# /case-studies/mypurmist  —  Mypurmist · Merchant of Record
# https://o1.eu/case-studies/mypurmist
# Operator One — Merchant of Record for European marketplaces.

## Summary
A US steam-inhaler brand sells in seven European countries across three marketplaces without a European entity of its own, growing about 4.5x from its opening months.

## Result
7 countries — European markets opened for a US brand with no EU entity of its own

## At a glance
- 7 countries: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain
- 3 marketplaces: Amazon, Bol.com and Shop Apotheke
- Own pricing: Brand keeps its stock and sets its own pricing strategy
- 4.5x growth: From the opening months to now, with a peak of 10.3x

## Markets live
United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain

## Marketplaces live on
Amazon, Bol.com, Shop Apotheke

## Challenge
Mypurmist had European demand and no lawful way to serve it. The brand makes handheld steam inhalers for drug-free relief of congestion, colds, allergies and dryness, and the company is based in California. Every European marketplace requires a legal seller with a European entity, VAT registrations in each country of sale and a named party responsible for the product under EU and UK rules. A US business cannot be that party. Alone, that build takes years.

## What changed under Operator One
- Operator One became the legal seller of record in each market, so the brand needed no European company, no VAT registrations of its own and no importer.
- VAT registrations and fiscal representation were put in place across every country of sale, including the markets that require a locally established party.
- Product compliance and producer registrations were taken on and kept current, so a category check never takes a whole country offline.
- A focused catalogue was built as official brand listings and localised into each language, with the brand's own copy and images rather than a third party's version.
- Advertising, buy box and pricing execution were run marketplace by marketplace, with customer service and returns answered in the local language.

## Outcome
Seven countries. Three marketplaces, including a pharmacy channel. The brand keeps ownership of its stock and sets its own price. Revenue grew about 4.5x from the opening months to the most recent, with a peak around 10.3x.

## Who this applies to
Any brand outside the EU or UK faces the same wall: no entity, no legal seller, no listing. The operating model is the same for a device maker, a supplements brand or a homeware range. One operator carries the entities, VAT and compliance across the markets, and the brand keeps its products, its pricing strategy and its name.

## Story
The wall in front of a US brand The demand was there. The lawful route was not. Mypurmist makes handheld personal steam inhalers for drug-free relief of sinus congestion, colds, allergies and dryness: temperature-controlled steam in seconds, no boiling water, no bowl and towel. The range runs from a plug-in model to a cordless unit with a filtration stage, backed by a consumables line of sterile-water refills, aroma pads and replacement filters. A premium product with a clear audience, singers and voice professionals included. The company is American. In Europe that is not a detail, it is a blocker. Marketplaces need a legal seller. That seller needs a European entity, VAT registrations in every country of sale, and a named party carrying product and packaging obligations. A brand in California is none of those things. What Operator One did Operator One became the seller of record. The brand incorporated nothing in Europe, registered for no VAT number and appointed no importer of its own. Entities, VAT registrations and fiscal representation across every market of sale. Product compliance and producer registrations, kept current so a category check never takes a country offline. Catalogue and listing build for a focused range, localised into each language as official brand listings. Advertising, buy box and pricing execution, run marketplace by marketplace. Customer service and returns answered in the local language. Reach Seven countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. Three marketplaces: Amazon, Bol.com and Shop Apotheke. The pharmacy channel matters here. It puts a drug-free congestion device in front of shoppers already searching for relief, and it is not a channel a brand outside the EU can sign up to on its own. Control Every listing is the brand's own: its words, its images, its positioning. Pricing strategy stays with the brand. So does ownership of the stock. Operator One carries the legal and operational load and leaves the commercial decisions where they belong. Growth From nothing in these markets, revenue grew about 4.5x from the opening months to the most recent period. At its peak the operation ran about 10.3x its opening months. More than two years of continuous trading sits behind that, on a catalogue of only a handful of products. Why it transfers Every brand outside the EU and the UK meets the same wall, whatever it sells. The fix is not a bigger legal budget. It is an operator that already holds the entities, the VAT positions and the compliance, and that can put an official listing live in seven countries while the brand keeps its products, its prices and its name.