Merchant of Record in Mexico for Spanish companies

Many Spanish brands discover Mexico by accident. One day, orders from Guadalajara or Puebla start arriving at their online store, someone on the team ships them via courier from Madrid or Valencia, and weeks later, the first complaints arrive: the package was delayed, the customer had to pay taxes upon receipt, or the return never made it back.

Those orders are a sign of real demand. Mexican consumers know and appreciate Spanish fashion, cosmetics, olive oil, wine, and gastronomy, and the shared language means your brand is understood without translation. What fails isn't the product, but the way it reaches the customer.

Turning those sporadic orders into a stable channel requires having inventory in Mexico, selling it with a Mexican invoice, and complying with the country's tax regulations. For a company without a Mexican entity, the figure that makes sales possible is the Merchant of Record, or MOR.

Here you will find why shipping from Spain stops working, what the three decisions are that you must make before selling in earnest, what the treaty with the European Union gives you and what it doesn't, how to adapt your products, and what it really costs to operate in Mexico.

The order that arrives at your website from Mexico

Shipping every order from Spain seems like the simplest way to test the market. You don't need inventory abroad, local partners, or paperwork in Mexico. The problem arises at Mexican customs.

As of August 15, 2025, imports arriving via courier services pay a global rate of 33.5% on their value, up from the previous 19%, according to Baker McKenzie. Reduced rates were reserved for products from the United States and Canada. A package leaving Barcelona pays the full rate, even though your product could enter with a preferential tariff if it were imported differently.

That 33.5% is almost never absorbed by the brand. The customer pays it upon receiving the package or discovers it in the final price, and in both cases, the purchase becomes more expensive than that of a competitor with stock in Mexico. Added to that are other less visible costs:

• Lead times. Your package crosses the Atlantic and customs while the customer compares it with offers that Amazon or Mercado Libre deliver tomorrow.
• Returns. A size exchange or a product that didn't meet expectations turns into an international return shipment, or a loss.
• Visibility on marketplaces. Mexican platforms reward fast shipping. If you sell on Mercado Libre, your reputation depends on times that can only be met with local inventory, as fulfillment companies for Mercado Libre.
• know. Business customers. A Mexican hotel, store, or restaurant cannot buy from you without a Mexican tax receipt.

International shipping is useful for gauging interest with a few orders. When demand repeats, the question changes: how to sell from Mexico. British brands face the same dilemma and many choose to sell in Mexico with a registered importer, although without the trade agreement that Spain has.

Three decisions before selling in earnest

Moving from international shipping to an operation in Mexico requires answering three questions. Each corresponds to a different function, and confusing them is the cause of many failed launches.

Who imports the merchandise?

Someone must present themselves to Mexican customs as the importer. That person or company pays import duties and VAT, is responsible for the classification of each product, and complies with non-tariff regulations, such as labeling and sanitary permits. A Spanish company without a presence in Mexico cannot do this directly, which is why the role of the importer of record for ecommerceexists, taking on that responsibility in your place.

Who sells to the Mexican customer?

Nationalizing the merchandise does not make you the seller in Mexico. That is where the Merchant of Record comes in. For every order, they appear as the selling party, receive payment from the customer in pesos, issue the CFDI, and report the corresponding VAT to the SAT. Your brand continues to decide what is sold, at what price, and with what messaging.

Not all MORs are suitable for physical products. Among the Merchant of Record providers in Mexico there are many designed for software or subscriptions, which never touch inventory or customs.

Who delivers each order?

There remains the part that the customer actually sees: someone receiving the boxes, storing the stock, assembling each order, shipping it, and handling returns. Without this, having the product nationalized and a sales structure in place is of little use.

You can solve each decision with a different provider, but each one adds a contract, a system, and a reconciliation process. That is why many brands look for a partner that covers all three functions under the same Mexican entity, such as Cubbo, which acts as an importer, Merchant of Record, and fulfillment operator.

