Taking a risk and buying something from EU to ship to US
I'm in the US and the seller is in the EU. This is my first time ordering anything on any platform from outside the US since the de minimus went away. I know everything's a mess right now and I wanted to check the validity of the seller's claims. The seller says:
- ebay does not allow sellers to exclude US buyers.
- Only low-value personal gifts (up to $100) may enter the U.S. without duties. All orders this seller ships to the US are declared as personal gifts. About half of the shipments are rejected and returned by US customs seemingly without reason.
- The seller wants to let me know this in advance, so I can decide to cancel or assume the financial risk if the shipment is returned by US customs.
- I asked if they could ship it as a regular order and I would pay the duties/tariffs/fees/whatever, but the seller says that is not possible. Shipping orders to the US as personal gifts is the only option.
The item is very low-value ($30), so it's not really much risk to me. The seller has a very good feedback rating. I wanted to check in and see how this sounded to other buyers. The logic side of my brain says to cancel, but the impulsive side of my brain wants to take the chance to receive my dumb little trinkets, haha. Am I just throwing money away? Are the seller's claims legitimate?
Thanks for any advice.
8 comments
kensgiftshop
·9 months agoThat would be enough for me to hit the back button.
You don't lie on the paperwork.
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoYour seller is either ignorant or a liar.
1. If the seller lists on .com, they cannot exclude US sales BUT if they list on any of the EU sites they can.
2. Declaring a purchase as a gift is illegal.
EU sellers can ship by carriers other than the mail. It may require prepaying duties. Obviously, a seller who will falsify customs declarations to show a gift will not do that, and of course, the mail is usually cheaper than the other carriers.
Take the risk, but minimize it by not dealing with this unethical seller.
crockalley
OP9 months agoThe seller says:
"At the moment, shipping commercial consignments from the EU to the U.S. is simply not possible. Because of this, sending parcels as private, low-value personal shipments is currently the only available option — not a preference or workaround, but the only channel that functions at all, even if unpredictably."
I assumed it was a "workaround" as well, but the seller says it's not. That's kind of specifically what I was wondering about. Does this sound completely illegitimate?
stainlessenginecovers
·9 months agoIt obviously IS a work-around if this seller is suggesting shipping you an item you purchase on ebay.
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoIt sounds illegitimate. He can ship by DHL, FEDEX, UPS and other carriers. He just does not like the cost.
If he was an ethical seller, he would remove his listings from .com.
reallynicestamps
·9 months agokathiec
·9 months agoFalsifying customs information by declaring a purchase is a gift is illegal. Personally I wouldn't want to do business with a seller who blithely tells you "but hey, I only get caught breaking the law half the time".
stainlessenginecovers
·9 months agoSellers in most of the EU are 'forbidden' from shipping to the US. The 'shippers' (USPS for example, or UK's form of the USPS has stopped ALL shipments to USA).
So, don't bother.