If you sell only via bol or Amazon, here is what changes
The marketplace asks for a number of GPSR fields when you create a listing: a name and address of the responsible party, warnings, and sometimes an image of the label. It may feel as though the marketplace handles the obligations for you. This is partly true, but not entirely: bol and Amazon check whether the fields are filled in, not whether the content is correct or complete. Regulation (EU) 2023/988 focuses on the role you yourself play in the supply chain, and that role does not change because you sell via a marketplace instead of your own webshop.
Whether GPSR thus "applies to you" depends on your role as a manufacturer, importer, distributor or authorised representative, not on the sales channel. If you sell under your own brand, you are subject to manufacturer obligations, even if the only sales point is a marketplace. If you sell products from another brand without making any changes to them, you are more likely a distributor, with a lighter set of obligations. The marketplace itself is typically neither; under the regulation it has its own separate role with its own obligations.
What the marketplace does and does not handle for you
Under GPSR, bol and Amazon are required to display certain product and seller information and to respond when a regulator or reporter flags a product as potentially unsafe. That obligation of the marketplace is separate from your own obligation as a seller to, for example, have a risk analysis, keep technical documentation on hand, or maintain a complaints register. A marketplace that makes a GPSR field mandatory typically does not check whether the product file behind it is correct. That responsibility remains with the seller, even if the listing looks complete.
This also explains why a listing is sometimes removed or blocked even though all fields were filled in: the marketplace is not responding to an empty field, but to a report, a spot check, or a signal from Safety Gate about the product category. Who exactly carries out supervision and how that differs between member states can be found in the knowledge base; the short answer is that the marketplace is the first line, but the national regulator has ultimate authority.
When this affects your business in full
If you sell a product under your own brand or logo, even if you bought it from a factory outside the EU, you are subject to the obligations that come with the role of manufacturer. This is regardless of whether you offer that product via your own website, via bol, via Amazon or via all three at the same time. If you are the first to bring products from outside the EU to the European market, you are subject to importer obligations, even if the marketplace handles all customer contact and shipping. Marketplaces therefore do not replace any of these roles; they offer a sales channel, not a compliance service.
When this affects your business less or not at all
If you are a pure reseller of products that have already been placed on the market in the EU by another company, and you make no changes to the product, packaging or accompanying information, you fall more under the lighter obligations that apply to distributors. In that case, some of the requirements that rest on manufacturers and importers do not apply to you, even if you fill in the same GPSR fields on bol or Amazon. The difference lies not in the sales channel, but in what you have or have not added to the product and the information about it.
How to verify this for your own situation
Because the answer depends on your role and not on the platform, the first step is always the same: determine exactly what you do with the product before it reaches the customer. Anyone who has a logo printed, uses custom packaging, or offers the product under their own brand name does more than simply resell. see in a few questions which role fits your situation provides an initial indication of this, regardless of which marketplace you use.
After that, it is useful to look at which documents belong to that role: a risk analysis, technical documentation, or only the information you receive from your supplier. read through the topics per situation shows what concretely belongs to each role, so that you do not fill in more than necessary or too little.
If you still have doubts about how this works out precisely for your business, that is something for a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority in your member state; this page describes the system, not your specific situation. For frequently asked questions about borderline cases, there is an overview of frequently asked questions, and anyone who wants to know where the information on this site comes from can read that on the page about how gpsria.eu works.
Do you want to quickly find out where you stand, without needing an account for that? Take the free role check or browse through the knowledge base; both are freely accessible and provide an immediate indication before you decide whether further development is needed.