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 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,416 |
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
IN the last week or so I have noticed some American ebay listings include a service to handle the duty payments ( when the item is sent out of the USA). I thought that was a great idea until I was looked at some photographic items which were ( with postage) below the €35.00 exemption level in Austria. Had I purchased from those sellers someone other than the relevant customs authority in Europe would have pocketed the money that was being charged to cover the duty ( Austrian Customs does not collect duty on items combined with postage that cost less than €35.00). It looks to me like a potential problem/ripoff. ebay may not realize it but this has an effect on the US economy...especially if this becomes a ubiquitous requirement....I and, I am sure, other non US e-bayers will take our custom to other countries. BTW I checked the ebay sales with this facility, there is no means to opt out of the duty payment "service" Edited by austrokiwi
09/29/2013 05:56 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
856 Posts |
There's supposed to be a similar duty threshold in the UK AK. I suspect that might be the case most countries as surely there is a level below which it just isn't economical to collect? As an aside, a while back I bought a watch from the US via Amazon and a similar thing happened. However in that case the money was held back (having been roughly calculated and added to my bill at point of sale) and I was refunded later (I can't remember if it duty was less than estimated, or it just wasn't charged). If that was the case, it doesn't seem to be a problem. However if ebay or paypal are pocketing the difference when duty is not charged or lower ... that would be annoying. Anyone know what ebay policy is on this? |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Hi
from the UK customs and excise web site
If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you:
don't have to pay Excise Duty
may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £135
will have to pay import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £15
Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under.
and remember if you buy goods within the EU there is no VAT or import duty eg buy a clock from Germany and import it to the UK
yours
Michael
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Pillar of the Community
 2087 Posts |
So this new "duty" service I have seen looks as if it is just away of gleaning more funds for ebay. I have always dealt with Austrian customs and I don't feel comfortable having it done from the sellers end. More often than not good arrive with no duty to pay. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
ebay recently instituted an overseas shipping service (for the USA, at least) designed to solve the problem of having no tracking for overseas shipments. That particular problem forced me to suspend selling internationally a few years ago; I was unwilling to ship to a buyer who could blithely claim they never received the coin and force me to refund with no evidence. So, I was pretty happy to see ebay's move. Until I saw what it was potentially costing buyers. The numbers were ludicrous; neither shipping costs nor "duties" reflected anything in law or reality. Yet another bullet hole in ebay's foot.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1751 Posts |
Is this the global shipping Program that is offered by Pitney Bowes, where the seller ships their item to Pitney Bowes in Kentucky? It's Pitney Bowes that handles the shipping for the seller to other countries. There is lots of outrage about this program on the ebay forums on ca/com. As they are charging duty/taxes on items most people have never paid before. They also grossly overcharge for shipping, and the seller only gets the shipping fee to send to Kentucky. There's plenty of uncertainty where this extra money ends up. Check the ebay forums to see discussion. Many people will not buy from sellers enrolled in the US Global Shipping Program !! ebay enrols many sellers without their knowledge, as they don't see the extra fees on their end. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
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There's plenty of uncertainty where this extra money ends up. Their facility and personal arent free. With that said I have no idea how closely the cost reflects their overhead. The annoying part was being automatically enrolled in the program. Somehow I ended up enrolled in it and didnt even know until I stumbled across an opt out page. |
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
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The annoying part was being automatically enrolled in the program I think that is called passive selling in a number of countries it is usually illegal. Obviously it must be legal in the USA but it will be hurting sales I am activley avoiding any ebay sale where this option is listed....I may do the sellers the courtesy of advising them that due to that program I will not be purchasing from them. From whats been said many may have no idea. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Aus I bet there's a lot of people who would be surprised. The weirdest part for me was someone I was enrolled but I have no international shipping as my settings. I had ignored the sign up emails for it, I guess there may have been something in there about having to opt out or you'll be signed up. That would have been a pretty big shock if something had sold through that before noticing.
I do like the idea of it but the fees do seem excessive. I've shipped internationally a couple times and it didn't cost anywhere close to what seems to be the standard cost for them. I guess it's not to bad for expensive high end items but I can't imagine many people want to pay that for most things. I'd rather just have people contact me if they want something and decide on a case by case basis.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3167 Posts |
This happened to a seller I bought something off of. She normally never shipping internationally, but for some reason the listing gave me the ability to bid, and the shipping price was lower than what it actually cost her. We worked out something in the end though. Thinking back no, it did have this service, so maybe that was what caused it. If so, that is pretty pathetic on ebay's part. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
541 Posts |
im really frustrated by pitney bowes legal agreement with ebay paypal...i just bought a coin from the USA today and found out that I had paid a 38.00 USD fee to pitney bowes in a separate paypal transaction that was included in the paypal/ebay invoice I was sent....and as surprised as I was... it was only discovered after the seller asked me why I had changed my address to Erlanger Kentucky! So the Seller didnt even know that he was expected to ship the item to the KY facility where it would be redirected to me in BC Canada! ...USA ebay Sellers should be very concerned about this development...pitney bowes claim to collect import duties...lol..its obviously a big scam to bypass the USPS and make ebay and paypal even more powerful..Seller may not even know they are enrolled in it..apparantly you can opt out of global shipping systems.....i dont like it ..it takes away freedom to ship your own item to your customer by the usps ....and it costs more..in my case an extra 25.00 and because it will wind up with a courier like fedex I will have yet another 20.00 fee as well....ebay has found yet another way to ruin our business Here is an ebay community discussion on the subject http://community.ebay.com/t5/Intern...aq-p/5089975 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
541 Posts |
follow up on my last post.....i had the sale cancelled and my payments were refunded promptly..from now on I will refuse to deal with any USA ebay seller who insists on global shipment servioes  |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 2,416 |
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Posted 09/29/2013 09:33 am
