Gift Option: Is it against Arena Rules?

[tulagirl]

Id gladly do it to people with 100% + feedback - but if they ask, id ask them to put GIFT on the customs form for me too. Some sellers dont want that, then I wont take the full risk alone either.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Its illegal to put gift on a customs form unless it is truly a gift.  If you bought something from a seller here or anywhere that is not a gift (its bought goods) and its breaking the law to fill out a form and mark as gift when it isn't one.  That is quite a risk you are putting yourself and your seller into. I personally don't think that is fair to either one of you-not to mention is wrong legally.  Using that as a justified means for a seller asking for paypal gift money for a purchase to me just is not the best decision. JMHO.  You would be a lot safer finding another seller.

[CupidStrikes]

I've had someone send me payment as a gift of their own accord but as I hate it when sellers insist you send as a gift ("So you can't scam me!", which is just rude, and makes me wary) or pay their fees for them, I'd never ask buyers to do it for me. Only time I pay as gifts is for box splits where the host is making no money off the items whatsoever so making them lose money would be kind of mean after they went to the trouble of hosting the split in the first place.

Pretty much this. Except in my case (I'm hosting a Taobao box split right now), I don't mind if people send it as a payment, since I'm rather new. I just can't afford to pay to give people ponies, so I'm asking people to cover the fees.

Which is totally understandable If you're selling an item then usually you're making some kind of profit off it, but most box splits only have participants pay to cover the exact cost of the item and shipping and packing etc. so I don't mind paying the extra so as not to leave the host out of pocket. Sometimes I calculate the fees and add that only a regular payment, though, if it's a newbie host and all, then they're not missing money and I still have protection.

[Chinabun]

Id gladly do it to people with 100% + feedback - but if they ask, id ask them to put GIFT on the customs form for me too. Some sellers dont want that, then I wont take the full risk alone either.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Its illegal to put gift on a customs form unless it is truly a gift.  If you bought something from a seller here or anywhere that is not a gift (its bought goods) and its breaking the law to fill out a form and mark as gift when it isn't one.  That is quite a risk you are putting yourself and your seller into. I personally don't think that is fair to either one of you-not to mention is wrong legally.  Using that as a justified means for a seller asking for paypal gift money for a purchase to me just is not the best decision. JMHO.  You would be a lot safer finding another seller.

The hole point of what I said is that I prefer to pay as Goods and I pay my fees too, and normally a seller dont want to so the deal goes as Goods (normally I count the fees in to the whole picture when buying regardless)
- I do see your point and will think differently bout that from now on - I certantly dont want put any one at risk.... So ill just stick with the Goods

[tulagirl]

I keep trying to get this information out because custom agents do contact people about the accuracy on forms. I have had such a call from Italy when a man insisted I filled out his form incorrectly and it should have been marked a gift.  I told the customs agent that he was insisting I mark it a gift so he could avoid his fees and that the product was in fact an ebay sale and it was goods purchased and the form was filled out correctly.  He pitched a fit in the office and made them call me back claiming it was a birthday gift. I had to tell the customs agent again and give them the auction number and proof of what he spent buying from me. He was a terrible buyer and I learned from that if I had not been honest I would have been in serious trouble.  As it was he was in trouble, but I was fine.

I also got a call from US customs agents over a box from Germany where the forms were clearly not filled out correctly (on purpose) and had to tell the agents what the items were, give them permission to open the boxes and assure them I would pay any fees if necessary.

Edit to fix a few details I had gotten mixed up and wanted to correct.

[Ligress]

I just generally pay normally and include the Paypal fee ( search paypal fee calculator)  since its safer then if your item never arrives, like a type of insurance fee... If they are trying to just avoid a fee it solves the issue in general of sending money through paypal  to just calculate it and include it then theres no real reason to send it as a gift then.

Edit: wait what is this about europe receiving fees on money from outside europe?!
Never heard of it, worth knowing why

[Sarahlacewing]

I've been reading up a little bit since this thread.  It seems to me their is always a fee for international exchanges?

