The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: LittleSpiffy on September 17, 2013, 01:31:36 PM
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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?
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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... :(
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Eeeesh, that stinks.
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I have heard anywhere from two weeks to 2 months :huh:
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?
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Whoa, that's rude of them. Keep us posted on what happens!
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Um that is very rude of them! Have they not bought stuff from the US before, this is nothing new!?
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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.
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Yeah woah, what a pain! Do they want a refund or something? Customs are pretty.. well, customary when buying stuff overseas.
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I have heard anywhere from two weeks to 2 months :huh:
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 :sigh: 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.
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That is completely inappropriate behavior from the buyer. I hope that others are warned off from selling to this buyer! :(
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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.
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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.
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Could someone explain customs fees to me? I don't quite understand how they work :blush:
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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
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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 :crazy: ).
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It's unusual for the custom fees to be equal to or more than the cost of the item, so I'm kinda confused on that. Unless that differs country to country.
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I believe in some countries that it is unfortunately possible for items to cost more after import/customs/admin fees than the original item cost.
If its Royal Mail thats a £8 admin fee [you will pay more admin fees if it comes with a different courier - normally £12 can be higher] If the item is worth more than £15 on the customs form then in addition to the £8 handling you have to pay a percentage of the total value. So you can get pretty close to paying the same in import/admin. fees as you can for the original item. This is how it at least plays out for folks in the UK. I am not entirely sure on other countries. I am assuming it most likely is very similar though.
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Wow, that's quite a lot. I think the most I've ever paid for customs/duties/taxes etc was $23 on a pair of Dr Martens coming from the UK to Canada. So they were expensive to begin with, I expected to have to pay something when they came into the country lol.
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Pony lady is correct :)
I am always stunned at people who think they can get away with not paying customs charges. It's pure idiocy. You can't avoid tax!
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Actually, you can, depending on the country I suppose. Getting the sender to mark the package as a gift is one way. Getting them to write a lower value on the envelope also helps. Plus, it's not really tax, it's more like you getting ripped off when someone sends you a free bait and the state wants to charge you $10 for "importing" it, but I digress.
It is 100% buyers responsibility to anticipate tax and to deal with it, and it sounds to me like this buyer knows it but still wants to try to come on top in this situation. They had no right to demand you do them any favours regarding this AFTER they bought the item, that is something that needs to be done before bidding. If I'm not mistaken, eBay rules say as much, so you really don't need to go out of your way to please this buyer.
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wow, so the custom charge ($40) is even higher than the value of the item ($35)?
anyway the buyer is the one in the wrong here, i guess. I'm kinda wondering who it is now, or if i know them.
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I know you said you would not report the buyer but this is exactly why I won't ship internationally on ebay.
I hope in the end it all works out and it looks like you really went above above and beyond.
Does anyone know ebays policy on refusing an item because of custom fees? Does ebay stand by this or is the buyer out the money normally??
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eBay stands buy the seller on this. If the buyer refuses the item, the buyer is out the money. It's the buyer's responsibility to know (or at least figure out) what the customs fees will be.
When I talked to customer service, they said that I shouldn't refund his money until I get the item back. If I don't get it back (i.e. lost in the mail), it's his problem*
*note: rep didn't say "it's his problem," but that was the idea...she said some sort of long customer-servicey gobbledy gook that I can't remember.
I was told that if he leaves negative feedback for me, eBay will remove it. After all, he violated eBay's TOS just by requesting that I change the value on the customs form.
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Actually, you can, depending on the country I suppose. Getting the sender to mark the package as a gift is one way. Getting them to write a lower value on the envelope also helps. Plus, it's not really tax, it's more like you getting ripped off when someone sends you a free bait and the state wants to charge you $10 for "importing" it, but I digress.
It is 100% buyers responsibility to anticipate tax and to deal with it, and it sounds to me like this buyer knows it but still wants to try to come on top in this situation. They had no right to demand you do them any favours regarding this AFTER they bought the item, that is something that needs to be done before bidding. If I'm not mistaken, eBay rules say as much, so you really don't need to go out of your way to please this buyer.
