No fixed amount, but a predictable structure
The regulation itself does not mention a price for a digital product passport. There is no tariff anywhere in the European text, and there will not be one: the costs arise with the parties that compile the passport, host it and provide it with a QR data carrier, not with the legislator. What you read about costs is therefore always an estimate based on the structure of the work — never a fixed amount.
That structure is easy to understand. A passport consists at its core of three components: collecting and structuring the data that the regulation requires, keeping that data available for ten years in a findable place, and the QR code or comparable data carrier that refers to that passport. Each of these three components has its own cost drivers, and together they determine what a passport ultimately costs you.
Where the amount comes from
Most of the work is usually not in the technology, but in the data itself. If your material composition, origin and repair instructions are already structured in a product information system, compiling a passport is relatively quick. If that information is scattered across spreadsheets, emails with suppliers and the head of your production manager, the real work — and thus the costs — is in gathering and checking that data, not in the passport itself.
In addition, duration matters. A passport must remain available for the lifetime of the piece of furniture, with a retention period after sale that is set out in the regulation. Hosting for ten years is a different cost item than hosting for one year, simply because someone must be responsible for availability, security and processing changes for ten years.
What determines the height of the amount
Four factors play the biggest role in practice. First, the number of products and variants: one passport per article number, or per colour and fabric combination, makes a big difference in the number of passports that must be created and maintained. Second, the quality of your source data: data that is already correct and complete costs less time than data that first needs to be requested from suppliers further down the chain.
Third, the number of languages and sales markets: if you sell in multiple EU member states, that may mean that information must be available in multiple languages. Fourth, the degree of change: a range that changes frequently — new upholstery, a different hardware supplier — requires more frequent passport updates than a range that remains unchanged for years. The latter does not affect one-off costs, but rather ongoing costs.
One-off work versus ongoing management
It is useful to distinguish between what is one-off and what is ongoing when estimating costs. One-off is setting up the data structure, setting up the first passports and having the data carriers created. Ongoing is keeping that data up to date, processing changes to the range and keeping the hosting available for the required period.
Companies that mix these two items often come to a distorted picture: the one-off work then seems more expensive than it is, while ongoing management is underestimated. Those who are clear about which part of the work is one-off and which part is structural can better assess a quote from a software supplier or platform. Questions you ask such a supplier are covered in the knowledge base with topics by situation.
How you estimate this for your own range
Because the costs are so closely linked to your own assortment and the state of your data, a national or European average is of little value. More useful is to look at your own situation: how many articles, how many variants, how complete is your current product data, and how often does your assortment change.
If you do not yet have that overview, you can with a few questions get a first indication of where the complexity lies for your own business. On the page with indicative prices you can see how furnipas.eu translates those factors into a concrete offer, and on the page about the working method you can read where the underlying data and sources come from. For your own situation, including the question of whether and when the obligation applies to your business, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority remains the appropriate point of contact.
Would you like to know first where you stand with your own assortment before you start comparing costs? Do the free quick-scan or browse through the topics — both give you a concrete picture within half an hour, without needing an account right away.