Bulgaria - Selling Factors and Techniques

Selling Factors and Techniques

Identifies common practices to be aware of when selling in this market, e.g., whether all sales material need to be in the local language.

Last published date: 2022-09-11

American products are widely recognized and accepted for their quality, reasonable prices, and over-all value. These three factors sell well in Bulgaria.
Sales materials and labels must be in Bulgarian.
Statistics on market size can be unreliable and should not be used as a sole indicator when analyzing the Bulgarian market.

Trade Promotion & Advertising

The 2008 Competition Protection Act and the 2006 Consumer Protection Act regulate advertising and prohibit advertisements that either disseminate misleading information to consumers or malign the reputation of competitors. Separate legislation regulates advertising for specific products such as tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, and alcoholic beverages.

All normal channels for advertising are available and widely used in Bulgaria: newspapers, internet banners, magazines, television, radio, and outdoor billboards/signs.
Trade fair activities throughout major Bulgarian cities have grown significantly over recent years and it is in these trade fairs where many U.S. products are exhibited by local agents, distributors and dealers.

See:

https://www.trade.gov/bulgaria
https://www.trade.gov/trade-events-search#/http://www.export.gov/tradeevents/index.asp
Bulgarreklama
Plovdiv Fair
Viaexpo
Expoteam
Bulgarian Economic Forum
Calendar of Fairs of the Bulgaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry https://www.bcci.bg/bulgarian/fairs/calendar/
Bulgaria’s most popular local newspapers include:
TRUD daily
24 CHASA daily
STANDART daily, agency@standartnews.com,
SEGA daily, adv@segabg.com,
KAPITAL daily, capital.daily@capital.bg, editors@capital.bg
KAPITAL weekly, reklama@capital.bg, editors@capital.bg
MONITOR daily, monitor@monitor.bg
BANKER weekly, reklama@banker.bg, info@banker.bg

Sales Service/Customer Support

Bulgarian retail and industrial consumers alike expect after-sales service, customer support, and warranty commitments when purchasing imported products. All three are considered important in developing and maintaining customer loyalty. Depending on the product, it is strongly recommended that U.S. exporters consider having an EU-based service repair facility.

Most U.S. companies operating in Bulgaria provide training for their distributors/agents. Training agents/distributors in the U.S. are recommended in order to communicate the firm’s distinctive corporate policies, behavior and standards.

Pricing

Bulgaria’s relatively low per capita income, and low-to-medium purchasing power means that consumers are price sensitive, but are willing to spend more for high quality products. As an emerging economy, with emerging middle- and upper-classes, Bulgarians do have a propensity for expensive name-brand cars, accessories and clothing.

The standard Value Added Tax (VAT) rate in Bulgaria is 20 percent. There is a 9 percent, reduced VAT rate for hotel accommodations, and other goods and services. See Deloitte’s European VAT Refund Guide 2018, Bulgaria (on page 18):

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-european-vat-refund-guide.pdf

VAT Registration

Bulgaria follows the EU VAT Directives. Thus, if a company is supplying goods or services within the EU, the company may be required to register for VAT.

Resident businesses: Depending on annual revenues, resident businesses, or businesses with a permanent establishment in a country, must register for VAT. If the turnover of VAT taxable goods and services supplied within a specific jurisdiction over a 12 month period is more than the relevant registration threshold a company must register for VAT. In Bulgaria the mandatory registration is approximately USD 27,500 of taxable supplies for the last 12 consecutive months.

Non-resident businesses: In most EU states there is no VAT registration threshold for non-resident businesses. This means as soon as a company starts trading, and the good or service is a taxable supply, a company should be VAT registered in that jurisdiction.

Limitations on Selling U.S. Products and Services

We are not aware of any limitations on selling U.S. products and services.

Local Professional Services

The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria (AmCham; https://amcham.bg/) is an excellent resource for identifying local businesses, legal entities, or other professional.

The U.S. Embassy Sofia also maintains a list local legal services providers:

https://bg.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/attorneys/

Legal representation in Bulgarian courts or before administrative agencies must be performed by duly licensed members of the Bulgarian Bar Association (https://www.hg.org/bar-associations-bulgaria.asp, or independent practitioners in law firms, or employees of corporations with the necessary skills.

Some larger international accounting and consulting firms have established legal offices in Bulgaria that perform some of the services offered by law firms.