Getting people to write a lower amount is fraud plus then in the case of loss, everyone loses out.
I don't mean you can't avoid it by putting lower amounts and committing fraud, I meant that if you buy things online from overseas you have to expect to be charged and sometimes it's more than the value of the item, be ause here they factor in the postage cost also.. Customs and excise in the UK is HMRC. It's the government.
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One of the things I like about ebay is that when you sell on there and buy your postage through there, it fills out the customs form for you with the exact amount the buyer paid. It's a great defense against things like this, because you can just tell your buyer "I have no control over that, ebay fills out the form automatically with the exact value." (Of course you can get around it, but it's nice in this instance to be able to fall back on ebay.) I have an absolute zero tolerance zero wiggle room policy when it comes to international sales through ebay - I ship priority mail or higher, and I mark as goods with exact value - because far too often it's the seller who gets burned.
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I am quite happy to pay import tax on items I buy new from the US (like my welovefine order). However, I think paying expensive import duties on secondhand ponies is a bit silly. I got burned once when I had to pay more import fees than what I paid the seller! So I'm very happy when a seller offers to label items as a gift. Course I check before I place a bid. :)
I would hardly call it fraud... Someone sends me a free bait pony and I have to pay € 10 import fees? Now that's stealing!
The buyer in this situation here is in the wrong obviously. It's his/her responsibility to know about import fees. And it's poor form to shift the blame to the seller AND want money back. That's just rude.
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I would hardly call it fraud... Someone sends me a free bait pony and I have to pay € 10 import fees? Now that's stealing!
Well in an instance like that it wouldn't be fraud to mark the item as a gift, since it actually is one. But if you have purchased an item it is fraudulent for the seller to mark it as a gift. I think it's silly too, the kinds of taxes and fees that have to be paid on used items, but that's the law and whether or not the fees seem fair it is illegal to lie to try to get around them.
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What is actually the consequence of lying on the custom form and getting found out?
Has it ever happened?
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I don't know of any specific cases personally, but from what I can gather, for items shipped from the US, if the form is falsified, whatever penalties may occur will fall on the recipient because once it's left the country it's no longer under US jurisdiction/the receiving country has no way to exact penalties from the sender. So it would vary by whatever country it was sent to and what their laws are regarding the matter.
According to the USPS "The sender’s failure to complete the form properly can delay delivery of the item or inconvenience the sender and addressee. Moreover, a false, misleading, or incomplete declaration can result in the seizure or return of the item and/or in criminal or civil penalties." I know it would certainly slow down the receipt of the package. I imagine if the customs form is found to be false, the person receiving the package would have to pay whatever customs fees are associated with the package in the first place, and possibly have to pay additional fines on top of that depending on the receiving country's ruling. Which would certainly defeat the purpose of lying on the form in the first place.
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In Denmark.......
If I buy a pony from the US, let's say 5$
-then add 15$ (at least - and that's for one small item) for postage.
Then, in Denmark, I have to pay costum 25% of the 20$ (yes, we pay costum for the shipping price aswell) PLUS some % on top of the 25% for handling in Denmark.
So here, all in all, ONE 5$ pony will normally end up in 35$ for me -_-'
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In Sweden....
We have to pay 25% of the amount in custom tax, not including shipping fees. If the package says "gift", you still have to pay 25% if the value is higher than around $63. And you have to pay a $16 handling fee. But all that is just if they actually check your package, most of the time they don´t.
All this is because in Sweden we have this tax called moms. We pay it on all all merchandise, food, everything. So when you purchase something from a country that does not have moms, like the US, you have to pay it when the item enters Sweden.
But I can´t understand the countries that takes out fees that are higher than the actual cost of the items.. :blink:
LittleSpiffy, in your case the buyer is so wrong! Everyone that shops on Ebay knows that you risk custom charges, and everyone should also know that if you want the seller to change something about the shipping, you ask BEFORE you bid..!
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What is actually the consequence of lying on the custom form and getting found out?
Has it ever happened?
I know a few people have had to take their invoices to the post office to double check, but this was in cases where the company had left the value blank. They just checked the invoice and had them pay the correct amount of import fees. Most places probably have far, far too many packages coming in for the regular post workers to query every package, especially as most people couldn't work out what was or wasn't undervalued, especially concerning things like ponies as the average person wouldn't think they were worth much!