What the treaty with the EU gives you and what it doesn't

Spain arrives in Mexico with an advantage that brands from China, Korea, or India do not have: the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mexico, in effect since 2000. Thanks to that agreement, a large portion of what is produced in Spain crosses Mexican customs with reduced tariffs or none at all.

An advantage that grew in 2026

According to Foley & Lardner, as of January 1, 2026, Mexico is charging higher tariffs, with increases of 5% to 50%, on 1,463 tariff lines when the merchandise comes from countries without a trade agreement. Textiles, clothing, steel, plastics, auto parts, paper, and footwear account for the majority of those lines. A FedEx note on the increase clarifies that originating goods that comply with the rules of origin of Mexico's trade agreements, including the one with the European Union, are exempt from that increase.

Made in Spain or just shipped from Spain

Preference depends on where the product is manufactured, not the port from which it departs. A brand that designs in Madrid and produces in Asia or Turkey may find that its garments do not qualify as originating from the EU. Those garments enter with the general tariff, which is exactly the one that saw the steepest increase for clothing and footwear in 2026.

If your catalog mixes European and Asian production, separate your SKUs by origin before performing any calculations. Two products with the same price on your website may have very different margins in Mexico.

The document that triggers the preference

Preferential tariffs are not applied automatically. According to the Spanish Tax Agency, under the current treaty, the exporter must accompany the merchandise with a EUR.1 certificate or an invoice declaration. Any exporter can issue this declaration for shipments up to 6,000 euros, and authorized exporters can issue it without a value limit. If the document is missing or contains errors, Mexican customs will charge the general tariff.

The modernized agreement on the horizon

On May 22, 2026, the European Union and Mexico signed a Modernized Global Agreement and an Interim Trade Agreement that will replace the 2000 framework. According to Holland & Knight, the European Parliament gave its approval on July 8, 2026. The interim agreement will enter into force on the first day of the second month after both parties notify each other of the completion of their internal procedures, and as of early November 2026, Mexican ratification was still pending.

Spanish food and beverage producers stand to gain the most. According to the European Commission, the new agreement eliminates 95% of the high tariffs that Mexico applies to EU agri-food products and protects 568 European geographical indications against imitations. If your product has a designation of origin, check if it is on that list and monitor the entry into force, as the rules of origin and documentation are also being updated.

Tasks that remain pending

Tariff preference does not come with an RFC, the ability to invoice in Mexico, NOM-compliant labels, or an exemption from the withholdings that foreign sellers face on marketplaces. The tariff is only one part of the cost of entering Mexico. The other part depends on how you sell.

What the NOM requires for top-selling Spanish products

Speaking the same language saves you from translating, but not from adapting. The Official Mexican Standards, or NOMs, require specific information for each category, such as the importer's details in Mexico, country of origin, warnings, and net content in a specific format. A label that complies in Spain rarely complies as-is in Mexico, and it is standard practice to apply a supplementary label before selling.

Olive oil, canned goods, and gourmet products. Prepackaged foods must comply with NOM-051, which includes front-of-package warning labels when a product exceeds certain limits for sugars, fats, or sodium—a feature that does not exist in Spanish labeling. Animal-derived products, such as cured meats, cheeses, or canned fish, also have sanitary and zoosanitary requirements that vary by product and country of origin, so it is best to confirm them before producing the batch.

Wine, cava, and other alcoholic beverages. This is the category with the most paperwork. The importer must be registered in the sector-specific registry for alcoholic beverages, the labeling must comply with NOM-142, bottles must carry a tax stamp, and the IEPS (a special tax based on alcohol content) must be paid in addition to VAT. It is difficult to resolve this without a Mexican entity, which is why wineries typically work with an importer.

Cosmetics and dermocosmetics. Spanish natural cosmetic and dermocosmetic brands find a loyal audience in Mexico, especially in online stores and marketplaces. Their labeling standard is NOM-141, which requires the list of ingredients, instructions, warnings, and the product importer to be listed in Spanish. Be careful with claims: a promise that is standard in Europe may lead COFEPRIS to treat your product as a drug or hygiene product. Before shipping, review the steps to register cosmetic products and work with an operator that understands cosmetic fulfillment in Mexicobecause batch and expiration date control are also part of compliance.

