Buyer wants a refund on their broker fees after receiving the item.

[omega.321]

Hi,

I received a message from my buyer saying that he received a broker fee after he received his item and wanted a refund from me.

I shipped by UPS with insurance and tracking number in which I paid the total shipping costs for $45.62

Is it necessary to refund the broker fee to the buyer?

[scifan57]

It is not the job of the seller to pay the buyer's customs brokerage fees.Brokerage fees are paid by the importer of record and your buyer it the importer of record.

[dmil8030]

It might depend what you mean by 'necessary'. 🙂 

When people buy outside their own country they are the importer and hence responsible for any charges the package may incur, be it duty, taxes, or brokerage.  You are in no way required to subsidize that.  A buyer is expected to be aware of the possibility of charges and what they might be.

Did you have a mention in your listing that there may be customs charges which are the responsibility of the buyer?  Most listings have that.  Even if your listing made no such mention, you are still not obliged to refund that amount. 

However, if the buyer leaves negative feedback in which he mentions the charges, if you have the 'import clause' in your listings then you can have the feedback removed.  For that matter, even if you did not include the clause you can still ask to have the feedback removed.  It won't disappear if you don't ask. 

The problem you now face is that your buyer is motioning for those fees refunded in advance of leaving feedback, with both of you knowing he could leave the red.  If you give him the money, that might make him happy.  How happy will you be?  Since you are in no way required to refund that, the decision is up to you.

It might depend how much of a gambler you are.  You can explain the reality & truth and hope the buyer has sense.  But he might leave a red.  You can refund the fee and hope for a green.  You can wait and if you get a red, & offer to refund then if he will consider a feedback revision.  If the money makes him happy, he might then leave the green.  After all, at the moment he is unhappy about the fees.  Reimbursement might make him happy about the whole transaction. 

Mmmm, tough choice. 🙂 

[catnip2002]

Easiest way to avoid this issue is not to use UPS or FEDEX!!!!

They are nuts when it comes to charging a broker fee to cross the border.

Better to use USPS, most Canadians understand a customs fee, but get totally turned off when UPS adds a $40.00 bill in  broker fee.

Or make it very clear in your auctions UPS is used and they will charge Canadians a $40.00 borker fee.

JMO

Shona

[heidilynn0_3]

Could try sending this link to buyer , makes clear who is responsible..

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/internet_purchases.xml

Over $200. to US , expedited us mail or Xpress , if over $250 signature required , may have been a better option.

[femmefan1946]

There are several questions here.

There is the legal question. Are you required to pay your customer's brokerage and customs fees? That one is easy. There is no such requirement.

There is the eBay question. What is the likely fallout if you do not pay all or part of the brokerage fee as requested by the buyer? I am assuming that he is okay with paying duty. This one is a gamble and you have been given the possible outcomes.

But then there is the ethical question. When you chose UPS did the buyer have full information on the cost? You probably informed him of your Shipping and Handling fee, but did you tell him that there would be a brokerage fee with the service you chose? There is no legal requirement to do so, but ethically, you should have known about this* and warned your buyer. Alternatively, you could have used the apparently more expensive Express service which includes brokerage (but not duty or sales taxes).

It is up to you to decide. Personally, I would offer a partial refund, perhaps half of the brokerage fee

The duty is the buyer's responsibility and you have neither an ethical nor a legal responsibility for that.

*And UPS does not tell shippers about it either. An ethical lapse in my opinion.

[mediadealsbaby]

i allways put on items over a price that they are  the ones who pay the duty and or all fees into canada its 20$ any thing over that is 8.50 fee plus taxes so an extra 10$  if the item is 21$ your shipping which sucks  i get items shipped to the usa im close enough  but for the ones buying should know the rules of there country before buying i was hit with 20$ duty on a movie that came smashed which reallt sucked but luck of the draw

the person buying should now the rules  next time post they pay all duty and fees or dont sell to canada

[lovepower999]

The fault lies with the UPS company.They are doing extortion.They get your package and say they won't give
it to you unless you pay up to 50% of the value of the item.Why don't they just charge 200% of the value
and see if we are dumb enough to pay it.Its a scam.Avoid using UPS altogether.