International Duties Avoidance Tutorial - eBay unconditionally supports it

[zenxi-3]

I just learned a duty avoidance method for international purchases on eBay, and eBay unconditionally supports it.

The buyer left the wrong phone number, and then after the package was randomly checked by customs, the buyer "refused" to contact UPS and customs. When I told the buyer contact to UPS, the buyer claimed that his phone number was wrong on eBay and he has contacted UPS.

Two weeks later, UPS called to inform me that the package was returned because there was no contact with the recipient, and the buyer applied for an "item not received" case. I contacted eBay many times, and the eBay phone representative promised verbally that there is no need to refund the shipping fee and they will hold the case until I received the package.

Now, I haven't received the package yet, eBay directly closed the case and asked me to refund the full amount including the shipping fee. Called eBay, and they tell me that the buyer's despicable way is legal and that is the policy. They also claim that's why eBay encourages sellers to use GSP, oops, sorry Canada doesn't have GSP. Then why doesn't the seller use eBay to buy the label instead UPS? Sorry, the seller has to bear the loss himself.

[zenxi-3]

A little trick to buy using eBay, maybe I plan to try it next time 🙂

[recped]

How is it duty avoidance and what would be the point given that the buyer gained nothing and let the package be returned to you.

More likely they freaked out over the UPS brokerage charges, unless you used an overnight express service which is the only type of UPS service where the brokerage fees are included in the shipping rate the fees are likely higher that any duty that might be charged.

Out of curiosity where was it shipped to and what was the value?

[femmefan1946]

UPS was notorious for outrageous 'customs brokerage' fees before eBay brought in the Global ShippingProgram.

At the time we paid duty and sales tax on any import, from anywhere, over $20Cdn if a courier* brought it into the country.

UPS fees started at $25.

You can imagine what happened then. There are archived threads over 5000 posts long about it.

With GPS, all import fees were paid before shipping, so the problem disappeared -- and other problems replaced them. Again a long story.

But.

You got the item back or is it in transit?
If it is still in transit contact the trained eBay reps through social media and explain your situation.

Ask for your money back.

The buyer does not have the item, so he should in fact have his money back.

But you should not be the one refunding him UNTIL you have your product back.

The timing rather than the action is the question here.

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that mean giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.


https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.

Be very clear that you are in Canada and that you were not using the GSP nor the newer eIS/eISD shipping programs which are only available to US sellers. Very clear. Very.
 

And don't use UPS or FedEx for shipping in future.

*The postal system worked differently and that is another story.

[marnotom!]

This is weird. Items that are not received by the buyer due to unpaid customs charges are supposed to be ineligible for coverage under eBay’s Money Back Guarantee, and I assume other buyer protection policies on other eBay sites would have a similar condition. I’m not sure why the phone rep would have said what they did unless they were undertrained in international shipments or they misunderstood the OP’s concerns.

It would be useful to know the destination country and the item’s declared value.

[zenxi-3]

From Canada to the US. It was a $2,000 CAD sealed motherboard, now that the sealed tape is cut by customs, lol. 

[zenxi-3]

Thank you for your reply.

Since this is a $ 2,000 CAD item, and I sell a lot of these electronics through UPS, I think UPS is a qualified option.

Just got the package on May 24 today, the item with sealed tape has been opened by customs, and it is no longer brand new. The case has been closed on May 21 without any contact with me. eBay asked me to email the appeal department because the case has been closed.

However, the appeal department did not reply positively, only replied with some meaningless words. It was just to appeal the shipping cost before, but now things have become more complicated, I have no energy and idea where to talk to eBay. They all tell me to talk with the appeal department via email because eBay's appeal department claims to be offline and only responds to non-questioned answers by email.

Thanks for your recommendation. I will try to talk to an online agent once.