What do you need to launch a marketplace legally?
To launch a marketplace legally in Romania you need a legal form for the operator, contracts with the vendors, the mandatory documents on the site and compliant per-vendor invoicing. Unlike a single store, here you intermediate sales between third parties, so responsibility is split between the platform and the vendors.
Short answer
- A legal form for the operator: a registered company, with activity codes for online retail and intermediation.
- Clear vendor contracts: commissions, obligations, returns and product liability.
- Documents on the site: platform terms of use, a return policy and a privacy policy.
- Clear identification of the vendor on each listing and the ANPC and ODR links.
- Invoicing for every order, separately per vendor; B2B invoices go through e-invoicing.
What the law says (in brief)
- Right of withdrawal: the consumer can return the product within 14 days, no reason needed (OUG 34/2014 in Romania).
- Platform transparency: you must clearly state who the vendor of each listing is and who the operator is.
- GDPR: the marketplace operator is responsible for customer data and for what is shared with vendors.
- e-invoicing: B2B invoices are sent through the national system, automatable per vendor via 4invoices.
Practical example
Example: a handmade-goods marketplace needs a framework contract with each maker, terms of use that explain who handles returns and clear vendor identification on each listing. Without these, the operator risks being held liable for the vendors' products at the first consumer-protection check.
Common mistakes
- Launching without vendor contracts and without clarifying who handles returns.
- Not clearly identifying the vendor on the listing — the customer doesn't know who they buy from.
- Issuing a single invoice from the operator, when each vendor must invoice separately.
How 4marketplace helps
- Templates with platform terms, returns, privacy and vendor-identification pages included.
- The vendor is shown on every listing, and commissions and payouts are tracked per vendor.
- An automatic per-vendor invoice on every order, with e-invoicing through the 4b2b ecosystem.