Fashion, footwear, and accessories. Every garment requires a label in accordance with NOM-004, which indicates materials, washing instructions, size, and country of origin, while footwear is governed by another specific standard. This is also the category where origin matters most, due to 2026 tariffs. Sizing, exchanges, and returns complicate operations, so it is worth comparing options for clothing and fashion fulfillment in Mexico before choosing a partner.

Adapt your language as well. Common words in Spain may sound strange or have different meanings in Mexico, especially in fashion and cosmetics. Review product names, descriptions, and ads with someone who knows the Mexican market.

Cubbo as importer, seller, and warehouse in Mexico

Cubbo is a fulfillment company that also acts as an importer and Merchant of Record in Mexico. For a Spanish brand, this means a single Mexican entity handles product entry, sales, and delivery to the customer, without you having to open a company, register with the SAT, or open bank accounts in Mexico. Here is how the work looks at each stage.

Before shipment

Cubbo reviews every product: tariff classification, applicable regulations, permits, and labeling requirements. For a Spanish brand, this review includes identifying which SKUs qualify as originating from the EU and what proof of origin must accompany each shipment. From Spain, your team only needs to gather the shipping documentation: invoice, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill, and the proof of origin.

At customs

Cubbo assumes the role of importer. It handles customs clearance, covers duties, and manages the permits required for each product, such as health permits from COFEPRIS. The obligations of the importer in Mexico range from the customs declaration (pedimento) to NOM compliance, and an error in any of these can result in merchandise being held at the port.

With every sale

From this point on, Cubbo operates as your Merchant of Record. Each sale is recorded under its Mexican tax entity, which receives the pesos, settles the VAT, and generates the CFDI invoices under your brand's name. For Mercado Libre, Amazon, or TikTok Shop, your store is treated as that of a Mexican seller, avoiding the tax withholdings intended for foreign entities.

This is the same model followed by brands that expand their business from the United States to Mexico with a Merchant of Record. The difference is that a Spanish brand does not benefit from the reduced courier rates that the USMCA provides to the United States and Canada, so local inventory saves them even more.

With every delivery

Inventory is stored in Cubbo's fulfillment centers, starting with a ecommerce warehouse in Mexico City, the area with the most shoppers in the country. From there, your stock connects to your store and your marketplaces, with integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce, VTEX, Mercado Libre, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Liverpool, and other platforms, so that all channels sell from the same inventory. If your store runs on Shopify, the connection is the same as the one offered by the leading fulfillment companies for Shopify in Mexico, so your website remains unchanged while orders are shipped from Mexico.

Each order is shipped using the carrier that best fits its destination, weight, and delivery time, choosing from over 10 options. A customer in Mexico City who orders before the cutoff time receives their package that same day, and in the country's major cities, delivery usually takes one or two days. No package shipped from Valencia can compete with that, because same-day delivery in Mexico City depends on having the product just a few kilometers away from the buyer.

Your boxes can still look just as they do in Spain, with cards, samples, and inserts that maintain the unboxing experience designed for your customers. In cosmetics, gourmet food, or fashion, that presentation is part of what the customer is buying.

For every return

What the customer returns stays in Mexico: it is inspected and, if it can be resold, it returns to available stock. A size exchange is no longer an international shipment and is resolved in just a few days.

A startup example

Imagine an olive oil mill in Jaén that sells extra virgin olive oil on its website and in gourmet shops in Spain, and wants to sell in Mexico via Mercado Libre and Shopify. Their launch with Cubbo would involve reviewing the label against NOM-051, confirming the origin and preparing the invoice declaration, shipping an initial sea freight batch, clearing customs, setting up sales under the MOR structure, and starting to fulfill orders from Mexico with stock synchronized across channels.

According to Cubbo's estimates, between the initial catalog analysis and the first sale, it usually takes one to three months, depending on the product type and permits. Food and alcoholic beverages usually lean toward the longer timeframe. Cubbo also operates in Brazil, which allows for a second phase in Latin America with the same partner.

