersey, where she registers. US orders now include duty in the price. A year later a US merch company licenses her characters for apparel, paying royalties to the Korean company.
Mistakes we see
- Selling merch the agency or MCN contract gives to someone else.
- No trademark abroad until counterfeits appear.
- EU listings without GPSR details, hidden by marketplaces.
- Own-store sales to EU and UK fans without IOSS or UK VAT.
- Claiming Korean origin for goods made elsewhere.
- Children’s products untested for EN 71 or CPSIA.
- Pricing US orders on de minimis rules that no longer exist.
Terms you will meet
Questions readers ask
Do Korean creators need an EU company to sell merch to EU fans?
Not necessarily, but every product needs an EU-based responsible economic operator under the GPSR, and own-store sales need IOSS through an intermediary. An EU company becomes useful when stock is held in the EU.
What changed for EU parcels in 2026?
From 1 July 2026 the €150 duty exemption ended; a €3 duty applies per item category in parcels up to €150 until a full reform in 2028.
Do I charge UK VAT on merch?
On your own store’s sales of goods up to £135 to UK consumers, yes — you register for UK VAT and charge it at checkout. Marketplaces collect it on their sales.
Is there still duty-free shipping to the US?
No. De minimis has been suspended since 29 August 2025 and ends by law in July 2027. Korean goods also carry an additional tariff; check the current rate.
Does US sales tax apply to a Korean seller?
Once sales into a state pass its economic-nexus threshold — commonly USD 100,000 a year — or once stock sits in a US warehouse there.
Is my merch Korean-origin for FTA purposes?
Only if it meets the agreement’s origin rules. Goods made in China and shipped from Korea usually are not.
Can I sell merch with my face on it if I have an agency?
Check your exclusive contract: agencies commonly hold commercialisation rights to an artist’s name and likeness during the term.
- PwC — EU abolishes the €150 duty threshold from 1 July 2026
- 33 Bedford Row — End of the UK £135 customs relief
- Federal Register — Indefinite suspension of de minimis for mail, 2026
- Stimson — After the Supreme Court IEEPA ruling: Korea
- Tariffs Tool — South Korea tariffs 2026
- EAS — EU and UK VAT registration guide 2026
- Printful — What is the GPSR
- Beancount — US economic nexus 2026
- Nepla — Publicity rights under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act
Alexander Baranov
Founder of the BCA Group · cross-border corporate and tax adviser since 2008
Alexander advises foreign founders and groups on company formation, tax structuring and corporate law in more than 40 jurisdictions across Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Latin America. He is the author of nine books on international business and tax and writes regularly for professional finance and tax journals. He works in English, German, Spanish and Russian.
This guide is based on the Korean statutes cited in the text and on our own filings. It is reviewed when the law or official rates change.