ebay question - what would you do?

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Quiff Boy
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i bought this from the states

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... RK:MEWA:IT

it says the seller and the item is located in the u.s., but the item's delivery details state
Postage and payment details
Postage and Packing:
(within United Kingdom) Royal Mail 1st Class Standard: £18.00

Postal insurance: Not offered
Will post to United Kingdom only.
nowhere does it mention customs duty or VAT.

i assumed he was just re-selling stuff and that the product itself was going to be posted from in the uk.

after i won the auction the seller sent me an email saying that postage was £18, which is what it says on the ebay item description too.

so i payed him the 173 quid.

it arrived today and parcel force tell me there is £41 customs & VAT to pay as the item was sent from the states.

wtf?

i've asked them to hold onto it for a few days while i contact the seller. i'm pretty f*cking angry - i could barely afford it as it was but i certainly cant afford if it its actually 41 quid more expensive again.

i'd like to ask him to either pay the 41 quid, or for a complete refund. i dont want it if its that much - i cant afford it and its hardly a bargain anymore.

what do you reckon - do i have a leg to stand on with the seller? what should i expect from him? he wasn't exactly helpful when i asked him if he'd received payment and the item had been shipped. :urff:
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lazarus corporation
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I think you may have a leg to stand on re. the seller - I think they need to explain why the item was available to the UK only when the seller was in the states - it's very suspect.

It's tricky as I think you're responsible for finding out what customs and local taxes you have to pay on any item you bid for, and those costs are your responsibility.

For future reference, if a similar item comes to you from across the pond, but contains a notice on the outside of the parcel stating that it is a replacement for a previously delivered faulty item, then you obviously cannot be charged VAT & customs, since you are assumed to have paid it on the original (and the cost of the replacement to you is effectively £0.00). :innocent:
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Ed Rhombus
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I've been whacked for VAT and parcelforce's additions before on Ebay.

What make's this differant is the fact that it is advertised as being posted in the UK.

I'll take it up with Ebay first and see what they say. They're normally very interested in this type of thing and keen to protect their customers.
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Quiff Boy
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cheers.

i've drafted this mail to him:
Hi

Parcel Force attempted to deliver the item today but told me that there was a £41 fee to pay for customs & VAT as the item was shipped from the U.S.

But the item's description mentions nothing about being sent from the states:
-----------------------------------------
Postage and payment details
Postage and Packing:
(within United Kingdom) Royal Mail 1st Class Standard: £18.00

Postal insurance: Not offered
Will post to United Kingdom only.
-----------------------------------------

I've asked them to hold on to it until I've contacted you.

Can you tell me why the item says you will only ship to the UK? And why you even quote UK postage rates, with no mention of possible customs or VAT charges? The descriotipn gives the impression it is actually being shipped from within the UK and thus no duty would be payable.

Thanks.
so i'll see what he says.

whats the procedure for passing the complaint on to eBay themselves? or should i wait to see his reponse?

either way, do you think i'll have to pay if i want it? should be able to expect a refund you reckon?
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markfiend
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It's unfortunate but this sort of thing seems to be happening more frequently on e-bay. I had an experience a few weeks ago where I bought some software off there. After waiting nearly 3 weeks after having paid, and it still hadn't turned up, and the guy was ignoring all my emails, I left him negative feedback.

The very next day (!) the software turned up but it was a CD-R copy, with no registry-key, manuals, anything. So I just let the negative feedback stay up there :lol:

Oh and I got the registry key and a pdf of the manual off the net, so I can use my software now. :innocent:
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Quiff Boy
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just sent ebay an email anyway.
Hi


I won this auction: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 3744288867

The seller is located in the United States but the product shipping details state that he will only send to the UK, and he even quotes UK postage prices.

Nowhere does he mention customs or VAT charges, so I naturally assumed that the product would in fact be dispatched from within the UK, and thus no customs or VAT would be due.

It arrived to today and Parcel Force want an additional £41 as it was sent from the US.

What should I do? I've asked them to hold on to it for a few days.

Should I contact the seller? Can i reasonably expect him to pay the customs? Or could I except him to give me a refund if I decide its too expensive?

The customs charges effect the overall price I will have to pay for the goods - if I'd been aware of the potential for a customs charge beforehand I would have investigated the total cost and probably not bid for it.

Could you find out why the item tries makes you think its being sent from the UK? I think its deliberately misleading.