On a day-to-day basis, your team in Spain decides on products, pricing, campaigns, and the catalog, while operations take place during Mexican business hours. With a seven- or eight-hour time difference between Madrid and Mexico City, depending on the time of year, this local operation prevents every issue from having to wait until the next day.

VAT, CFDI, and the Euro in the same account

In Mexico, the general VAT rate is 16%, five points lower than the 21% in Spain, and it is paid twice along the way: upon import and upon sale. The tax summary from PwC collects that general rate. If a single Mexican entity imports and then sells, it can usually deduct the VAT paid at customs from the VAT it charges its customers, so the tax primarily affects cash flow rather than margins.

Another change for 2026 directly affects those selling from abroad. This year, digital platforms began withholding the full VAT on sales of goods made by foreign sellers without a permanent establishment in Mexico, and they also withhold a portion of the income tax (ISR). If your Spanish company sells on its own on a Mexican marketplace, you will receive significantly less than what each order invoices. A Merchant of Record (MOR) with a Mexican tax ID (RFC) sells under the same rules as domestic sellers. Review the specific impact with your tax advisor, as it depends on each platform and your contract.

The CFDI is the Mexican electronic invoice, and without it, there is no B2B sales. Hotels, restaurants, stores, salons, or distributors need it to deduct their purchases. With an MOR, that door opens without your company having to register with the SAT.

Then there is the exchange rate. You buy and produce in euros, sell in pesos, and receive the settlement after taxes and commissions. Get in writing how often you will receive the money, in what currency, and at what exchange rate. Also include what happens with payment disputes, since ecommerce fraud and chargebacks in Mexico are not like what you see in Europe.

What to include in your cost sheet

To know if Mexico is profitable, calculate the full cost of each delivered order, not just the product cost. Organize it into three stages.

Before the product reaches the warehouse. Manufacturing and packaging costs in euros, sea or air freight, insurance, port handling, tariffs based on the origin of each SKU, IEPS (special tax) if you sell alcoholic beverages, import VAT, customs clearance, supplementary labeling, and permits.

When it sells. MOR service and import fees, marketplace or payment gateway commissions, picking and packing costs, and shipping to the customer.

After the sale. Returns, shrinkage, storage for slow-moving stock, and the effect of the exchange rate between the purchase in euros and the settlement in pesos.

The sheet also tells you where to start. An oil made in Spain with zero tariffs and a garment produced in Asia with a general tariff may have the same price in your store but opposite margins in Mexico, and that is decided before setting the selling price of each product.

The calendar also counts. The January and July sales do not have a direct equivalent in Mexico, where the peaks arrive with Hot Sale, El Buen Fin, May 10th, and Christmas, and the purchasing patterns of Mexican consumers dictate when the product must be in the warehouse. With several weeks of sea transit, replenishment for El Buen Fin must leave Spain well in advance, and a method for estimating inventory for peak seasons helps you decide how much to send.

6 common pitfalls for Spanish brands in Mexico

None of these mistakes are rare, and all can be fixed if detected before the first shipment.

1. Copying the product sheet and label from Spain

The language is the same, but the regulations and vocabulary are not. A label missing the data required by the NOM will hold up your merchandise at customs, and a product sheet using Spanish terms can confuse Mexican customers.

2. Calculating margins with zero tariffs for the entire catalog

Only products originating from the EU benefit from the trade agreement. Goods manufactured outside of Europe are subject to the general tariff, which saw a significant increase for clothing and footwear in 2026.

3. Shipping without proof of origin

Without an EUR.1 certificate or an invoice declaration, customs will charge the general tariff even if the product is Spanish. This document must be reviewed for every shipment and updated when the new agreement comes into effect.

4. Relying too long on courier services

The 33.5% rate, lead times, and returns make shipping from Spain uncompetitive against brands with stock in Mexico. Once orders become recurring, it is time to import in bulk.

