Brand selection process.
NELEA receives fifty to one hundred distribution applications per year. From this flow, we retain one or two. This page documents the seven objective criteria we apply, and what in practice makes the difference between an application we accept and one we decline.
What we evaluate before signing.
Registered trademark
Trademark registered in your home jurisdiction, and ability to extend to EUIPO scope. If the brand is not protected, nothing goes further.
Zero existing EU channel
No distributor, no reseller, no presence on Amazon or AliExpress in EU markets. We verify via automated marketplace scraping and distributor directories.
Consumer B2B category
Product must be used in professional context by non-technical end users. We exclude pure enterprise IT, B2C, semiconductors, OEM components.
Adequate production volume
Minimum annual production of 5,000 units for distributor economics to work. Below, fixed import and inventory costs are not absorbed.
Product differentiation
Does your product offer something established players don't? Exclusive feature, design, price, usage innovation. Otherwise, market entry is very difficult.
CE compliance ready or ready-able
Does the product already meet applicable European directives? If not, is there a realistic path to adapt within 6 months? See dedicated compliance page.
Interpersonal fit
A 3-year minimum contract implies a human relationship. During negotiation we assess transparency, projection realism, and agenda alignment capability.
The four most frequent rejection reasons.
On applications declined in 2024 and 2025, four dominant reasons represent 85% of rejections. Here they are so you don't waste time.
Existing Amazon EU presence (42% of rejections)
The brand is already listed on Amazon Europe, sometimes by itself, sometimes by a third-party reseller. We decline because exclusivity is no longer possible and the channel is degraded before we even start.
Insufficient production volume (19% of rejections)
Less than 5,000 units produced annually. For us this means poorly amortized fixed costs and precarious profitability. We prefer saying no early rather than carrying a fragile partnership.
Out-of-scope category (14% of rejections)
Enterprise IT, consumer electronics, components. These categories have their own distribution ecosystem where we have no competitive added value.
Refusal of reciprocal exclusivity (10% of rejections)
The brand wants to keep the possibility of opening other EU channels in parallel. In that case we're not the right partner — a multi-brand reseller accepting this logic is better suited.
See the included services.
If your brand passes the seven-criteria filter, the next question is: what does NELEA concretely deliver? The next page details the operational package included in a distribution agreement.