Large discrepancy in import fees on item listing page vs checkout
Summary: conrthomas started a discussion regarding a significant discrepancy between the estimated import fees on an item's eBay listing page and the fees at checkout. They expressed frustration that despite eBay having information on the origin and destination of a sale, there is a mismatch in fee calculations, particularly for items originating from Canada. flipistics responded, acknowledging the issue but did not provide a satisfactory solution, leading to further inquiry about the accuracy of eBay's system and its impact on Canadian sellers. The discussion highlights the need for better clarity in eBay's fee estimations.
I recently encountered a huge discrepancy in import fees before vs after sending an offer on an item, and I am trying to understand if this is expected or this is some sort of glitch. The item is a vintage wristwatch that was listed originally at $825 CAD, which I sent an offer for $700 CAD, which was subsequently accepted. On the item listing page it showed an estimated shipping charge of $91 CAD and an estimated import duty/fee of less than $1 USD. When go to check out, the numbers are completely different, and most concerningly the duty fee is now $72 CAD. I understand that the listing page numbers are estimates, but I did have my zip code set correctly so I don't understand why there should be such a massive difference in charges here. I can't find any explanaiton for it anywhere, and this charge is enough that I don't really want to buy the item any more. What are my options here? Why is there such a big difference when all of my location info that is needed to estimate the fees is already up to date?
marnotom!
·4 months ago@conrthomas, did the shipping price change after you made your offer? I'm wondering if some of the non-tariff/non-duty portions of the import fees may initially have been tacked onto the shipping price.
EDIT: Oops, just noticed that you posted another image with that information on it. Sorry, I'm used to inline attachments, not ones that I have to download. Never mind.
conrthomas
OP4 months agoAlright, so after over an hour chatting with ebay support and about 7 transfers, I finally arrived at what I believe is a partial explanation. Right now, US tarrifs operate on an item's country of origin, which is where the item was manufactured. In my case, this watch was made in Japan in the 1960s-1970s. Items from Japan are subject to the 10% global tariff. However, many items produced in Canada are exempted thanks to the USA-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Ebay support tells me that the seller has the item set to the correct country of origin, but I suspect there is some flawed logic or code on the item listing page that looks at the listing's country of origin and not the item's, which would explain the huge difference in fees. Ebay support claimes that there isn't a problem with the estimation math on their listing page, but clearly that is not the case. I would encourage any sellers to ensure that the correct country of origin is set for items and then also state that the estimated tarrifs will probably be an incorrect value.
mrdutch1001
·4 months agoAs your ID indicates your location as the USA... we are to assume you are USA buyer purchasing an item from Canada?....and therefore you are aware that there is no de minimus on items imported into the USA?... and so the assessment of tariffs, duties,taxes is assessed on the entire item price amount....and you know that your Trump Administration has Tariffs on items imported into the USA from Canada that are of metals, steel, and/or items that have any components made up of metals?...
conrthomas
OP4 months agoI appreciate the reply but that is not helpful or relevant. I am aware of the existance of tarrifs; I am aware there is no longer a de minimum exception, and ebay is also aware of this. What I am trying to understand is why ebay's automated system cannot accurrately estimate the duties on an item on the listing page versus checkout. The key point here is that ebay knows the origin and destination zip codes and those presumably are used to estimate shipping and duties on the listing page, but then, for an unknown reason, there is a big difference in fees at checkout.
I see this on many other listings that originate in Canada, that is, <1$ USD import fees estimated, and I would think that Canadian sellers would want to know if their listings are misrepresenting the duties and causing confusion at checkout.
flipistics
·4 months ago@devon@ebay @luke@ebay
conrthomas
OP4 months agoHere is what the listing shows.
conrthomas
OP4 months agoHere is what checkout shows.