eBay

auction_post · ‎06-03-2007

In February we sold an item to an international buyer who lives in France. She wrote to us maybe a month later saying that the item was at French customs (she got a letter) and we had to pay something to clear it through customs. I wrote back saying that when you buy something from another country, it us up to you to pay the duty on the item. (I know, we should have stated this in our listing - but thought everyone knew that - apparently not). Now she is saying that if we don't give her a refund she will leave negative feedback. I don't even know how we could pay duty on it since it was HER that got the letter, not us. I am not about to give her a refund as we didn't get the product back. Does anyone know what happens to the product if duty is not paid? Also, is it fair to leave her negative feedback if she does for us?

zarzuella · ‎06-03-2007

If she does not pick it up it should be returned to you (but then this is France, their PO does not have the best rep for honesty.)
Canada Post can and may charge you for return postage, especially if it was shipped surface.

I agree, don't refund unless you get the product back with no further charges to you. Even then, deduct the cost of shipping and your fees, as it's too late to get them back now. Hope you didn't leave feedback first.

Ann

nancyschina · ‎06-03-2007

I always include in my auctions ... Any import duties are the responsibility of the purchaser.
I have only had a few customers complain that they had to pay duty ... I always get hit with duty when I buy from out of the country.

futuretech_liquidations · ‎06-03-2007

You can also report them to eBaY and see what if anything they would do.

As for the parcel, most likely it will be returned to you if the duty is not paid but you should check with your shipper for exact details.

If they paid via PAYPAL, unfortunately they will get a full refund as most likely the buyer will claim NON-DELIVERY and even if you tell PAYPAL that she refused to pay for the duties they will still have to issue a full refund.

We recently had a buyer purchase a laptop which they refused to pay the brokerage fees on and after a few emails back and forth we elected to pay the brokerage fees. Shortly after the item was cleared by US CUSTOMS for delivery the buyer sent an email saying that they no longer wanted the item and he would refuse delivery which he did.

Both eBaY and PayPal did nothing about the situation and we were out $80.

cgcgraded · ‎06-03-2007

Will paypal still refund to the buyer even though the sale happened in February? Thought there was only a window of 45(maybe 60) days to make a claim.

Andrew

auction_post · ‎06-03-2007

Thanks for all your replies.. It was on February 23rd that the purchase was made.. over 3 months.

whoscloset · ‎06-03-2007

They have past the point that PayPal will entertain a claim from them unless they took months to pay you.

Monique

zarzuella · ‎06-04-2007

If she refused it 2 months ago you should have had it back by now. She probably picked it up and is trying to threaten you into paying for her customs duties.
Take the negative and return it in kind.

futuretech_liquidations · ‎06-04-2007

Exactly, the buyer may be trying to get you to pay the duties (taxes) by threatening to leave you a negative.

Here is a link with some information on French Customs and what is and what is not taxable.

http://goparis.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=goparis&cdn=travel&tm=53&gps=372_1045_1020_549&f=00&su=p284.8.150.ip_&tt=12&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//info-france-usa.org/intheus/customs/faq.asp