Summary
Hardly any topic is currently causing as much unrest in German online retail as the new EU import duties, which place Shein right at the center of the debate. Fresh trade figures and the prospect of stricter customs rules for small parcels have suddenly turned what was a pure fashion topic into a hard economic question, and Shein stands in for an entire business model built on volume, speed and low prices. Anyone who thought German consumers would not be swayed by debates about country of origin is now being proven wrong. The combination of regulatory pressure and growing competition is creating nervousness among all providers that rely on direct imports from Asia.
Details
Interestingly, Shein shares this nervousness with Temu, which is also right in the middle of the debate over new EU parcel rules and shows how closely the two platforms are now linked politically and economically. While tariffs are being argued over there, the established business in Germany continues unabated: Amazon remains the stable anchor of the market and still dominates virtually every headline about deals, reach and trading volume, regardless of what regulation is being discussed elsewhere. In parallel, the secondhand market remains in motion. eBay Kleinanzeigen continues to be an extremely prominent marketplace for used goods, while the Kleinanzeigen brand itself is taking a different path with new real estate analyses. At the end of September, the company announced that it wanted to take a leading role in the residential property listings segment, which shows that the former classifieds app is well on its way to becoming a serious real estate platform. eBay itself is generating talk with a structural change: the expansion of the responsibility of the German eBay chief to all of Europe was read by business media as a sign that Germany is being strategically upgraded within the group. In the secondhand segment, Vinted is also making a strong impact and remains one of the most visible names when it comes to used clothing and sustainable consumption, a trend that has been gaining strength in Germany for years and regularly brings Vinted new user groups. On the discount side, a small race of its own is underway: mydealz remains the most important trendsetter of German bargain culture and, with its community, largely determines which offers are noticed at all. SPARWELT is following with a flood of September vouchers and daily deals, while Schnäppchenfuchs, with its WhatsApp push notifications, turns deal hunting into a particularly fast and almost intrusive form of price chasing. These three platforms are essentially competing for the same target group: price-conscious buyers who prefer to wait, compare and save rather than buy on impulse.
- 1Hardly any topic is currently causing as much unrest in German online retail as the new EU import duties, which place Shein right at the center of the debate.
- 2Anyone who thought German consumers would not be swayed by debates about country of origin is now being proven wrong.
- 3The combination of regulatory pressure and growing competition is creating nervousness among all providers that rely on direct imports from Asia.
- 4Interestingly, Shein shares this nervousness with Temu, which is also right in the middle of the debate over new EU parcel rules and shows how closely the two platforms are now linked politically and economically.
- 5On the discount side, a small race of its own is underway: mydealz remains the most important trendsetter of German bargain culture and, with its community, largely determines which offers are noticed at all.
Conclusion
Overall, the market is being negotiated on two levels at once: politically, through the tariff debate surrounding Shein and Temu, and culturally, through the ongoing discount and secondhand movement carried by mydealz, SPARWELT, Vinted and eBay Kleinanzeigen. Amazon remains the stable fixed point against which everyone else has to measure itself, while established players such as eBay and Kleinanzeigen are trying to reposition themselves with structural changes and new business areas. For consumers, this means more choice and more price pressure, but also more uncertainty about what a supposed bargain will actually cost tomorrow.