International Buyer is upset about customs

B

bizfashionista

Member
Jun 19, 2007
120
0
#1
So I sold a bag on ebay to a buyer in the UK. He/she paid $750 plus shipping. Insurance here goes in $100 incriments, so I can not insure the bag for $750, it has to be $700 or $800. Naturally, I insure the bag for the greater value so all of the money he/she paid is covered. I just received a message from he/she saying that they are angry I insured the bag for $50 more than he/she paid, and they want me to pay $100 to help cover customs!:cursing: What are my rights here? If I refuse to pay can they return the bag even though I said all sales are final?
 
#4
I would explain that insurance only comes in $100 increments so you had to insure it for $800 as $700 would not cover it if it got lost/damaged. I would tell them that import duties are their responsibility as these costs are imposed by their government and do not involve you in any way.

What I would have done and not sure if you did, is buy insurance for $800 but declare the real value which was $750 so the duty they are subject to would be based on the correct dollar amount.
 
#5
bnjj said:
I would explain that insurance only comes in $100 increments so you had to insure it for $800 as $700 would not cover it if it got lost/damaged. I would tell them that import duties are their responsibility as these costs are imposed by their government and do not involve you in any way.

What I would have done and not sure if you did, is buy insurance for $800 but declare the real value which was $750 so the duty they are subject to would be based on the correct dollar amount.
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that is a great answer and it's truly not your fault...i would not give them 100 or 20 dollars...they should know anyway they had to pay import duties and a extra 50 does not add up to 200...
 
#7
bizfashionista said:
Thank you SOLIDGOLD2 and bnjj, I wrote the buyer a message explaining that, while trying to be as nice as possible. Thanks for being so helpful:heart:
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Ugh, sorry that happened to you... Could you maybe use eBay Live Chat (upper right hand corner on the home page) to see what eBay says you should do? I think you did the right thing, BTW. Just curious, is it the gorgeous baby paddy you were selling? They shouldn't be complaining; that was still a great deal!
 
#8
I am not sure how it works in the UK, but when we get customs charges in Canada, there is a form attached that allows us to get a refund if we can provide proof that they over-estimated the value of the item...a paypal reciept does the trick for this...at the end of the day, a buyer should be aware of all the customs charges when buying goods from another country and it is certainly not the sellers responsibility...
 
#9
While the USPS charges in 100 increments, you are supposed to put the actual value. You could have insured it for 750. You would have paid for the cost for insuring 701 to 800.
 
#11
lulilu said:
While the USPS charges in 100 increments, you are supposed to put the actual value. You could have insured it for 750. You would have paid for the cost for insuring 701 to 800.
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This is what I was saying above. I would have valued it at $750 and insured for up to $800.
 
#12
lulilu said:
While the USPS charges in 100 increments, you are supposed to put the actual value. You could have insured it for 750. You would have paid for the cost for insuring 701 to 800.
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I was just going to say the same thing. I ship express mail international and it's like $.75 for each increment of $100, and I have never had trouble insuring any of my packages for the the actual amount they are. BUT... what's done is done and there's nothing you can do about it now.

I would look into what janecanadian said about there being a form to get a refund for over-estimation of the value of the item. If that doesn't work, it looks like they are charging 25% for customs fees. Based on my calculations, the difference is only like $12.50. So, I don't know where your buyer is getting her numbers from.
 
#13
Import duties/taxes to the UK usually work out to be about a quarter to a third of the goods' declared value. I'm not sure how they work this out, but in my experience I've always had to pay around this amount.

However, regardless of how much customs they have to pay, it's the buyer's responsibility to cover any additional costs such as import taxes. Also, some couriers charge an extra "clearance fee" (I know royal mail does) on top of customs. I have no idea what this is for, but it sucks.
 
#14
Agree with you.
It's up to the buyer to know that they will be responsible to pay custom charges when importing goods from outside the EU. Yes the allowance is pretty low ($18 for purchases in the UK) but it's up to the buyer to educate themselves about their own country's import charges and not for the seller's. Charges are worked out as follows:
Import duty 0% - 9% (sorry no idea how they decide which to apply), VAT 17.5%, handling charges EMS - £13.50, Royal Mail £8.00.

Sorry for the long rant but it really makes me mad when a few bad international buyers ruin it for the rest of us.
 
#15
^
oops sorry that should be £18.00 for purchases. The extra $50 wouldn't have made much of a difference so if you decide to refund her $10 is more than adequate imo. Good luck with your buyer.
 
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