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 Replies: 25 / Views: 7,163 |
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
I sold this coin to a fellow in Germany. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390844884435....m1561.l2649After a month he opened a case to get his money back. I almost gave him his money back just to get it over with as the seller is "always" wrong on ebay. The tracking number when checked gave this info... "Item has been sent to customs in the destination country" This seemed odd to me and I figured he was just trying to avoid paying the 19% VAT payable on imports to Germany. If he got his money back what does he care? This would leave me trying to get the coin back from German customs. In any event I spoke with a lady at Canada Post who told me coins were a prohibited item for importing to Germany. The buyer wasn't claiming his coin from customs as he would be caught committing a crime in Germany! So he opened a case against me for non delivery. Lucky I knew the facts by this time. After going through 4 or 5 people at ebay I got one who comprehended the situation and closed the case in my favour. She told me the coin would be destroyed but I think German customs may sell it in some sort of auction, maybe back on ebay. Be careful out there! Gord |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
token==============================
never never never sell out of the 48 state. Some times all you get is trouble
You can block 'em from bidding.
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Rest in Peace
United States
4078 Posts |
Quote:
never never never sell out of the 48 state  The OP is from Canada.  Tokengord, good for you! To bad for the outcome. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
"The OP is from Canada.
Tokengord, good for you! To bad for the outcome."
My mistake
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
856 Posts |
How odd. I have a friend who lives in Germany and regularly buys coins. Last one was afaik from Australia, but I'm sure he's also bought from Heritage in the US so it doesn't make sense to me.
While there may be problems with buying some ancient coins internationally (as collectors in the US may be aware) this is not an ancient coin. And I can't imagine it's illegal to import all coins or how would German coin dealers get stock?
I'm wondering if perhaps he just didn't factor in the import charges when he bid?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
838 Posts |
I laugh at import restrictions on coins. Isn't there an undefineable fine line between pocket change in a traveler's wallet and numismatic rarity sent in the mail?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
I ran into a similar issue once with a coin I sold to the Netherlands, seems like some customs agents are a bit overzealous sometimes...
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New Member
 Canada
26 Posts |
The buyer wrote me to say he is very angry. He says ebay and paypal make decisions too fast and this has happened to him 10 times in the past year. Live and learn? Gord |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1949 Posts |
That's what I would do, I sell quite a bit overseas, sometimes it's customs, sometimes it's a language barrier, sometimes it's a country's poor postal system, I would recommend to just not take anything personally and know that at the end of the day, if you follow ebay's (everchanging) rules, you will be protected most of the time... Seems about 98% of worldwide transactions go smoothly, and the other 2% will be difficult. The other thing you need to remember is that each of the worldwide ebay sites have slightly different rules, so sometimes you will be able to better resolve situations if you know what the expectations on a particular countries site is... |
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Moderator
 Australia
16831 Posts |
If "coins" are a prohibited item for shipping to Germany, it's news to USPS, which doesn't include them on its own list of items they won't ship to Germany. Which is annoying, given that USPS has rather needlessly added "coins" to the list of things they won't ship to Australia despite the fact that they are perfectly legal here. Likewise, Canada Post makes no mention of coins on it's list of prohibited items to Germany found here. I don't know where your Canada Post person was getting her information, but she seems to have been talking through her hat. The British Royal Mail guidelines for mailing to Germany do include certain classes of coins: Quote:
- Coins, bank notes, currency notes or securities any kind payable to bearer, travellers checks, platinum, gold or silver, manufactured or not, precious stones, jewels or other valuable articles.
- Coins withdrawn from circulation or which have become valueless as a means of payment or which were counterfeited or faked in 1850 or later. Medals counterfeited or faked in 1850 or later. But even there, your coin is pre-1850 so it should be OK. I haven't been able to find anything on Deutsche Post's own websites (which don't have an English version so I'm relying on Google Translate) to see what the actual regs in Germany are. But I've never heard of anyone having problems shipping coins to or from Germany before - and I've done both, no problems. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
Thanks for your great research Sap. The first Canada Post list is the restricted items. Look a little further down to the prohibited items and you will find coins.
Gord
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1849 Posts |
I live in Germany, and have been buying coins from overseas - many from the US - for over 20 years. I have never heard from the customs people (who take 7%-19% import duty with relish), that it is illegal to ship coins to germany. All the customs people want is 19 % of declared value for silver and gold coins, and 7 % for copper and bronze. If you pay, they are happy.
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Rest in Peace
United States
4078 Posts |
Thanks Germanicvs, this is intriguing. What is going on with the OP ?
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
Hi bpoc1 What is the OP? The buyer wrote exactly this... "Hi. Iam very angry. I have this year already lost 10 coins and a lot of money. Paypal and E-Bay sometimes decide too quickly. I retrieve my money right now no chance. I am very very angry" If it was just the 19% he was upset about, now that he can't get ebay to squeeze the money from me, why doesn't he go get his coin? Or maybe he wants the money back from eBay(read: me) and then he will go retrieve the coin? Gord |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
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What is the OP? That's you the Original Poster. Did you declare that you were shipping a coin or a numismatic token? Most overseas shipments that I have received use a term like "numismatic token", which is not incorrect since these older coins are not legal tender anywhere. ~jack |
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
Hi Jack I didn't declare anything. I don't use customs stickers. It was in a small bubble envelope sent by registered mail. I did put the ebay number at the top of my little blurb to the buyer so the customs agents could figure the value from that if they cared to. So far the coin still sits in customs and hasn't been claimed (successfully) by the buyer. Gord |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 7,163 |
Posted 07/07/2014 3:21 pm