Thanks
bastard. i was really looking forward to getting that too - but it was enough to justify spending the cash in the first place, eased only by its relative cheapness. i cant warrant spending that much on one - its almost as much as if i'd walked into a shop and bought one here - and i'd have had that about 4 weeks ago :urff: :(
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Loki
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I never buy from abroad for the simple reason if it does go pear-shaped you're knackered. Any probs with UK sellers can usually be resolved with the aid of a good road atlas and a car. :von:

Not much use Quiffy I know but your situation sounds like one of those small print issues which could prove rather protracted. :|
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markfiend
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I guess he could legitimately claim he would only send it to the UK if it's mains powered and a UK model. I don't think anywhere else uses our 240V 50 Hz mains. Typical British insularity. :roll:
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hallucienate
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markfiend wrote:I guess he could legitimately claim he would only send it to the UK if it's mains powered and a UK model. I don't think anywhere else uses our 240V 50 Hz mains. Typical British insularity. :roll:
we do, oz does. :P
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Quiff Boy
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hallucienate wrote:
markfiend wrote:I guess he could legitimately claim he would only send it to the UK if it's mains powered and a UK model. I don't think anywhere else uses our 240V 50 Hz mains. Typical British insularity. :roll:
we do, oz does. :P
ahhh, the colonies?

;)
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hallucienate
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Quiff Boy wrote:
hallucienate wrote:
markfiend wrote:I guess he could legitimately claim he would only send it to the UK if it's mains powered and a UK model. I don't think anywhere else uses our 240V 50 Hz mains. Typical British insularity. :roll:
we do, oz does. :P
ahhh, the colonies?

;)
<yawn> yes, except we use plugs and sockets that look like these.
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hallucienate
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and a quick look here will show MF just how unique the UK power standard is :roll:
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markfiend
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Not like ours then.
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Loki
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hallucienate wrote:<yawn> yes, except we use plugs and sockets that look like these.
Oh yes. I remember stealing an adapter from the first hotel I stayed in. :innocent:
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markfiend
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hallucienate wrote:and a quick look here will show MF just how unique the UK power standard is :roll:
Ok, so I'm wrong. It happens. :lol:


Not very often though.
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Loki
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markfiend wrote:
hallucienate wrote:and a quick look here will show MF just how unique the UK power standard is :roll:
Ok, so I'm wrong. It happens. :lol:


Not very often though.
Update from the Sisters site:

"Contrary to what you may have heard, read or smoked: Markfiend gets it wrong with alarming regularity. Far too often, according to some folks."

:wink:
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markfiend
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Oi! (again)
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Loki
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markfiend wrote:Oi! (again)
You forgot the © Sexygoth™
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hallucienate
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JB wrote:
markfiend wrote:Oi! (again)
You forgot the © Sexygoth™
she uses "bloody OI!" © Sexygoth™
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markfiend
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:lol:
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I've been selling on ebay for a long time now. Here's the bad news:

Unless the seller stated in the description or shipping and payment details that customs expenses are covered in the price of shipping, you're screwed. As far as ebay is concerned, if the seller clearly stated that s/he was located in the US, and you know you don't live there, you're expected to know about the customs charges. Technically, they didn't deceive you.

However, as a seller myself, I think it's bs, and people like that give reputible sellers a bad name. The proper thing for the seller to do would been to have calculated the customs charge and added it to the shipping cost (which I always do, prepaying the cost for the buyer).

Here's what I suggest. Contact the seller, tell him the situation, and ask for a reversal. Does the seller have a high number of positive feedback? If they do, chances are they won't want to blemish their record by making you leave negative feedback. Or maybe they'll just realize that it's the right thing to do (that probably won't happen though).

You can always turn around and resell the item.

What I always do for my international customers is mark the customs form *gift, under $10*, which dramatically lowers the customs charge for them (yeah, it's illegal, so sue me).

Just try and see if you can work it out with the seller. Ebay has a mediation service that you can utilize to help solve this dispute.

Now, having told you all of the nice ways to solve this, if you don't mind doing an eye for an eye type thing, PM me and I'll tell you how else you can get out of this.

Gah. Edited because I need to find out something. When you click on the sellers location link, does it say his location is the US? If so, you're still screwed. If not, you should be able to get a refund via SafeHarbor.

:roll: Edited, again, because I'm a twit. How did you pay for the item? If you used PayPal, you might be on firmer ground. PayPal takes that sort of thing very seriously, so you might be able to get a refund.
I would have done something, but I was overwhelmed by a lack of concern.
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Quiff Boy
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seller location = us
item location = us
shipping details = uk
payment method = paypal

:(
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mik
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Looks like you're stoofed mate :(

Time for an e-whip round! Evryone div up a couple of quid into the Quiffmeisters paypal account to cover his customs bill! Garn Quiffy; whats your paypal name?

If you take it to the next Heartland vs The Sheep you can charge people a quid a go to have their photo taken with it :notworthy:
Something pithy.
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christophe
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mik wrote: If you take it to the next Heartland vs The Sheep you can charge people a quid a go to have their photo taken with it :notworthy:
:notworthy: :notworthy:

damn I won't be there :wink: :innocent:
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Quiff Boy
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cheers mik. :roll: :lol:

i could bring my "guitar port" - gary marx has played through it ;) :notworthy: :lol:









and the paypay link is at the top (or maybe the bottom depending on which theme you're using) of the page - labelled "Paypal Donation" :innocent: ;D
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