Totally not understanding this..

kalodie1 · Jan 29th, 2007, 07:26 AM

Just a general comment...unless you are desperate for a particular bag, buy domestic only...much easier to track and safer for buyers...exception seems to be Canada. Anytime I see a seller from outside the US, I just move on...much easier that way I find.

Jan 29th, 2007, 10:35 AM

I think the seller had no knowledge of how to deliver to overseas to avoid the buyer paying tax. If she marked it with send as 'Gift' and 'No Commercial Value' 'Used Bag' that I shouldn't think the custom will tax it! I have delivered few Excellent Used absolutely authentic LV Bags to US and International Buyers, as what I described in the Custom Declaration Form, they had no need to pay tax, and very happy! I think it is mainly because the seller is afraid that the parcel will get lost, so she better put the exactly value on it and purchased the insurance covered up to, that's why if she put in £350 that the bag valued sure you have to pay that $80 tax, right, is this item Authentic? If so, paid and get the bag, if not, just not pay the tax and return the item to the seller and get the refund! Anyway, you should ask the seller how she is going to declare next time before you buy!! The seller is not responsible for the custom tax , but she should be wise to inform you before the posting. Sorry to hear that you are so upset...but you are learning everyday...

Bag Fetish · Jan 29th, 2007, 10:42 AM

I dont think there is a way to *Aviod* tax. I have packages come that say gift, used bag and still get dinged.
I think what people need to understand is that you are putting yourself at risk if getting charged duty. You need to weight the value of what you're buying compared to just buying new from your local store.
Sometimes unless you're save a ton of money its just not worth the risk.

Before I bought my mini lin speedy i was thinking about the cersies speedy from let trade, but thought if i get nailed with duty i'm over my budget. Right now wasnt a good time for that so i opted for a new bag and i'll get the cersies later when i'm not worried about the charge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auntie4

I think the seller had no knowledge of how to deliver to overseas to avoid the buyer paying tax. If she marked it with send as 'Gift' and 'No Commercial Value' 'Used Bag' that I shouldn't think the custom will tax it! I have delivered few Excellent Used absolutely authentic LV Bags to US and International Buyers, as what I described in the Custom Declaration Form, they had no need to pay tax, and very happy! I think it is mainly because the seller is afraid that the parcel will get lost, so she better put the exactly value on it and purchased the insurance covered up to, that's why if she put in £350 that the bag valued sure you have to pay that $80 tax, right, is this item Authentic? If so, paid and get the bag, if not, just not pay the tax and return the item to the seller and get the refund! Anyway, you should ask the seller how she is going to declare next time before you buy!! The seller is not responsible for the custom tax , but she should be wise to inform you before the posting. Sorry to hear that you are so upset...but you are learning everyday...

MiroirPrincess · Feb 8th, 2007, 01:23 PM

When I buy from overseas I always ask the seller to put a low value on the form.

Smoothoprter · Feb 8th, 2007, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiroirPrincess

When I buy from overseas I always ask the seller to put a low value on the form.

Yes, but they are not obligated to.

You cannot insure for the full amount if you mark the value down, and even though you come to some agreement by email that if an item is lost or stolen the seller is not responsible, try telling that to PayPal when the buyer opens a dispute for "item not received".

photoobsessive · Feb 8th, 2007, 10:05 PM

that doesn sound like too much money. have you asked the seller what she valued the bag at?

big__japan · Feb 9th, 2007, 07:00 AM

When an item goes through customs they pick and choose which item will actually be charged customs fees.. so you were probably just lucky before. Also some sellers will pay customs fees for the buyer (very rare, but ive seen it happen!) I feel bad that you were charged 80 bucks and I know I would be upset, but like Merika was saying, it's always the buyers responsibility to know what the fees could end up being because the seller has no way of knowing. Also, it's against the law to mark the package for the wrong value or to mark it as a gift when it's really not a gift so that's why some sellers will not do it.

I hate customs!

