International Hub in Illinois
Summary: pluchem239 shared their frustration with an international shipment of rare Oakley sunglasses, which got delayed in French customs due to missing paperwork. They shipped the item via eBay's international hub in Illinois, which they understood relieved them of responsibility once the item was at the hub. Despite eBay's policies, the buyer has filed a dispute with their bank. A participant pointed out that expensive items like these could incur additional duties or paperwork issues. Another suggested potential packaging compliance issues with France. pluchem239 expressed concern for the buyer's experience and dissatisfaction with eBay's support.
Hoping someone can help. Sent an expensive limited edition pair of Oakley RJ's to France. I used Ebays international hub located in Illinois, at least that was the address for my shipping part. 2 months later the buyer tells me its stuck in customs for "something" invoice or some paper work, still unclear.
Trying to help the buyer as much as I can even though according to Ebay once the item reaches its hub destination I am free and clear of all responsibilities. The buyer keeps asking me to do something and I tell him I cannot do anything, that customs needs to contact where it came from, the international hub.
I try and contact Ebay and all I ever get is a robot, telling me to go to the Ebay page for help. REALLY????
The buyer is going to file a dispute with his institution but I feel once that is done then Ebay washes its hands.
Has anybody run into this with international shipments to France? What could they possible need that Ebay did not supply? I just packaged it up to ship it to the hub so it was all domestic shipping and all I have is the tracking number that shows its in customs, but thats it.
So disappointed in this Ebay international shipping gig.
What a joke! Hopefully there is no backlash and I will end up defending my sale and my money.
Just another problem amongst all the others using Ebay.
Thanks community.
reallynicestamps
·1 week agoIf your customer wants the item, they will have to pay the import fees.
Usually but not always this is covered when the customer pays the shipping fee. But it is possible for the seller to set up the fee so that import fees are paid on arrival. This has the advantage for the seller of making shipping appear cheaper, than if the import fees were included.
But since it appears the fees were not included (although your information is limited) the buyer has to pay to receive.
You are not required to refund. This is the buyer's responsibility.
I had a similar situation last August 2025, where the buyer refused to pay the import fees. Because I had not used eIS, I was forced to refund. A couple of weeks ago I got the item back. Return shipping is always slow.
pluchem239
OP1 week agoI used IES to ship with the only address the hub in Illinois. Hopefully they used the return to sender. I did on my shipment, I am not sure if they repackage or just relabel at the shipping hub. I have shipped to Spain and Italy and the UK using the hub with no problems and doing everything the same as I did this time. Its says VAT paid by the buyer but the buyer still has to pay duties or import, but the message from the buyer is they are missing the invoice or some paper work, this is not clear. But thank you.
reallynicestamps
·1 week agoJust relabel. Considering how many packages they deal with every day, the labour cost of repacking would be ridiculously high, even at minimum wage.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 week ago@pluchem239
Another "possible" problem could have been packaging requirements.
Yes, France has strict and specific packaging requirements, including mandatory recycling logos, sorting instructions, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) registrations.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Registration
PRO Registration: Any business selling packaged goods to consumers in France (including cross-border e-commerce) must register with an approved Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) and pay eco-contributions.
Unique ID (Identifiant Unique): Compliant companies receive a unique identification number from the French environmental agency ADEME as proof of registration.
Data Reporting: Companies must report packaging data and volumes, with requirements scaling based on the annual number of units placed on the market.
Is eIS registered and meeting those requirements? Out of the seller (OP) once item is sent but that does not help buyer if eIS is not doing their part.
pluchem239
OP1 week agoNo idea, I just shipped to the US hub.
I shipped to France on my own with out EIS and had nothing like that interfere.
marnotom!
·1 week agoI thought the Money Back Guarantee didn't apply to situations where the buyer refused the shipment due to import charges owing?
reallynicestamps
·1 week agoThe shipment really was late. So a valid refund. It was days maybe a week later that the buyer let me know about the unpaid duty shipment he had refused, after the refund, so again, valid. He was the subject of some hard thoughts on my part.
So it went ->shipped-> late-> refunded-> arrived-> refused due to duty-> returned-> arrived about a year after original shipment sent.
I have it back. It is relisted. I'm content, if bemused.
marnotom!
·1 week ago · Edited@pluchem239 , I don't know if you intended to post on the Canadian eBay community boards, but this is where you've ended up. Our perspective on your issue might be a bit different compared to that of your fellow American eBay users.
If the sunglasses were accepted at the eIS hub in Illinois, then the item is no longer your responsibility and any sort of refund that might be due to the buyer will be coming from eBay, not you.
The handling of casual imports has become more challenging since the inception of eIS's. An expensive pair of Oakleys could incur all sorts of import charges that may or may not have been covered at Checkout. If they were paid at Checkout and this information didn't get communicated to French customs, that's a possible cause for the problem your buyer is seeing now.
Or it might be that there was just one small missing detail in the paperwork that would normally be ignored by French customs, but because this is a shipment from the United States, which under the current administration has really poisoned the international trade environment, someone decided that that missed detail was enough to make the import of the sunglasses as difficult as possible. In effect, French customs or someone at French customs is making a political statement of sorts.
With the information that you've posted, it's impossible to tell if this issue is due to incompetence on eIS's part or hyper-competence on French customs part, but (fortunately or unfortunately) it's out of your hands and you're not going to see any financial repercussions from it, and I get the sense that that's your primary concern.
pluchem239
OP1 week agoThank you and I did not realize I was in the Canada form, but thank you for the reply. Actually I am very concerned for the buyer as well, in that he gets what he paid for, and being very rare sunglasses (not mentioned anywhere in the shipping), I like to see these get a good home, I am very fond of my collection and would love someone else to enjoy it, not some pissed off frog.
Thank you for the insight, I know the VAT was paid. I have told the buyer to file a claim with Ebay but instead he filed it with is banking institution which kicks Ebay out of the picture.
I guess I will just have to not let it bother me and move on, with the thought that EIS is pretty worthless, and trying to get help from Ebay, not happening.
Someone should ship this administration to a remote island and then sink it.
flipistics
·1 week agoAs others have said, fortunately this isn't your problem anymore. Whatever happens to the item, it should eventually find a good new home. Keep an eye on the tracking over the next month and see if anything happens. I'm curious if the item will magically get delivered once the bank is dealt with. If so, it could be that the buyer is trying a scam. If not, someone probably screwed up the paperwork somewhere (or someone at eIS put the wrong label on the box so the contents don't match. It happens.)
pluchem239
OP1 week agoThanks, time will tell I guess.
Appreciate all the comments and replys.
marnotom!
·1 week ago · EditedIf this issue has been dragging on for two months as you say, then it's quite likely that the timeframe for filing a claim with eBay France's version of the Money Back Guarantee has expired, so the buyer would have no choice but to file a charge dispute with their financial institution.
eBay isn't completely kicked out of the picture in this case. They're going to have to work with the buyer's financial institution and provide documentation, etc. unless they feel they can afford to write this off.
What sort of help would have satisfied you in this situation? The big problem from what I can see is that the issue the buyer is having with French Customs isn't being communicated terribly well to you, and that's nothing you can do anything about.
As for the uselessness of eIS, would you have been willing to ship the sunglasses directly to France yourself?
pluchem239
OP1 week agoHave Ebay contact their hub and ask what paperwork might have been missed I guess.
The buyer has contacted the postoffice people in France so hopefully he can find out more info.
I just want my buyers to be happy.