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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,300 |
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Valued Member
Canada
300 Posts |
I recently purchased several coins from an ebay retailer over a four day period. (The auctions completed on different days.) One of them was not GST exempt, while the others were. The GST exempt items were automatically combined as I accumulated them, but the remaining item was not. The seller's website does explain they can't be automatically combined, but that buyers can contact them to ask to have this done. I did so, but so far have heard nothing. It's fairly large and the charge is shipping charge $15.00 Canadian. If it were combined, it would presumably be reduced to $7.50. Plus, there is GST on the shipping. (The other items are smaller and would be only 6 dollars each, but are reduced to 3 dollars as a result of being combined.) The first items were auctioned on Tuesday and I understand ebay cancels sales if you don't pay within seven days. Assuming I have not heard from them by then, should I suck it up and pay on Tuesday, accepting the shipping charge on the single item? Just in case it's not immediately obvious, the seller and I are both in Canada and everything is in Canadian dollars. Edited by Ravenzcoin
01/19/2014 12:31 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Interesting conundrum. ebay won't automatically cancel the sale; the seller has to request it. The thing which would govern my thinking in this situation is the chance that you might end up getting stuck with GST on the whole order if you combine, right or not - you have to plan on a bureaucracy messing with things up every chance they get.  It's only 5%, right? |
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Valued Member
 Canada
300 Posts |
Good point, SsuperDdave! I most emphatically would not want to pay GST on the entire order. (And, yes, you're quite correct about it being 5%) If that were to happen, I think I would still have the option to pay separately? I still have the separate invoices and could simply ignore the combined one.
As things stand, it's $3.83 on the price + shipping, and while combining would save me 7.50 on the shipping it would only knock off about 37 or 38 cents in associated GST. But the entire order is about $400 and if I were to have to pay GST on all of it, I would be paying about 20 bucks. You have just about convinced me to go ahead and pay for the two to be shipped separately!
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Valued Member
Canada
158 Posts |
I would send the seller one more message and let him know your shopping is done and ask for the combined shipping rate and the proper GST. I combine shipping on all my auctions and as a seller have ran into the same thing. I would send a combined invoice, then an hour later the bidder wins another item. Cancel the invoice, recalculate shipping, resend a proper invoice. After it happens several times it does get to be a bit of a pain. I have recently changed all my listings to state all auctions won within 24 hours will be combined just to avoid the confusion. I may be grasping at straws, but maybe he is not sure if you are done or not?
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Valued Member
Canada
300 Posts |
I think that's excellent advice, Fireman638, although I sort of thought I had done so. I sent an email to the seller at the close of the first evening (Tuesday), explaining there were things I was interested in, coming up until Friday. I did get an email from them acknowledging it (just a one-word email, "OK"), the next day. On Friday, after all had completed, I sent an email asking if the one item (the one that GST applied to) could be combined with the rest and that I'd send payment as soon as I got the combined invoice. It's true I didn't explicitly say "This is all for now" but I hoped it would imply that. Hmm, would a follow-up sound like I was pestering?
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Valued Member
Canada
158 Posts |
Not at all. Communication is the best tool to use with ebay. I'd rather have a buyer ask lots of questions than none at all. |
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Valued Member
Canada
300 Posts |
Update: Seller contacted me, offering to not only reduce the $15.00 shipping on the one item to $7.50, he reclassified it as free shipping (so no GST for shipping), and added $7.00 to the other package (a reduction of 50 cents). The updated invoice shows the GST applied only to the price of the one item. Needless to say, I'm sure, I quickly paid him. I confess I'm not sure if there will be one or two packages, but I'm fine with either--whatever works best for him. I will most decidedly be giving him/them positive feedback when the package(s) arrive!
Bottom line, I guess I was just a tad too impatient. However, had he not replied, I'd be feeling quite differently and I really appreciate both of you taking the time to help me out. Thank you, gentlemen!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Nice when it works out isn't it? Never hurts to ask questions. I'd be beating myself up worse for not asking enough questions, than asking too many.
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Valued Member
Canada
158 Posts |
Exactly, questions never hurt. Glad it all worked out for you!  |
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,300 |
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Posted 01/19/2014 12:28 pm