Fraublucher · Feb 9th, 2007, 07:18 AM

Actually, there has been a thread going on a few day ago here in the eBay forum where the problem posed was the opposite, i.e. international buyers hit by customs duties when purchasing from the US. First of all, Ama, 80$ does not sound so terribly bad on a 300+$ purchase. In Italy, I pay c.a. 10/15% of import duties + 20% GST if the item is not declared as a gift. So as you can see, 80 bucks is not so out-of-the world. i understand that you might be pissed, but sometimes I wait my packages from the US for more than a month, and, in fact, parcels from the UK to Italy take up to two weeks. The seller does not have any control on the shipping after having sent the package, as there is no way of predicting if you are going to be hit by duties. That is only the buyer's problem. If the value is not declared lower and the parcel is not classified as a gift, there is a very high probability that you are going to pay import duties. Sometimes I pay duties *even* on packages that are declared gifts, because they might ask for the record of the online transaction to check the real value of the item.
I have heard that declaring an item as "used" might help, but I think it has some ripercussions on the liability of the postal insurance. I hope others confimr/deny this for me.
The point is: if the seller underdeclares the value, the parcel will not get stuck in customs and the buyer does not have to pay extra fees. And there are many sellers that do this as a routine. The problem is if the package gets lost or damaged, in that case the buyer can only claim back the declared value. if a seller does not want to do this, it is perfectly understandable, but you as a buyer will have to pay duties. that is how it goes with international transactions... but I still enjoy in making them!

Oh, I forgot to add that the faster the shipping method, the bigger the chances to get caught in customs: i had a drawer (!) shipped to me by sea mail from the US, fully insured for 200$. It took 4 months to arrive but no customs fees at all! (PS: in Italy the upper limit to receive things free of duties is 45 Euros, everything with a higher declared value gets hit by cistoms fees).

ParkAvenuePrincess · Feb 9th, 2007, 09:52 AM

$80 on a $345 bag is 23%. Thats around the average rate charged by most countries when importing goods to them.

I'm sorry you had to pay it but honestly, its not the sellers fault. If you had the bag insured she would have to declare the true value on the customs form or the insurance claim would not have been accepted. (kinda like insuring your Merc as a 20 year old beetle to get a cheaper rate, but then trying to claim the full value of the Merc in a claim)

In regards the delay, I think it was quite clear that it was at customs & they were the cause of the delay. I import on a daliy basis for my business & I can tell you that its not un-heard of for customs to hold onto packages for MONTHS!!! not just weeks.

And with her saying that you'd have to take it up with USPS? Honestly, I can see why she'd do that. I mean, she had proof that it had gone & I'm assuming that she checked on the royal mail system as far as she could in this country. I too would probably have asked my seller to make enquiries with their side of the postal service, purely from a financial point, calling the states can be very expensive!! And if I were teh seller in a situation liek this, I would not offer a refund at all until I had the claim. What would have happened if she'd refunded you, but then the parcel was delivered (as was in this case) & the buyer took it? the ins claim would be refused cos the pack had been delivered & the seller would be out one bag & one lot of money. (I'm not saying that you would have kept the bag hunny, but lets face it, plenty out there would!)

If you feel really aggrieved with the fee, then I would speak to customs about it, but honestly, if you do a bit of research, I'll be the standard rate of import duty to the US is around 23%.

Fraublucher · Feb 9th, 2007, 10:15 AM

I also wanted to add that usually, when the parcel leaves the sender's country, it is difficult to track until it does not arrive to the recipient's country. For Italy, when a parcel sent from abroad reaches Italy, it gets relabelled. So if I call my own postal carrier and give them the international tracking number, they are able to tell me if it has been already relabelled, which means that is is in my country, or not, which means that it's still abroad. Unfortunately, if the parcel is in the customs, they are not always able to tell me how long it will take for them to release it. This is even more so with leather products, because they are checked with special attention to determine if the leather comes from endangered species or not.

chloehandbags · Feb 9th, 2007, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bag Fetish

If she claimed 345$ and that is what you paid on eBay, its customs that is charging you the 80$ she doesnt get that money. You have to take the charge up with customs, this has nothing to do with the seller.

ITA.

Also, postal insurance protects the seller, not the buyer. So, if the parcel had gone missing permanently and she'd lied about its value on the customs form, she would have lost her bag, without proper compensation and would have still had to refund you the full amount.

