eBay

rose-dee · ‎04-27-2013

I sold a rather expensive item to an experienced buyer in the UK based on an offer that was 68% of my (already reduced) listed price. I sent an invoice, charging only 40% of the actual shipping cost for Xpresspost. On Day 4, after a reminder from me, the buyer paid, but sent a message (through eBay) asking me to please read the message sent to my email address.

I knew exactly what that message was going to be about, and sure enough -- could I mark $20 as the value on the Customs forms?

The price paid for the item was $180 (true value was ca. $300) and there had been a clear "blurb" about customs set out in the listing. Based on the fact that the buyer had purchased a number of similar items from US buyers, and the buyer's avoidance of the eBay message system, I knew this was someone who understood the system well.

My initial reaction, had the buyer not already paid for the item, would have been to report the matter to eBay. However, having been fully paid, I was now in a position of being potentially held at ransom for FB and DSRs for not complying with the illegal request. By the way, there was no overt FB extortion.

I had no choice but to send a very polite explanation as to why I couldn't oblige re the customs value. I had to hope the buyer wouldn't be ticked off enough to retaliate in FB/DSR. At that point, having earlier lowered my price twice, accepted a low-ish offer, and paid a huge chunk of money for the shipping, I just wanted to end the misery. Refunding and asking him to cancel however would still leave FB/DSR open.

The buyer hasn't replied to my message -- not even a "sorry to have asked" -- so now I'm holding my breath and keeping my fingers crossed for 45 days. I will probably block the buyer after that. I did absolutely everything to please this person and hated being put in this position. I will NOT falsify customs values, and make this ever-so-politely clear in my listings. When this buyer was already saving nearly $140 on the deal, why push for more? I don't understand this behaviour.

Was there any other option for me in this situation?

I'd appreciate insight from sellers who deal with UK/European buyers of higher value items that warrant Xpresspost shipping, because I know this will happen again.

rose-dee · ‎05-01-2013

The true value of the item is exactly what the buyer paid for it, not what you think it is worth.

The price the buyer paid (shipping is not included ) is what should appear on the customs forms.

Yes, I'm well aware of this, you've misunderstood my original post.:-) In fact, when you purchase online shipping labels, the buyer's purchase price is automatically inserted into the details. My mention of the $300 had nothing to do with the amount declared.

The only reason I mentioned the true value of the item was to point out that the buyer got a $300 article for $180 (because I agreed to accept his rather low offer), saved ca.$40 on the shipping, and in addition, to be completely accurate, the buyer saved customs charges over what he might have paid had he purchased it closer to its true value. Yet he still felt it necessary to try to circumvent the customs/duty charges.

This is precisely why I'm inclined to accept lower offers from U.K. buyers -- to hopefully offset some of the sting of customs costs.

However I must add that if the buyer had offered me something closer to the actual value, I still would not have falsified the purchase price on the customs declaration. I don't "do" illegal, so I sleep well at night.

rose-dee · ‎05-12-2013

Update on this worrisome transaction:

On May 10th I checked the (Xpresspost) tracking info, which indicated the parcel had cleared UK Customs on May 3rd and was "on hold" at the local postal facility on May 4th!

In other words, it had been sitting unclaimed for almost a week! And this after the buyer had told me how important it was that they receive the parcel within 2 weeks. So much for my kicking in ca. $45 to pay for Xpresspost delivery - what was the point? At least I'm glad I have the precision tracking and that I paid for signature confirmation. My main concern now was that the parcel would be returned to me as unclaimed.

On May 10th, I emailed the buyer (through eBay) to let him know the parcel was still at his P.O. -- I was giving him the benefit of the doubt at this point in case he may not have received a notification card. No reply. May 11th - I sent the same message to the buyer's personal email. Today the buyer replied that he'll try to arrange to have the item delivered to him on Tuesday, and that his U.K. post office will hold the parcel for 3 weeks before returning it.

My guess: the buyer wanted to postpone payment of the customs charges as long as possible.

So... now I wait some more... and hope that after all the bending over backwards to please this customer, he will not be so upset at the customs costs that he'll blast my DSRs. He's been polite so far, so I'm reluctant to report his request to falsify customs value until he's left FB.

Does anyone know whether such a report could be made after the 45-day point if no FB has been left by the buyer? I'd prefer to wait until I know the buyer is beyond the ability to retaliate.

brandeentertainment · ‎05-12-2013

FYI if the buyer wrote you through email ebay will not consider it valid as they stated to me it is to easy to hack into people's emails... So unless they asked you to do so through ebay messagiyoutemail yo you received it's useless for the fight.... Good luck partner

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-12-2013

Does anyone know whether such a report could be made after the 45-day point if no FB has been left by the buyer? I'd prefer to wait until I know the buyer is beyond the ability to retaliate.

I don' t know how long a report can be made but the buyer does have 60 days to leave feedback, not 45. If they don't leave negative feedback and/or don't give you low stars, why report them?. They asked you to do something, you refused and so far, no harm has been done. I can understand why buyers in some countries do ask sellers to do that for them but if they are turned down and if they accept that gracefully, no harm, no foul.

There is still the possibility though that the buyer won't accept the parcel. If that happens, then there is harm and the buyer should be reported.

rose-dee · ‎05-13-2013

Does anyone know whether such a report could be made after the 45-day point if no FB has been left by the buyer? I'd prefer to wait until I know the buyer is beyond the ability to retaliate.

I don' t know how long a report can be made but the buyer does have 60 days to leave feedback, not 45. If they don't leave negative feedback and/or don't give you low stars, why report them?. They asked you to do something, you refused and so far, no harm has been done. I can understand why buyers in some countries do ask sellers to do that for them but if they are turned down and if they accept that gracefully, no harm, no foul.

There is still the possibility though that the buyer won't accept the parcel. If that happens, then there is harm and the buyer should be reported.

I should stop composing posts when I'm tired, I keep mixing up the 45-day and 60-day limits. 😮

For the moment I'm simply going to wait it out and hope the buyer finally picks up his parcel and leaves decent FB/DSRs. I've had a very odd feeling about this transaction from the beginning, and if the buyer decides I'm to blame for his customs costs and uses FB/DSRs as a way to complain, I will take it further.

koclint · ‎05-14-2013

If that was me i woulda just marked the dam thing down as 20 bucks dont be such a prude and saved a whole lot of trouble. coulda saved yourself 30 bucks and a headache

rose-dee · ‎05-14-2013

If that was me i woulda just marked the dam thing down as 20 bucks dont be such a prude and saved a whole lot of trouble. coulda saved yourself 30 bucks and a headache

Thanks for the courteous and helpful advice. Actually, it has nothing to do with being prudish. If you had carefully read the above posts, you would have realized that my main concern was saving this buyer from himself and ensuring the transaction was concluded satisfactorily.

If you mark down a $180 item to $20, and then the buyer's parcel is opened by his customs people (because no one in their right mind would send a $20 item by Xpresspost), the item is arbitrarily evaluated, possibly damaged, and the buyer is charged more duty than he would have paid otherwise, how happy will he be? I'd like to keep my TRS status, thank you.