I have heard that elsewhere in Europe, some postal workers just estimate what they think the item is worth if they think the value is wrong, and too bad for you if they overcharge because they'll wriggle their way out of refunding it, even if you can prove otherwise.
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I always put gift on mine, our forms are pretty dodgy though, with no real option for sales in small quantities... but I always put the correct approximate value. Sometimes if I remember to write it down it's exact, otherwise I just guesstimate right there at the PO counter! I've never had a package held up in customs, but I tend to sell pretty low-value stuff really, so maybe they don't care. I've never had a package arrive with anything but gift on it... but we don't have customs fees here anyway unless it's a really high-value commercial import item through a licensed importer, as far as I know.
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What is actually the consequence of lying on the custom form and getting found out?
Has it ever happened?
There is a huge fine and jail time if you lie on a customs form. People do get caught. I have mentioned several times on the Arena about what happened when I got a package from Germany in which the person lied on the form. Why take the chance? So what if there are lots of packages and maybe they won't catch yours. What kind of thinking is that? Its breaking the law. Its never okay to break the law. Remember this is a federal offense. A gift is only an item you send to someone you know.. that they didn't pay for. An ebay sale is never a gift.
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the only time I mark something as a gift is in a swap or trade, since no money is changing hands.
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What is actually the consequence of lying on the custom form and getting found out?
Has it ever happened?
There is a huge fine and jail time if you lie on a customs form. People do get caught. I have mentioned several times on the Arena about what happened when I got a package from Germany in which the person lied on the form. Why take the chance? So what if there are lots of packages and maybe they won't catch yours. What kind of thinking is that? Its breaking the law. Its never okay to break the law. Remember this is a federal offense. A gift is only an item you send to someone you know.. that they didn't pay for. An ebay sale is never a gift.
:cheer:
I like your style, tulagirl!
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So, the item he bought was $35 and the custom fees were $40 ? Wow that is a lot! But as a buyer you always have to keep in mind that maybe you have to pay for custom fees.. It s*cks to pay more money but I would feel so bad to send something back because of custom fees..
Also, I'm wondering how can custom fees be higher as the item that's bought?? I've never heard about that...
Shipping this back would probably take 1 to 2 months I guess..
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the only time I mark something as a gift is in a swap or trade, since no money is changing hands.
That makes sense! Swaps certainly are gifts for sure.
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What is actually the consequence of lying on the custom form and getting found out?
Has it ever happened?
There is a huge fine and jail time if you lie on a customs form. People do get caught. I have mentioned several times on the Arena about what happened when I got a package from Germany in which the person lied on the form. Why take the chance? So what if there are lots of packages and maybe they won't catch yours. What kind of thinking is that? Its breaking the law. Its never okay to break the law. Remember this is a federal offense. A gift is only an item you send to someone you know.. that they didn't pay for. An ebay sale is never a gift.
It is classed as fraud and sure if you are importing containers of stock and avoiding the tax man you will get fined and can even get jail time. However we don't have a federal law system and the courts and prisons are too packed full with actual criminals in order to get prison for dodging a £10 import charge. Serious tax avoiders - i.e. Google and Starbucks - can find ways to skip the system it seems harsh that little hathorcat who is importing a $30 pony is going to jail for asking someone to ship as a gift.
I think sometimes people in countries which dont have as tight import restrictions realise quite the extent of this issue here in the UK [and certainly in other countries]. Every single package coming into the UK is stopped - if the declaration is higher than £18 you pay a handing charge of around £8 minimum plus a percentage of that value. For me, it is getting to the stage where I seriously have to consider making purchases from outside the EU. *shrug* as long as sellers dont mind that the high import charges put bidders and buyers off, then thats find. But I think in the long run everyone is going to lose out. In the US you are very very fortunate that you dont encounter this problem to the same extent as we do.
