Can the seller make me pay for China customs with UPS?

[Anonymous]

I bought an item and when it arrived at China customs I received a message from UPS telling me that there were fees to pay. Can the seller make me pay for the fees?

[pjcdn2005]

It isn't the seller charging you, it is the government charging you for duty/taxes.  UPS also charges a brokerage fee when they have to collect for customs.  If  you make a purchase from overseas and there is duty and taxes due, you are required to pay that amount.  If you refuse to pay, the seller does not have to refund you for the purchase.

Are you in China or Canada? If you are in Canada the package would be charged those amounts when it reached Canada customs, not when it reached customs in China as you stated in your post.  

What method of shipping was stated in the listing..was it UPS?

[femmefan1946]

If you are importing (buying overseas) you pay duty and sales taxes on any item valued over $20 Cdn.

Canada does have a lot of free trade agreements which means no duty, but sales taxes (from 5% to15% of the value) will be collected.

If you were buying from the USA or Mexico, the NAFTA treaty makes that $150 duty-free and $40 tax-free.

But for China - you are still being charged based on the old $20 allowance.

[marnotom!]

If you're doing your buying on eBay Canada and you're viewing a listing for an item located outside of Canada, there should be a note in the "shipping" portion of the listing that reads "International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges" with a link to further information next to it.

This, unfortunately, is an example of those "additional charges" and as @pjcdn2005 correctly states, they're not charges from the seller but from UPS who cleared the item through customs and paid the taxes and duty owing on the item on your behalf.  Now they want to be paid back for the duty, taxes, and work they did to get the item through customs.

[intimewithmusic]

Can the seller make me pay for the fees?

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@Anonymous wrote:

I bought an item and when it arrived at China customs I received a message from UPS telling me that there were fees to pay. Can the seller make me pay for the fees?

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The short answer is no.  The seller  is not involved. Your home country can make you pay import fees if they choose.  Many countries are reducing or eliminating duty "forgiveness".  Check with your customs office not your seller.