Netherlands Buyer Refused Shipment Due to Customs Charges

[LittleSpiffy]

I'm wondering how long it will take for a package that was sent to the Netherlands, but acceptance was refused by the buyer, to get back to me.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Galactica]

I don't know about Netherlands- but I had a package not get picked up in Germany, and it took months to get it back...

[LittleSpiffy]

Eeeesh, that stinks.

[ponylady]

I have heard anywhere from two weeks to 2 months 

So let me get this straight, your buyer refused it because of custom charges? Naughty, naughty! I sure hope they do not expect you to reship it at your expense?

[Shiromisa]

Whoa, that's rude of them. Keep us posted on what happens!

[achab1984]

Um that is very rude of them! Have they not bought stuff from the US before, this is nothing new!?

[MikeysGrrrl]

Not to be nosey but was it an arena sale or ebay sale? Either way anyone that buys online should know that custom fees are their responsibility and not the sellers. Very rude.

[Navi]

Yeah woah, what a pain! Do they want a refund or something? Customs are pretty.. well, customary when buying stuff overseas.

[LittleSpiffy]

I have heard anywhere from two weeks to 2 months 

So let me get this straight, your buyer refused it because of custom charges? Naughty, naughty! I sure hope they do not expect you to reship it at your expense?

Oh, yeah, he did.  But he also said he'd accept a partial refund.

It was an eBay sale and he had requested that I change the value of a $35 item to $20.  The thing was, aside from it being fraud, I had already shipped the item.

I didn't reply to him because there was no point: the package was in the mail.

It arrived today and the customs charges were $40.  He refused the package and sent me a message stating that he thought we had agreed to change the value on the customs form.

Well, I explained that I already had shipped it.  I also was unwilling to change the value because 1) it's fraud.  2) it's against eBay's TOS (because it's fraud!). 3) requesting a seller to do this is a reportable offense (but I noted that I had not reported him to eBay)

I told him that I would refund the $35 as soon as I received the item.

This was also after he had contacted me AFTER winning the item to lower the shipping price.  I had used eBay's Global Shipping Program and there were customs charges included in the shipping amount...which was clearly stated when he placed his bid, but whatever.

Post Merge: September 17, 2013, 02:22:41 PM

The reason I asked how long it takes is because I'd like to get him the $35 back ASAP.  I mean, it stinks that he's out a total of $50 at the moment.  It also stinks that, once refunded, he'll still be out $15 for the shipping charges.

But, I also went to few extra steps to figure out how to back out of using eBay's GSP program after the fact, as well as three calls to eBay's customer service line to see how I could help him.

I just want to have this resolved as soon as I can for both our sakes.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

That is completely inappropriate behavior from the buyer.  I hope that others are warned off from selling to this buyer! 

[Nienna]

Oh, how annoying! I mean, I don't like customs fees either but it's not the seller's fault, so I accept it if I buy something on eBay or here.

I have noticed I've only ever gotten customs fees when something was shipped Priority. When First Class International is used, it's faster and never goes through customs. Just a little tip maybe for others, I realise Priority is more protection for the seller also, so I get that argument for using it.

[Ringlets]

That really wasnt fair of your buyer. They should know that the customs fees are their responsibility, and that they should not be asking you to undervalue the item either - especially when it comes to buying/selling to random people on ebay   , or to reduce the shipping costs after they won. As some of the others said, it can take a few months for the item to get returned to you too. 

[Shenanigans]

Could someone explain customs fees to me? I don't quite understand how they work

[Aquarel]

I have yet to receive a package on which I have to pay customs :s I do think it's a horribly confusing system and I dread the day that I DO have to pay customs on a package.

But I think it is rude to just refuse the package because of the customs

[Ringlets]

People in European countries/UK /EU  dont have to pay customs fees when they buy from each other, but when they buy from the US, Australia, Canada, China etc then they get landed with customs fees -which you have to pay before you can have your item (if you dont pay the item gets returned to the sender)
. The amount you have to pay depends on which country you are in (they all vary in how much they charge you, plus the UK charges a handling fee as well on top of the customs fee), how much the item is valued at, and also whether the item was marked as a "gift" or not on the customs form.   Unfortunately the fees can be crazy high, so if you're buying a high valued item its definitely something to think about - but also lower valued items can get hit with a fee that makes them not worth it  (for example , I'm in the UK and I bought a $35 pony from someone in the US who did not mark it as a gift.  The customs+handling fee ended up being £11 on top of the $35  ).