Have I been had?

[mpit7628]

Hi folks.  I sure have had quite a couple of days with a buyer from North Dakota.  I had two Masterpiece dolls listed and she contacted me about buying them together.  The dolls had been listed for a time and were already packed and ready to go in their separate boxes.  I have been so busy  preparing for Christmas but I agreed to unpack the dolls and repack them together,  do the measuring and weighing and get the shipping costs back to her.  During this process she is continually messaging me about how to pack the dolls, asking all kinds of questions.  She sent me 13 different messages.  

              The problem is that after she paid for them she found out that eBay was charging her  $17.00 import fee on the purchase which  she did not like at all.  This is where the situation gets odd.  She messages me stating that she was on the phone with PayPal and they told her that if I refund her money back to her she wouldn't have to pay the $17.00 and then she would resend the money through PayPal.  I got a message from her stating that she sent the money but nothing is showing in PayPal.  My balance shows as a big 0.  She is also apparently very angry at eBay and PayPal, eBay for not being forth right with the extra fees from buying internationally and PayPal who she says lied.  When she was in contact with them earlier in the day they told her she wouldn't lose her eBucks  and wouldn't pay any fee's.  She says that when I refunded her the money, she lost her eBucks of $33.00.  Should my PayPal account show her transfer of funds to me right away or is there a delay.  I'm kind of freaking out thinking that I have been had.  She hasn't responded to my last messages.  I was not comfortable with what this buyer was asking of me through the purchase process and now I am feeling like a idiot for falling for something that may cost me over $500.00.  Help please!

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

Ebay does NOT charge US buyers import fees.  If there are any import fees due those would be charged by US customs at the border, not by eBay.    However, as of October 1, ebay is required by North Dakota to collect user tax on sales made by buyers in that state.   That means they have to pay sales tax on any eBay purchase (and on many other online sites) regardless if the seller is in the US or another country.  It’s likely the buyer isn’t aware of the new law.

Before she sent you money, did you give her your email address?  I could be wrong but I don’t think that the buyer sees a sellers email address So that they can send money.  You would have had to  sent them a separate PayPal request money invoice.  If you didn’t give them your email or send a PP invoice, it’s unlikely that the money was ever sent. If it was, you should be able to see it on your PP account right away unless they sent an echeque.  If it was an exchequer, it would take a few days to process but you would have received an email from PP about it.

i hope that you haven’t sent the package yet?

when you refunded the buyer, did you cancel the sale through eBay?

[mpit7628 · Accepted solution]

Hi there. I finally have the payment in my PayPal account. I hope to never have to deal with a transaction like that again!

[femmefan1946]

The value of the dolls was over $800US?
That is the duty. Free allowance for US importers
There is no way to avoid this
I’m addition she may have state sales tax to pay
There is no way to avoid this

You have 96 hours to open a. Dispute

It’s a lot of money but smells fishy
I don’t think this will get better

[richardcm]

I do not think it is duty. North Dakota has a 5% sales tax. Perhaps that is the reason for the extra charges?

[mpit7628]

Hi. Thank you for your comments. I did hear back from the back from the buyer and she has sent the money to the wrong email address. Mine ends with .ca and she used .com. I have advised to try and cancel that transaction right away. uyer and she sent the money to the wrong email account. Mine ends with .ca and she sent the money, supposively,