Someone who buys bags very cheaply and then sells them on for much more, is far more likely to be able to afford to take a loss, every now and then, when one goes missing, than an individual who is selling their own bag to raise funds.

In addition, technically, sellers who say a bag is a gift when it is not, are breaking the law.

I don't really blame them for trying, though. It seems very unfair, to me, that a bag that has previously been bought at wholesale by a retailer (and any taxes due were paid then) and then sold at retail to the customer (when sales taxes were paid on it [at 17.5% here]), has to have taxes paid on it, all over again, when it is resold!

amamxr · Feb 9th, 2007, 10:41 AM

Thanks ladies for your continued thoughts on this, however it is pretty much a been there done that subject for me and I will ask the mods to close this thread. I appreciate all your thoughts on this....

chloehandbags · Feb 9th, 2007, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big__japan

When an item goes through customs they pick and choose which item will actually be charged customs fees.. so you were probably just lucky before.

Quite.

Divide the $80.00 between all the bags you've ever bought from abroad (that you, technically, should have paid tax on, too) and it won't seem like very much per bag!

Then, maybe, you can start to love your new bag!

chloehandbags · Feb 9th, 2007, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amamxr

Thanks ladies for your continued thoughts on this, however it is pretty much a been there done that subject for me and I will ask the mods to close this thread. I appreciate all your thoughts on this....

Sorry, I didn't notice the date of the original post.

Hope you're enjoying your bag now?

Jan 29th, 2007, 07:26 AM	#46
kalodie1 Member	Re: Totally not understanding this.. Just a general comment...unless you are desperate for a particular bag, buy domestic only...much easier to track and safer for buyers...exception seems to be Canada. Anytime I see a seller from outside the US, I just move on...much easier that way I find. __________________ KALODIE1

Jan 29th, 2007, 10:35 AM	#47
Auntie4 Guest	Re: Totally not understanding this.. I think the seller had no knowledge of how to deliver to overseas to avoid the buyer paying tax. If she marked it with send as 'Gift' and 'No Commercial Value' 'Used Bag' that I shouldn't think the custom will tax it! I have delivered few Excellent Used absolutely authentic LV Bags to US and International Buyers, as what I described in the Custom Declaration Form, they had no need to pay tax, and very happy! I think it is mainly because the seller is afraid that the parcel will get lost, so she better put the exactly value on it and purchased the insurance covered up to, that's why if she put in £350 that the bag valued sure you have to pay that $80 tax, right, is this item Authentic? If so, paid and get the bag, if not, just not pay the tax and return the item to the seller and get the refund! Anyway, you should ask the seller how she is going to declare next time before you buy!! The seller is not responsible for the custom tax , but she should be wise to inform you before the posting. Sorry to hear that you are so upset...but you are learning everyday...

Feb 8th, 2007, 01:23 PM	#49
MiroirPrincess Sofa King Banned	Re: Totally not understanding this.. When I buy from overseas I always ask the seller to put a low value on the form.

Feb 8th, 2007, 10:05 PM	#51
photoobsessive hold me back, girls Location: "Sunny Sunny" So Fla	Re: Totally not understanding this.. that doesn sound like too much money. have you asked the seller what she valued the bag at?

Feb 9th, 2007, 07:00 AM	#52
big__japan ChanelObsessed	Re: Totally not understanding this.. When an item goes through customs they pick and choose which item will actually be charged customs fees.. so you were probably just lucky before. Also some sellers will pay customs fees for the buyer (very rare, but ive seen it happen!) I feel bad that you were charged 80 bucks and I know I would be upset, but like Merika was saying, it's always the buyers responsibility to know what the fees could end up being because the seller has no way of knowing. Also, it's against the law to mark the package for the wrong value or to mark it as a gift when it's really not a gift so that's why some sellers will not do it. I hate customs!