The purpose of import duty is so that the UK Government gets back the VAT/tax that they miss out on when the item being imported was purchased in another country. However 2 things: 1) I am purchasing the item on the Arena or via ebay, the seller is not charging me tax anyway; 2) I am purchasing second hand items and items which could not be purchased within the country I am from [perhaps never released here] but being charged tax on it? I would not actually quibble with a charge if I purchased a G4 item MIB which is on UK shelves but I am buying it in order to get it cheaper...then sure I would be liable.
I understand that its not something every one is comfortable with and no one should ship this way if they do not wish to. And shipping under value is something the buyer needs to accept responsibility for as it means any claims by the seller could never be for the full value. But I just think its worth remembering how expensive import duties make pony collecting for some people. Crying "not fair" is maybe a little childish...but to be honest on this occasion its justified.
So in the long run...is it illegal to put a different total than paid for the item on the customs receipt? Yup it is. Is it fair that hobbiest/collectors pay additional import duties for something which they dont intent to make any profit on? For me...no. I am not suggesting anyone avoid the fees or change the custom declaration. And I also think everyone must be aware of potential fees - they suck but you will be caught with them and you will have to pay them as a buyer they are your responsibility. However, as a long term collector if I added up what I have paid over the years in customs charges...I think I am funding the satellite tvs some of those actual criminals have in their jail cells.
edit for Cats spelling fail
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Well said, Hathorcat :) One thing to note, though - the minimum amount for customs charging is now £15, not £18 :( Gifts over £36 are also taxable.
I think that if the mail companies weren't allowed to charge such offensively high handling fees (it's part of their dang job, why do they get to charge more for a service they're supposed to provide anyway!?) then no one (or certainly fewer people) would consider lying on the forms. I don't think I've ever paid an import charge where the VAT was more than the handling fee...
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I really have to agree with Hathorcat. It really winds me up when people use words like federal offence about valuing a toy that could be purchased at Goodwill for $1
The majority of people on this board are from the US - I wonder what it would be like if the shoe was on the other foot.
I will not buy from a seller who insist on doing it.
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I have to agree with Sebby and Hathorcat also, a pony is essentially worthless, it's a piece of plastic. I see a whole world of difference in marking a vintage G1 that cost $50, $10, and marking down a brand new iphone 5s which cost hundreds of dollars.
A lot of products are cheaper to buy from the US than they are in Europe (phones, laptops, designer clothes, perfume etc etc), that is what these customs laws are designed to prevent, people from Europe buying NEW products from other countries where they are cheaper and avoiding paying VAT/tax by not buying that product in their own country.
The purpose of import duty is so that the UK Government gets back the VAT/tax that they miss out on when the item being imported was purchased in another country. However 2 things: 1) I am purchasing the item on the Arena or via ebay, the seller is not charging me tax anyway; 2) I am purchasing second hand items and items which could not be purchased within the country I am from [perhaps never released here] but being charged tax on it? I would not actually quibble with a charge if I purchased a G4 item MIB which is on UK shelves but I am buying it in order to get it cheaper...then sure I would be liable.
^^ Could not agree with this more.
Do you guys think it's fair that we should get stuck with a ridiculously excessive tax for a vintage pony which we would not pay tax on when buying from within our own country? VAT etc would not apply if we brought the same pony for the same price from a seller in the UK. So how does it make sense that we have to pay it when buying the pony from a seller abroad? We are clearly not circumventing taxation as vintage items like these are not subject to these taxes within our own country.
I too find it frustrating when people look at everything so black and white, clearly there is a massive difference in asking for a new product, subject to VAT etc., with an intrinsic value to be undervalued on a custom form versus an old product, not subject to VAT etc., with no intrinsic value to be undervalued.
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If a seller gets caught putting a lower value on a package, *they* are the one who'll get fined, unless I'm misunderstanding things. The buyer would have to pay the import fees, but that would be the end of it on their end, right? I've offered to divide up large lots so the value of each part is lower, but then shipping is more...
I know it must be frustrating to have to pay such fees, but I just don't feel comfortable falsifying official paperwork, I guess I'm just a goody two shoes, haha, I didn't even get into trouble as a teenager!
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Well said Hathorcat and co.