[tulagirl]

Yes I had to pay an extra fee when I spent quite a bit a while back on several ponies I bought from an international seller.  It was awful.  Maybe it was because I used a credit card.  All I know is besides the standard exchange rate I had a lot more money go out than that.

Also when someone sends an item from a country to another country there is the vat fee and the international customs fee for that country, but some people try to avoid higher insurance costs on their international end and so they lie on the form so they can under insure the package. That is what happened with my German doll purchase.  The doll was under insured by the German seller and under valued to do so. The USA end the agents were not sure what the item was or its true value.  So then I get a call from them wanting to know what it was, the telephone number of the sender and if it could be opened.  It was a huge mess, but in both cases the agents were very nice.  I will not sell international anymore though.

[ponylady]

Wow Tula, I have never in all my years of selling been contacted by customs from any country?  How did they get your phone number?

Anyways let's keep this on the original topic which was "Is it against Arena rules to ask for gift option when accepting payment."

[CupidStrikes]

Has anyone tried reporting people who insist on trying to make buyers pay the fees? I'm kind of curious of how Paypal would handle it as more and more I see places like Ebay not really caring when blatant misuse occurs.

[tulagirl]

Wow Tula, I have never in all my years of selling been contacted by customs from any country?  How did they get your phone number?

Anyways let's keep this on the original topic which was "Is it against Arena rules to ask for gift option when accepting payment."

I have no idea unless it was on a form included on the box...or they looked it up with the information they did have.  I really don't know.  In italy they got my number from the buyer.  He contacted ebay to get my contact information and then gave it to them after first trying to call me and talk me into lying.  Sorry the thread took a wild turn Ponylady.

[Stormness_1]

I don't like to void my paypal protection, so sometimes I'll send a little extra to cover fees if the seller has been really good - holding things, discounts, throwing in extra stuff.. that sort of thing. Otherwise why not pay via bank transfer on domestic purchases, it's at least free? paying by gift kinda makes paypal pointless, someone pays fees, but there's no buyer protection. That's my five cents anyway.

[Sarahlacewing]

The newest forms do have a spot for phone number.

[tulagirl]

I don't like to void my paypal protection, so sometimes I'll send a little extra to cover fees if the seller has been really good - holding things, discounts, throwing in extra stuff.. that sort of thing. Otherwise why not pay via bank transfer on domestic purchases, it's at least free? paying by gift kinda makes paypal pointless, someone pays fees, but there's no buyer protection. That's my five cents anyway.

I have done this also, and I usually do the transfer too.


Post Merge: May 30, 2013, 05:22:23 PM

The newest forms do have a spot for phone number.

My issues I mentioned are not recent, but I hadn't realized they included that on the forms now. I can't even remember what the forms were like when all that happened.

[Rosencrantz]

edit: oops! Didn't realize I was replying off topic.

Sorry!

[Chinabun]

I keep trying to get this information out because custom agents do contact people about the accuracy on forms. I have had such a call from Italy when a man insisted I filled out his form incorrectly and it should have been marked a gift.  I told the customs agent that he was insisting I mark it a gift so he could avoid his fees and that the product was in fact an ebay sale and it was goods purchased and the form was filled out correctly.  He pitched a fit in the office and made them call me back claiming it was a birthday gift. I had to tell the customs agent again and give them the auction number and proof of what he spent buying from me. He was a terrible buyer and I learned from that if I had not been honest I would have been in serious trouble.  As it was he was in trouble, but I was fine.

I also got a call from US customs agents over a box from Germany where the forms were clearly not filled out correctly (on purpose) and had to tell the agents what the items were, give them permission to open the boxes and assure them I would pay any fees if necessary.

Edit to fix a few details I had gotten mixed up and wanted to correct.

Thank you so much for sharing! I really hadnt given this much thought I realize - thank you for pointing it out and making me face my ignorance. Def. a valuable lesson as I do lots of online shopping! <3


{Riding round on my iPhone - i apologize for any autocorrect}