Selling on eBay to the United States: who files what
The filing is the carrier's job. Producing the data is yours, and nobody else can do it.
Updated 11 October 2026 · 5 min read
What eBay tells sellers
eBay's seller centre states the obligation in one line, and it is aimed at anyone importing regulated goods into the United States - which includes a French seller shipping directly to an American buyer.
« As of July 8, 2026, if you import certain clothing, toys, or other regulated products into the US, the CPSC requires that you electronically submit your products' safety information. »Then it says who does the filing, which is the part that surprises people: not eBay, and not you.
« Your carrier is responsible for eFiling this information with US Customs. »Your half of the job
If the carrier files, what remains for the seller is to hand over data that is true, complete and in the form the carrier can pass on. eBay says exactly that for sellers who arrange their own shipping.
« If you manage your own shipping, you'll be required to submit this information to your carrier when you ship, and they will electronically file it with US Customs. »With La Poste, that form has a name: the CPSC annex, loaded per parcel in the postage tool, with the tracking number left blank and the description written in English.
Complete, here, has a definite meaning: the elements the American rule lists, in the order the annex expects them, with the names and addresses written out rather than abbreviated. The carrier transmits what you give it and cannot invent a laboratory name or a test date, so a blank in your row becomes a blank in the filing.
This is also why the French postal situation matters to an eBay seller more than to almost anyone else. When the carrier cannot file, there is nothing you can hand it that fixes the parcel, and the offer closes rather than degrading. Your data being ready is what lets you switch route without redoing the work.
« One CPSC annex form has to be loaded per parcel in your postage tool when preparing your shipment. »Which of your listings are concerned
eBay names clothing and toys first because those are the two categories where a European seller is most likely to be caught without knowing. CPSC's own lists are the authority: one for the rules that require a general certificate, one for children's product rules that require third-party testing.
« Below is a list of children's product safety rules that require third-party testing as well as the legal citation to be used on a Children's Product Certificate (CPC) »Adult clothing is the one worth checking carefully rather than assuming: CPSC says it will not enforce certification for adult apparel that is exempt from testing, while children's apparel gets no such discretion.
« Wearing apparel that are considered children's products are not afforded this enforcement discretion. »What to have ready before your next sale
Have three things: a certificate for each regulated product, its Registry entry so the parcel can carry identifiers rather than a full page, and a prepared annex you only have to complete per parcel. None of them is per-order work once the first one is done.
That is the whole point of doing it before a buyer is waiting: an eBay sale gives you a handling deadline, and gathering a manufacturer's test details does not fit inside it.
If you sell a catalogue rather than a single item, do it in order of what actually ships. Take the five references that make most of your American orders, clear those, and leave the long tail for later: an item that sells twice a year can wait for its certificate, and a bestseller stuck at the border costs you the season.