Wait, Do Buyers Who Receive Items Through Ebay International Shipping Pay Dues?

Title says it all: a seller friend of mine received a return request from a buyer in Canada (we're in the states) who was slapped with a big taxe percue and thus refused his package. What we always used to do before using ebay international shipping (which I still don't use) was register an item, declare zero value (I find that the eyebrows raised at any semblance of value make packages going to less desirable countries a little less safe), and ship to buyer. Never had an issue. My friend this time sent the item registered to the ebay warehouse with no kind of package contents info. He gets a picture of the package with the taxe percue from the buyer and on it there's a detailed list of contents and value, but I didn't see how much he would've had to pay on the label. What's going on here? Is this normal? Is it only because my friend registered the item? Is this how ebay handles all international packages? Please advise

The obvious difference in your two scenarios is that ebay Shipping does the paperwork legally by listing contents and declaring a value.

People may be living in the past. Here in the UK at least, the days of popping an overseas item in the postbox witha generic customs form are gone. Overseas items now require an individual customs declaration obtained from the post office counter. You could still not declare the proper value, of course - although, if you were using tracking/signing, that would be downright stupid.

Any buyer in Canada should expect to pay customs duty at the appropriate rate on incoming packages from other countries based on the value declared on the package. They are not "slapped" on. You factor that 13% or so (depends on province/product) onto the cost - and if CRA decides not to charge, as they sometimes do, it's a pleasant surprise. (And if the purchase is for the use of a registered business, you can get it reimbursed from CRA it in any case.)

Regarding ebay shipments and UK shipments, I just bought two stock books from the UK. The seller used a UK economy shipment, and added all the documentation, I think:

He was also kind enough to add UK fees to show how he calculated the shipping cost:

How does ebay international shipment fees differ from the above UK economic fees?
BTW, the shipment cost more then the items.

US buyers get a pass on the first $800 in value. But due to the large increase in volume of packages from China even that low limit is being reconsidered. Customs fees and duty is money to the government and governments like getting money.

That said, your friend needs to contact ebay to enforce the sale. Refusing the purchase due to routine and regular customs charges is not a reason to cancel a sale. Also be sure the seller is noting that the buyers are responsible for customs charges and fees.

I have never been asked to pay any fees by customs. Knock on wood, as of yet.

"That said, your friend needs to contact ebay to enforce the sale. Refusing the purchase due to routine and regular customs charges is not a reason to cancel a sale. "

Actually rBay doesn't care why you want to cancel a sale. If you select Return, they ask wy and one of the options they give you is Change My Mind.

Once an item reaches customs the seller has fulfilled their obligation. ebay has supported me many times with sellers who didn't want their item after they saw the customs charges.

K - do you ship internationally yourself or thru ebay's global shipping system?

"US buyers get a pass on the first $800 in value. But due to the large increase in volume of packages from China even that low limit is being reconsidered. Customs fees and duty is money to the government and governments like getting money."

Just to correct this comment, the importation into the USA of Commodity Code 9704.00.0000 "postage or revenue stamps, stamp postmarks, first day covers, postal stationery - stamped paper - and the like, used or unused" (source: US International Trade Commission, Harmonized Tariff Schedule) are free of duty, and have been for at least the 23 years I've been a US/UK dealer. However, depending on where you live, there might be local and/or State sales or use taxes to pay on the importation.

Steve

I use the new ebay International shipping now. All my experience with buyers refusing to claim items at customs were items I shipped myself.

Steve, you are not correcting the statement made, you are just expanding upon it. The quote below is from the USC&BP.




Here is an article about reducing the limit: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...ke-100353534

I, normally, avoid sellers that use ebay's Global Shipping Programme. It is extremely expensive. But sometimes, it does make sense to buy an item from a seller who uses this service.

Any purchase below € 150 - effectively, this can be lower when postage is added to the purchase price - from outside the EU attracts VAT. There is a scheme (IOSS) that allows the seller to collect the VAT on behalf of the country of delivery's tax services. Above € 150, there are import duties and the IOSS cannot be used.

Sellers on ebay do not need to use the Global Shipping Programme to use the IOSS service facilitated by ebay. For some reason 21% VAT is levied, when PostNL's customs clearance only charges 9% (but I have also had instances of 0% and 22%), plus € 6. In the past, PostNL still charged VAT and costs, even when the seller used IOSS through ebay. I have contacted PostNL when they still charged me even if IOSS was used. They always have the same reply: the sender did not provide all details correctly.

I cannot accept that ebay provides this service and only occasionally uses it incorrectly. They either do it correctly, or they do not. ebay's Global Shipping Programme not only levies the VAT under IOSS, it also clears the sending with customs. Basically, you get tracking and customs clearance.

I paid £ 4.80 VAT and plus £ 8.80 for the Global Shipping Programme, including customs clearance and no PostNL robbery.

The VAT would have been levied under the standard IOSS service. So, £ 8.80 was £ 5.55 over Royal Mail's basic Europe large letter rate (£ 3.25). It, however, includes customs clearance and tracking. Although expensive, the costs were not unreasonable. And I avoided an almost certain £ 6.70 extra charge if it would have been delivered by PostNL. Also, this item arrived within five days. Most mail from the UK takes a week and if intercepted by PostNL's customs clearance, three weeks.

(I got the item at least £ 10 cheaper than I would have from any other seller.)

This ebay Global Shipping Programme is driving me nuts. It used to be $2-3 for a letter shipped to Switzerland and this has worked for hundreds of years. Now, over 80% of all ebay offers have GSP as the default shipping method. This adds a minimum of $22 to a letter. I have seen $85 tacked onto cheap lots, for whatever weird reasons ebay thinks that is the cost.
Many US sellers simply do not respond to information that their shipping option kills business, rapidly.

This means lower priced items have become uninteresting due to postage often being ten times higher than item costs. Items in the $30+ range suddenly become taxable with GSP shipping costs added (Swiss customs doesn't care about ebay) which ads another $20 to the shipping costs. A $30+ item suddenly is $70+ to pay.

I don't sell on ebay so my guess is ebay automatically puts GSP into seller's accounts and many sellers never see the problem. ebay cashes in big on the shipping costs, basically doing nothing or nothing the seller couldn't do.

Some time ago, I approached a British seller who offered about 20 Machin stamps I wanted for auction. She agreed to combine the stamps in a single lot and we agreed on a price. I informed her one reason I wanted to avoid having to make offers on lots for auctions ending on four different days was the problem with PostNL's exorbitant customs clearance charges.

After I explained this, the seller responded that that would explain why her sales to Europe had fallen of a cliff. There are many sellers who are not aware of the changes implemented two years ago. And it does appear many are unaware that ebay automatically puts GSP into their accounts. I come across many items offered for just a few pounds and £ 9 GSP shipping charges added. Also, I get the impression it takes some effort to combine shipping when using GSP.

At least the customs clearance works for the Netherlands.