anyone bought a purse from ebay - and avoided custom fees?

*bubs

*bubs

O.G.
Aug 8, 2007
1,278
3
#1
hey! im thinking of purchasing a pre-owned purse from ebay..and if it was sent to where i am (canada)..im afraid id end up paying hundreds of dollars of custom fees..would it possible if i asked the seller to place the value as gift and under than 200 - im not sure if this would still charge me custom fees though..any suggestions anyone? TIA :smile:
 
#2
It really depends on the seller whether they will allow you to do it or not. Because if you get caught, you could get fined and the fine will be well over the cost of just paying the customs fee...
 
#4
yeah i've done it before, to avoid both custom charge and theft (i did not want 4 digit numbers showing on my package so anyone could of taken it including dishonest mail men). but you have to take the risk of item being lost and insurance will only cover as much as you put on the package.
i doubt if you'd get caught as i don't believe customs aren't bag experts plus how'd they know how much you paid for it.
just my 2cents.
 
#5
Some sellers will mark it as gift and say it's worth $50, some won't. Part of the problem is that you can only insure it for what you are claiming its value is on the Custom's form, so if it is lost and it was valuable, that's a problem. But some buyers also want it marked as less because they are concerned their Custom's might steal the item if it is marked as valuable.
 
#6
the seller im plannign to purchase it from stated shell mark it as gift..but value the item as is - so well over 900...would customs still charge even when its already placed as gift? is it dangerous then to place an item as $1000 if theres a risk of theft??

ps..anyone have an idea how much it would be for customs for an item over 1000?
 
#8
If the seller insures the package for $900, then there is no way Canadian Customs is going to let you get away without paying fees. The only way would be if the seller didn't insure the package, marked the value as under $60 and a gift. But even if they do that (he/she would be crazy not to insure a $900 item), then customs can still open it. This is rare but it has happened. If a package is insured for $900, then regardless of whether the seller marks it as a gift you are going to get charged PST and GST - and duty if the item was manufactured outside of the US, Canada or Mexico (NAFTA agreement). No way CCRA is going to let you get away with that!!
 
#9
For a new purse shipped to Canada I was charged 10.5%. It cost me $47.25 for duty and another $25 for gst for a $450 bag. :yucky: Thank goodness there's no pst in Alberta!

I'm wondering though if duty on a pre owned item might be less? Also, in Canada if one individual sells a pre owned item to another individual there is no gst. I wonder if the same is true for cross border?
 
#10
You can try asking seller to mark it as a gift but I highly doubt she will because of the high value and she must ship with insurance to comply with ebay and Paypal's policies. Marking items as gift does not stop customs officers from doing random checks and revaluing items at their estimated prices making you end up paying tax and sometimes a fine. I know of people who had this done to them so beware.
 
#12
I think it depends firstly on whether the seller is willing to declare a lower value for you and if you are comfortable not having your bag insured for as much.

Most of the sellers I've dealt with have been cool with declaring a lower value and as a "gift". I am alright with not having as much insurance on the bag, and I've been extremely lucky so far not to have been hit with either customs taxes or missing items :sweatdrop:

It's how much faith you want to place in luck, or else go for the wallet-hitting but fairly guaranteed protection aka full insurance + tax.
 
#13
One more thing to consider - if you have an expensive item sent without adequate insurance, you'll spend the entire time worrying and stressing about everything that could go wrong. Speaking from experience, it really isn't worth the worry, and I wouldn't do it again.
 
#14
A seller registered as a business cannot alter the customs forms or mark an item as gift. I understand when some buyers ask for that, but I hope they understand it is asking us to do something illegal.
 
#15
^ I've had sellers mark as gift or undervalue an item any number of times, without even being asked. I've simply paid for an item and written to confirm my address is correct, and then they reply to say they'll be posting the next day or whatever, and they will mark the item as a gift. Completely unasked for and usually on low priced items that weren't going to attract customs duty or GST anyway. Makes me think it must be a very widespread practise.
 
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