International Shipping, Customs & Confused Buyer

[Deleted]

I have a buyer in the UK who is confused and unhappy about having to pay VAT fees for her item. The last I read, which was probably ages ago, was we were told to put a disclaimer in our listings that fees were the responsibility of the buyer and then later we didn't have to do this. Does the buyer see this information anywhere else while purchasing? She's saying this information was not made clear. I also need help on how to respond. Thanks.

[Shirley U Geste]

I think they did remove that requirement for having it in a listing but I still put a disclaimer in any listings I have that are open to international buyers. Mine is:

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE:

*Import duties, taxes and charges (including but not limited to Duty and/or VAT fees) are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's     responsibility.
*Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.
*We do not mark merchandise values below actual sales price or mark items as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit such actions


Unless your buyer is brand new and has never purchased international before she is full of it. I would tell her if she is unhappy with the VAT to take it up with her government officials as they are the ones who are charging her that fee and not you.

[Deleted]

Her feedback is over 300 but she might be new to buying overseas. I will add a disclaimer back into my listings. Thanks.

[val2525]

Technically, per eBay CSR, we don't need the warning. Ebay does have a pop up that tells international buyers about VAT, so if your buyer was paying attention, she was warned. I still have the wording though - I don't really trust eBay CSRs.

[Shirley U Geste]

I don't trust the CSRs either which is why I leave the disclaimer in my intl listings.

Good to know there is a popup that tells the buyer about it. 

That there is a popup would be a good thing to point out to the buyer when you reply to her message.

[val2525]

There used to be, anyway. eBay could have removed it.

[Shirley U Geste]

Well yeah, there is that.

With ebay you never know from day to day what they will change around.

[kritter]

I would think that anybody that lives in those VAT countries knows about the VAT thing.

I think she is using the VAT charge to try for something like a partial refund from you or to get out of the transaction.

But then, I always look for the "sneaky" in people.

[Deleted]

The buyer is having an unpleasant experience about this and the fact customs fees info is not in my description. I called eBay who said vat fees are her responsibility and if she leaves a neg, I can appeal to have it removed.

[Shirley U Geste]

I would be really tempted to check her FB left and see is she has bought from US sellers before.

If she keeps on messaging you then you could mention she has bought from the US before and should have expected the fees.

Ebay has usually been good about removing neg FB relating to customs fees, Im glad they are still doing it.

[Deleted]

Her feedback looks good. It looks like she has sold some things inside her own country. I did let her know that it was her country that charge to the duty fees and not me. And she just replied back a very unpleasant experience. Any ideas on how to respond to that? I'm rather at a loss 4 words.

[Shirley U Geste]

Oh the poor thing, traumatized over paying a fee to her government! The total horror of it all will ruin her life forever.  

She is sounding more and more like a bucksnuggler who thinks she can get you to pay the fee if she bothers you enough.

It's buyers like her that made me drop most intl shipping, if I do ship intl now it's to Japan or Australia, I've never had a single buyer from there whine about customs fees.

At this point I wouldn't respond anymore. Nothing more you can say will make her happy.

[val2525]

I'd tell her that you're sorry, but it's out of your hands. VAT is charged by the buyer's country and is not your responsibility, and that eBay usually has a popup screen advising buyers of possible VAT taxes.

Is it possible she's only bought from US sellers opted into GSP? If yes, then toss that in too - her previous sellers used the eBay GSP and VAT was automatically included. You do not participate, therefore her payment to you was less than had you been a GSP seller.

[somany]

Sorry I'm late to the thread, but I would tell her purchasing from ebay is no different than purchasing from any other vendor outside of her country. Even if she hasn't personally purchased from overseas, I would have to think it's been a topic of discussion somewhere somehow that she's been privy to. If she ships outside of the country, I'm almost certain she knows about it.  IIRC they can offset incoming vat charges against outgoing vat charges.  I never fully understood it, but we had an office in the UK at one of the places I worked and that is what I remember. 

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2016 16:20:31 GMT @pardonmypast said:

I have a buyer in the UK who is confused and unhappy about having to pay VAT fees for her item. The last I read, which was probably ages ago, was we were told to put a disclaimer in our listings that fees were the responsibility of the buyer and then later we didn't have to do this. Does the buyer see this information anywhere else while purchasing? She's saying this information was not made clear. I also need help on how to respond. Thanks.

this is why I like GSP w/ duties pre-paid.