Buyer charged duty Who should Pay? I need another View!!!

[michaeltech0_0]

Hey Guys and Gals

I have received this email today and he wants me to go good for the duty charges. Who pays Seller or Buyer.





"Hi there.

I received a postal card from Royal Mail today saying that they can only deliver the item when I pay the import duty. I am very disappointed at this fact as is no mention in your description in your listing stating that there will be an extra charge on top of the cost of the item. I do not think it is fair that I have to pay a third of the cost of the item (£12) when there was no mention of such a cost having to be incurred. I have ordered Internationally from Ebay before and never have I had to pay any extra cost. Hopefully you can can back to me as soon as possible to resolve the issue, otherwise I may have to escalate it. Kind regards."

[jakeeangel]

Buyer pays. It's up to the buyer/importer to know the rules of import for their own country. It's not up to the seller to remind them of that, to find out how much that would be and certainly not pay for it.

Word it nicely but it's their responsibility not yours. Remind them that it's not a hidden or extra cost but a tax imposed by their country that they are responsible for knowing about and paying when they import goods.

How much was the item worth? Do you think it would do any good to offer your experience with Canadian customs and taxes? As in our limit is $20 and while some higher priced items arrive without money owing some don't.

You didn't up the value of the item on the customs form did you? Some US sellers do that thinking they'll benefit from the supposed extra insurance. The value on the form should only be what the customer paid before shipping costs.

---

[whoscloset]

ROTFLMAO!

Okay isn't it usually the U.S. Sellers complaining about this very subject with Canadian buyers?

You are not responsible for any duty or customs import fees issued by the buyer's home country. They should be aware of the laws surrounding their ability to import items.

[michaeltech0_0]

The item was $48.14 CAD shipped air Mail to the UK.
I marked item for $48.14 CAD and he is try to get me to go good for 12.00 GBP = 25.2329 CAD

[katiusciav]

Is there something in the ebay literature that details this issue?? i'm suggesting that, as if the answer comes just from yourself, they may not believe you and get angry...

[futuretech_liquidations]

Although the buyer is solely responsible for import costs as a seller it would be a good idea to have some text mentioning/alerting shoppers that they may incur these extra costs.

Below is the link to the eBaY Help Page for buyers that refers to shipping called "Knowing your Shipping Costs and Times (Customs costs)":

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/knowing_shipping_costs.html

In this case I would also check the buyers history to see if they have purchased other items recently from North America and if so then they have a week case as they would have most likely been charged VAT taxes on those purchases too.

If it so happens that this is their first time buying then you could offer to split the costs. Eitherway if they refuse to pay and do not pickup the item you will still lose if they paid via PAYPAL since PAYPAL will refund unless you can prove DELIVERY!

Good luck

TIM @ FTL

[zarzuella]

otherwise I may have to escalate it.

If he used that exact term I'd say he's done this before. You may be SOL if he escalates a claim with Paypal. Try contacting Paypal for advice (sounds stupid, I know, but sometimes they will tag the transaction before the buyer makes his claim.)

Good luck!

[whoscloset]

That's a good idea Ann.

Surprisingly, I've actually heard good things about PayPal customer service.

[otteropp]

Here is a link to UK Customs on Internet shopping that your customer may like to read.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pa...