I would also like to remind people that some of us have to pay tax when buying items from EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY, which means that if we go by strict law, I have to pay import tax unless I manage to buy a pony from 330 000 people that live in this country. This is pretty much the reason why I very rarely buy ponies unless I find them at the thrift store :(
Also, the customs rules here state that gifts under a certain value don't get taxed, but you can only receive gifts on special days (which are defined by the customs office!), and I've had them try to tax items clearly marked as gifts numerous times and hassle me and my family before they finally release them (I have never received anything worth more than $100 and most of the time we are talking items less than $50 in value). In fact, it happened a few times that they taxed my gift and when I went there to complain, they just handed me my package, tax-free without any comment. This says to me that they will try to tax people even when they know they have no right just to see if they can get away with it.
Customs also open ALL my packages, always, something that should be done only in the case of a suspicious package.
But I guess I'm a criminal if I ask someone to mark my $5 second hand pony a gift.
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If a seller gets caught putting a lower value on a package, *they* are the one who'll get fined, unless I'm misunderstanding things. The buyer would have to pay the import fees, but that would be the end of it on their end, right? I've offered to divide up large lots so the value of each part is lower, but then shipping is more...
I think it depends on the country. But from the reading I've done, it unfortunately tends to fall on the buyer, just because there's not really a way for the receiving country to follow up with the seller. If I send a package to Germany and it's found that I falsified information on the label, I don't think the German officials are going to go through the cost and effort of trying to seek action against me because doing that internationally is just WAY beyond a reasonable reach. Instead it would likely fall on the buyer, in the form of higher fees to get their package. At least that's what I've gathered from the little bit of reading I've done. So in most cases if you lie on a customs form and its caught it's just going to hurt your buyer more :\ (I suppose it's possible the USPS could catch it on the way out if they feel like something is suspicious, but I think that's pretty rare.)
I'm happy to help my fellow pony people when I can. Genuine gifts, swaps, etc I will mark as a gift. Usually most handmade items, too. I try to find out what the "limits" are in the country I'm sending to and will slightly mark down values if it's something that's flexible. E.g. the actual amount spent on a swap box was $35 but the limit for a package to be considered a gift works out to like $30, I'll knock off a few dollars on value and if the worst case scenario happens then I can't claim the value of a couple of packs of sweets. The same goes for if I sell a pony through the arena to someone I know well or is a strong community member with good feedback - I'm not going to drastically undervalue a package, but if I sell a pony for $17 and the import charges jump drastically for items over $15, if I'm aware of it I will do a small markdown like that.
But when it comes to things sold through ebay I won't do it. Given ebay/paypal's tendency to almost always side with buyers, as a seller I'm not going to give up any of my limited protection. So sadly that means higher costs for my international buyers, including more expensive shipping services and full disclosure on customs forms. But, all of that is clearly stated up front and buyers know going into the transaction that they are responsible for those fees and based on that they can choose whether or not they want to bid. So it is completely unreasonable for a buyer to lodge a complaint or refuse shipment after the fact.
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So let me get this straight as I have never really thought of this as being considered fraud, other than thinking... oh, I'm just helping someone out! So let's say I sell X amount of ponies, etc from my sales. It is wrong for the buyer to then ask me to mark it as gift and lower the amount on the form to avoid custom fees? Because I have been asked to do this at least by 2 members here. I never knew it was considered fraud so I just did it assuming I was just helping out another collector.
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In Sweden....
We have to pay 25% of the amount in custom tax, not including shipping fees. If the package says "gift", you still have to pay 25% if the value is higher than around $63. And you have to pay a $16 handling fee. But all that is just if they actually check your package, most of the time they don´t.
All this is because in Sweden we have this tax called moms. We pay it on all all merchandise, food, everything. So when you purchase something from a country that does not have moms, like the US, you have to pay it when the item enters Sweden
I'm pretty sure I've been charged on both item value and postage cost before though... which sucks. And they do have "moms" in other countries, it's called VAT and is pretty much the same as US sales tax. :)
So let me get this straight as I have never really thought of this as being considered fraud, other than thinking... oh, I'm just helping someone out! So let's say I sell X amount of ponies, etc from my sales. It is wrong for the buyer to then ask me to mark it as gift and lower the amount on the form to avoid custom fees? Because I have been asked to do this at least by 2 members here. I never knew it was considered fraud so I just did it assuming I was just helping out another collector.
