Ebay shops and customs charges
Ber Nard
Posts: 827
I've bought a gilet from the ebay side of a bike shop based in Jersey. The price was good and it was free postage to the UK so I bought it expecting a quick delivery as they state they normally dispatch their goods next day.
Two weeks after an email confirming the item had left them I got a card from the postie saying it was being held at the collection office as there is a customs charge to pay which, including their admin fee, is £13. The gilet only cost £52 so adding another unexpected £13 to it makes rather expensive; certainly more than I'd have paid had I known beforehand.
I'm inclined to let it get sent back to the seller and ask for a refund but the Post Office are going to hold it for three weeks and I'd rather sort it out sooner than that. My other option is to pay the fee, keep the item and try to claim the money back.
Nowhere on the seller's website does it state that items are subject to customs charges so would I be likely to get my money back off them? Have they ballsed up the shipping or am I being naive not to have foreseen this happening?
Your thoughts on where I stand and what I should do?
Ta,
Rob
Two weeks after an email confirming the item had left them I got a card from the postie saying it was being held at the collection office as there is a customs charge to pay which, including their admin fee, is £13. The gilet only cost £52 so adding another unexpected £13 to it makes rather expensive; certainly more than I'd have paid had I known beforehand.
I'm inclined to let it get sent back to the seller and ask for a refund but the Post Office are going to hold it for three weeks and I'd rather sort it out sooner than that. My other option is to pay the fee, keep the item and try to claim the money back.
Nowhere on the seller's website does it state that items are subject to customs charges so would I be likely to get my money back off them? Have they ballsed up the shipping or am I being naive not to have foreseen this happening?
Your thoughts on where I stand and what I should do?
Ta,
Rob
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You are being naive I'm afraid. It's a requirement for traders to state the values of all items leaving the US, and everything imported from the US is subject to a customs charge. You can sometimes get away with it, but more often than not, there will be a charge to pay.
Exception is if the sender marks the item as a gift, but its not actually lawful to do so and so its up to them if they do or not.0 -
Will they send it back to the seller or will they destroy it?
If the value is under £135 or it comes from an EU country, HMRC's website says you don't have to pay customs duty on it (Channel Islands are counted as EU in this case).
There shouldn't be any Excise Duty on it, so you should only be paying the 20% import VAT which is charged on anything over £15 (or £40 if it's a gift).
If Royal Mail's admin fee is £8, £5 for VAT isn't bad...
Did you pay any VAT to the seller? It should say on the listing if VAT is included.0 -
Hadn't considered the VAT aspect but I think I'd have spotted it when I was combing their website. I'll have another look.
Cheers.
Rob0 -
from the HMRC website:-
"Import VAT
VAT is a tax normally charged on the supply of goods (and services) made by a VAT - registered business in the UK. For goods brought in or sent to the UK from the EU there's no extra VAT to pay unless you're ordering or sending purchased goods from one of the EU Special Territories, such as Jersey or Guernsey, in which case you'll have to pay import VAT.
The EU 'Special Territories' are The Aland Islands (Finland), The Canary Islands (Spain), The Channel Islands (UK), The French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Reunion and Mount Athos also known as Agion Poros (Greece).
Goods imported to the UK from outside the EU are subject to import VAT, unless they are brought in as part of your duty free allowances."
So 20% VAT to pay on the item AND possibly postage!!
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Right. I've had another look on their website and at the very bottom of the page in tiny letters is a clicky 'Legal' where it states orders are subject to VAT. However, nowhere is this stated on their ebay page and my only dealing with them is through ebay. Would it achieve anything contacting ebay?
If they were more upfront and open about it I could have at least saved myself the Post Office fee (or I just wouldn't have placed the order). But saying that, there wasn't the option to pay the VAT upfront.
Looks like I may have to chalk this one up to experience and not buy from there again. Though if this is what the summer's going to be like I'll at least get plenty of use out of it!
Rob0 -
Ber Nard wrote:Right. I've had another look on their website and at the very bottom of the page in tiny letters is a clicky 'Legal' where it states orders are subject to VAT. However, nowhere is this stated on their ebay page and my only dealing with them is through ebay. Would it achieve anything contacting ebay?
You will get nowhere i'm afraid. The shop isnt liable for what VAT is payable on people's personal imports, and dont forget that they are likely to be based there specifically to trade worldwide by not having to charge local taxes up-front. They cant be expected to tell customers in every country what tax is payable.
Chalk it up to experience i'm afraid. I've bought from abroad plenty of times myself (clothing from Italy, carbon wheels from USA, frame from China, various parts from HK) so always check for potential taxes now.0 -
So what have they based the charge of £5 on? VAT at 20% would make it more like a tenner, wouldn't it?
What's cheesed me off as well is I always try to buy from the UK on ebay to avoid this. I set the advance search settings to only show items in the UK to filter out items I wouldn't buy. Having checked, this seller still shows up and, after Googling because my geography is sh!t, Jersey isn't in the UK.
Clutching at straws now...
Rob0 -
I'm sorry Rob but you won't win under any circumstance Might just have to pay the dosh and be more wary about buying from abroad. I never buy from the USA these days. 0
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nweststeyn wrote:I'm sorry Rob but you won't win under any circumstance Might just have to pay the dosh and be more wary about buying from abroad. I never buy from the USA these days.
http://www.jersey.com/english/aboutjers ... fault.aspx
have a read of this'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'0 -
pinarello001 wrote:
Hindsight's a wonderful thing. In future, if it's not on the mainland, I'm not going to bother.
Cheers all!
Rob0 -
Why do I need to read a page about Jersey?0
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so you know where it is
as opposed to new jersey'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'0 -
Hahahahaha... Oops! Yup I definitely read New Jersey.
I don't need a lesson in Geography, but perhaps some proof-reading classes wouldn't go amiss.0 -
youre spot on about buying from the u.s. though'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'0
