question for ebayers re: international sale.
 

i sold an item for $500, shipping from u.s. to great britain. i insured the package for $500.

the buyer is saying uk postal/customs has blocked delivery, wanting 73 pounds. now the buyer is asking me what i am going to do about it. moreover, she's provided no proof of this.

either way, isn't that an import tax? how does ebay view this? any thoughts?


thx.

In general customs duties are the responsibility of the receiver. I'm not sure why the buyer would expect you to pay for them.

Maybe she's complaining about you declaring the actual value of the item rather than some bullshit figure. :)

thx, that's how i understand it all too, do you know how ebay views such things?

:)

eBay and/or paypal will probably view it as you do, however, they may ask if you mentioned in the listing that you are not responsible for any taxes/import fees. They say on their International shipping page, "Generally, buyers pay additional costs such as duties, taxes, and customs clearance fees." Generally is kind of vague though.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/ship-...ationally.html

Ebay won't do anything. The person you sold it to will have to pay it. If you didn't know about the import tax then there's nothing you could do. Either way, if you did, then the person would still have had to pay, but at least they would have had a heads up before buying.

nice, thank you. i didn't find that page prior.

:thumbsup

That wording does make it seem more likely that he'd win a dispute (if it went that far), but it may not prevent the buyer from leaving negative feedback...

I guess the best that the OP can do is try to find a couple of sites that will help educate the buyer and show that he's not trying to rip her off; she could be genuinely unaware of duties levied on international imports.

i used to sell clothes on ebay to people in england (they cant get our brand names and will pay way over asking price). i must have shipped 1,000 shirts there and never had a problem.

she can order customs to ship back the item to you :) aka return to sender...

then she wont have to pay fees, and you will get your item back

-other way- the buyer is responsible for import duty

You as a seller are not responsible, if she opens a dispute saying she isn't happy because she has to pay import taxes, they will maybe review it for a day or 2 then close it in your favour.

Don't be a fool and give her anything, it's her problem.

Also declaring the package to be of a different value, e.g. it was $500 and you marked it at $30. If found out you would be in trouble.

Either way, let her get on with it

I've received a few international packages over the years and all of them have said "gift" or "sample of no commercial value." Makes me wonder how they get away with it...