5. Splitting import, sales, and warehousing between providers that don't communicate

Every transfer of information between customs, billing, and the warehouse is an opportunity for error. Agree from the start on how to reconcile stock levels and apply best practices for inventory control from the very first order.

6. Measuring only the cost per shipment

An order that arrives late or incorrect will not be repeated. The sign that your Mexico strategy is working is customer retention, so keep an eye on your long-term retention rate from the first few months.

What if you prefer a distributor or a subsidiary?

The Merchant of Record (MOR) model isn't the only path, and it's worth comparing it to the two alternatives most considered by Spanish companies.

Many wineries and food brands start with a Mexican distributor, who buys the product and resells it to stores, restaurants, and supermarkets. It is a fast track for traditional retail, but you give up control over the final price, the customer relationship, and sales data, and your margin is limited to what the distributor is willing to pay. For e-commerce, that loss of control is a significant drawback.

At the opposite end is a Mexican subsidiary. This makes sense when sales are high and stable, when you need a team on the ground in Mexico, or when you want to sign contracts directly with major retail chains. In exchange, it requires incorporating a company, obtaining an RFC (tax ID), opening bank accounts, hiring accounting services, and meeting monthly tax obligations.

The Merchant of Record acts as the intermediary. You sell under your own brand and at your own price, directly to consumers and businesses, without needing to set up a local entity. This is the most common approach for validating the market and scaling in e-commerce, and many brands later transition to a subsidiary while keeping the same partner for imports and warehousing. To decide, compare how an Importer of Record in Mexico works in each of these structures, because someone will have to handle the imports in any of them.

Conclusion

Orders arriving in Mexico from your Spanish website are the best proof that demand exists. The next step is to stop shipping them from Spain and start selling them from within Mexico, with the product already imported, VAT handled, and the CFDI issued by a local entity.

The treaty with the European Union gives you a clear advantage over brands from other countries, and the modernized agreement can expand it, especially for food and beverages. But that advantage is only realized with the correct proof of origin, labels adapted to NOM standards, and an operation capable of delivering in one or two days.

Before moving your first pallet, categorize your catalog by origin, adapt your labels, calculate the cost per order in pesos, and decide who will import, who will sell, and who will deliver in Mexico.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I sell on Mercado Libre Mexico as a Spanish company?

Yes, but if you sell as a non-resident without a permanent establishment, the marketplace must withhold 100% of the VAT and a portion of the income tax (ISR). If you do it through a Merchant of Record with a Mexican RFC, the platform treats you like any other local seller.

What is the difference between a Merchant of Record and an importer?

The importer is the face of the operation before customs: they declare the merchandise, pay tariffs and import VAT, and comply with regulations. The Merchant of Record acts afterward, once the product is sold: they charge the customer, issue the invoice, and declare the VAT on that sale. To sell physical products in Mexico, a Spanish company usually needs both functions.

Do my products enter Mexico duty-free because they are Spanish?

Only if they originate from the European Union according to the treaty rules and carry valid proof of origin, such as an EUR.1 certificate or an invoice declaration. Products manufactured outside the European Union are excluded from this preference, even if they are shipped from a Spanish port.

Am I affected by the tariffs that Mexico increased in 2026?

Not for products originating from the EU that meet the treaty's rules of origin. The increase targets countries without a trade agreement with Mexico, so it may indeed affect products in your catalog manufactured in those countries.

Why is it so expensive to ship packages from Spain to Mexico?

Since August 15, 2025, courier imports are subject to a 33.5% global tax rate on the value of the merchandise. Reduced rates only apply to products from the United States and Canada.

What changes with the new agreement between the EU and Mexico?

The modernized agreement, signed in May 2026, updates the 2000 treaty, reduces agri-food tariffs, and protects 568 European geographical indications. Its trade provisions will enter into force once both parties complete their internal procedures, and as of early November 2026, Mexico's ratification was still pending.

How long does it take to transition from individual shipments to selling from Mexico?

According to Cubbo, it typically takes one to three months from the initial catalog review to the first sale. Food and alcoholic beverages usually take longer due to sanitary and tax requirements.

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