That's my take on it as well. I always mark "gift" and a low value when shipping out of the EU, and I ask sellers to do the same. I don't expect them to do it though, since some are completely against it. If it's a high value item, I always ask before purchasing, and if they wont mark down, I'll just look elsewhere for the item. So all in all, it's up to you what you prefer to do. I have never heard of anyone getting "caught" for this practice, so it's more a question of your own moral I guess. Personally I'm completely against this system (when it comes to small purchases by private consumers, especially for items not even available within the country), so I don't feel bad for breaking the rule ;)
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UPDATE!
SDCC Rainbow Dash finally made it back to me! Let's see...how long has it been now? Just under two months since he rejected the box.
I was able to refund him the price of the pony, less shipping costs, as agreed...but it took me a little bit of work. Here's what was involved and hopefully this information will be helpful to someone in the future!
1) When I got the box from my post office, I just happened to have my camera with me! Before I even opened it, I took pictures. Lots of labels, re-taped, and specialty tape from Holland's customs.
2) I opened the box and took pictures of what everything looked like inside. Thankfully, Dashie was sent back to me in perfect condition. Two thumbs up for the Netherlands' Customs Officers!
3) I did not open a case through eBay (ooops). My 45 days had run out. I contacted eBay's customer service by phone and was refunded my Final Value fees. So, just a heads up, if something like this happens to you: open a case within 45 days. You then get 60 days from the date of opening to complete the case, so this extends the time. Just let your buyer know not to do anything. Explain what you're doing and why and let it sit open until you get the item back.
4) Juuuuuuust missed PayPal's 60 day return policy! I had to call them. They refunded me the original fees, as well as the small fee I was charged for sending the buyer his refund as a "gift."
So, although I am annoyed with this entire situation, I followed through with my promise of refunding the price of the item *pats self on back*
Buuuuuuut, the price on this little beauty has decreased since I original listed her (grrrr). Not the buyer's fault, obviously, but I am quite annoyed that during this rigmarole 1) I was not compensated for my time, 2) I lost out on actually selling my item for a profit, 3) I used a considerable amount of my limited cell phone minutes (<--- Virgin Mobile User)
It's interactions like this that I question if I should continue selling items overseas. Of course I will, because the majority of pony-people abroad are awesome and don't pull stunts like this ;)
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I hope nobody else has to go through this! If you let us know the ID of this buyer, others can be protected! :(
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I hope nobody else has to go through this! If you let us know the ID of this buyer, others can be protected! :(
His id is 1975mvds
He has 100% feedback - not a bad buyer, but this situation was frustrating. He mainly buys blind bags from sellers based in China.
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If the item was marked as gift, he'd get out without fees if the total worth is 40 euro (for some delivery services this INCLUDES shipping too). Many ask for the item to be marked as gift, but request for the value to be lowered is just rude. For us its really uncertain wether we get custom fees or not.
In the end it was his risk, glad things have been fixed now.
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I live in the Netherlands, and have just bought 70 dollars (including postage)worth of ponies from a lovely lady in the USA. I've never bought from USA before and honestly don't know a lot about custom charges- I must admit now I am quite afraid of a hefty bill coming my way when I go to collect my ponies! Oh dear- I would certainly never refuse my packet like that other person did though that's a horrible thing to do to the seller! I don't suppose anyone out there has had experience from my side of things, and can tell me what kind of bill I might expect to face? :)
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There are lots of pony folks from the Netherlands here, hopefully they will be able to shed some light on it for you.
I did find this that maybe helpful in determining your charges till then though.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_center/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-the-Netherlands/
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There are lots of pony folks from the Netherlands here, hopefully they will be able to shed some light on it for you.
I did find this that maybe helpful in determining your charges till then though.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_center/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-the-Netherlands/
Thank you Ponylady, that is indeed useful- It puts my mind a little at ease that it won't be a rediculously high bill at least :) If any other european buyers have some more info from experience, would appreciate it :)