Feb 9th, 2007, 07:18 AM	#53
Fraublucher Shallow when needed! Location: Firenze, Italy	Re: Totally not understanding this.. Actually, there has been a thread going on a few day ago here in the eBay forum where the problem posed was the opposite, i.e. international buyers hit by customs duties when purchasing from the US. First of all, Ama, 80$ does not sound so terribly bad on a 300+$ purchase. In Italy, I pay c.a. 10/15% of import duties + 20% GST if the item is not declared as a gift. So as you can see, 80 bucks is not so out-of-the world. i understand that you might be pissed, but sometimes I wait my packages from the US for more than a month, and, in fact, parcels from the UK to Italy take up to two weeks. The seller does not have any control on the shipping after having sent the package, as there is no way of predicting if you are going to be hit by duties. That is only the buyer's problem. If the value is not declared lower and the parcel is not classified as a gift, there is a very high probability that you are going to pay import duties. Sometimes I pay duties even on packages that are declared gifts, because they might ask for the record of the online transaction to check the real value of the item. I have heard that declaring an item as "used" might help, but I think it has some ripercussions on the liability of the postal insurance. I hope others confimr/deny this for me. The point is: if the seller underdeclares the value, the parcel will not get stuck in customs and the buyer does not have to pay extra fees. And there are many sellers that do this as a routine. The problem is if the package gets lost or damaged, in that case the buyer can only claim back the declared value. if a seller does not want to do this, it is perfectly understandable, but you as a buyer will have to pay duties. that is how it goes with international transactions... but I still enjoy in making them! Oh, I forgot to add that the faster the shipping method, the bigger the chances to get caught in customs: i had a drawer (!) shipped to me by sea mail from the US, fully insured for 200$. It took 4 months to arrive but no customs fees at all! (PS: in Italy the upper limit to receive things free of duties is 45 Euros, everything with a higher declared value gets hit by cistoms fees). Last edited by Fraublucher; Feb 9th, 2007 at 07:21 AM.

Feb 9th, 2007, 09:52 AM	#54
ParkAvenuePrincess Loving Every Minute! Location: UK	Re: Totally not understanding this.. $80 on a $345 bag is 23%. Thats around the average rate charged by most countries when importing goods to them. I'm sorry you had to pay it but honestly, its not the sellers fault. If you had the bag insured she would have to declare the true value on the customs form or the insurance claim would not have been accepted. (kinda like insuring your Merc as a 20 year old beetle to get a cheaper rate, but then trying to claim the full value of the Merc in a claim) In regards the delay, I think it was quite clear that it was at customs & they were the cause of the delay. I import on a daliy basis for my business & I can tell you that its not un-heard of for customs to hold onto packages for MONTHS!!! not just weeks. And with her saying that you'd have to take it up with USPS? Honestly, I can see why she'd do that. I mean, she had proof that it had gone & I'm assuming that she checked on the royal mail system as far as she could in this country. I too would probably have asked my seller to make enquiries with their side of the postal service, purely from a financial point, calling the states can be very expensive!! And if I were teh seller in a situation liek this, I would not offer a refund at all until I had the claim. What would have happened if she'd refunded you, but then the parcel was delivered (as was in this case) & the buyer took it? the ins claim would be refused cos the pack had been delivered & the seller would be out one bag & one lot of money. (I'm not saying that you would have kept the bag hunny, but lets face it, plenty out there would!) If you feel really aggrieved with the fee, then I would speak to customs about it, but honestly, if you do a bit of research, I'll be the standard rate of import duty to the US is around 23%.

Feb 9th, 2007, 10:15 AM	#55
Fraublucher Shallow when needed! Location: Firenze, Italy	Re: Totally not understanding this.. I also wanted to add that usually, when the parcel leaves the sender's country, it is difficult to track until it does not arrive to the recipient's country. For Italy, when a parcel sent from abroad reaches Italy, it gets relabelled. So if I call my own postal carrier and give them the international tracking number, they are able to tell me if it has been already relabelled, which means that is is in my country, or not, which means that it's still abroad. Unfortunately, if the parcel is in the customs, they are not always able to tell me how long it will take for them to release it. This is even more so with leather products, because they are checked with special attention to determine if the leather comes from endangered species or not.

Feb 9th, 2007, 10:41 AM	#57
amamxr Member Location: Green Gables	Re: Totally not understanding this.. Thanks ladies for your continued thoughts on this, however it is pretty much a been there done that subject for me and I will ask the mods to close this thread. I appreciate all your thoughts on this.... __________________