I Got Scammed by a Seller – eBay Says “Not Our Problem†After I Got Hit with $96.50 FedEx Bill!
I saved up to buy my friend a special birthday gift and spent $894.09 on a 1:6 Michael Jordan figure listed as “Brand New.â€
That was a big deal for me — I used up my savings.
But what I received was shocking.
It wasn’t new at all.
It arrived loosely wrapped in toilet paper, scratched, unpacked, and with a torn-up box both inside and out.
It looked used and completely disrespected.
Also, the seller claimed their shop was located in Japan, but the figure was shipped from a Chinese factory using a Chinese delivery company.
I contacted the seller because I couldn’t gift something in that condition.
The seller shifted all the blame to the factory and acted as if they had absolutely no responsibility for the item they sold.
I had no choice but to return it.
But then, the seller only refunded me $447.05, using a ridiculous excuse like “the packaging was missing.â€
Hello? There was never any packaging to begin with… unless you count toilet paper!
I filed a claim with eBay and thankfully won the case.
I was granted a full refund.
But here’s where it gets worse.
The seller redirected the FedEx customs charge ($96.50) back to me.
Now I’m stuck paying duties and taxes on an item I no longer even own.
I contacted eBay, and all they told me was:
“We don’t handle customs. Not our issue.â€
Seriously?
I’ve been buying on eBay for almost 9 years — mainly Pokémon cards — and I almost never return anything.
This was my first major issue, and now I’m being punished for doing the right thing?
I followed every rule. I trusted eBay. I got scammed.
And now I’m left alone to deal with the seller’s deception?
Buyer Protection?
Where is it?
I’ve lost trust in eBay.
If a seller can get away with this and eBay refuses to step in, what hope do honest buyers have?
I won’t be buying from eBay anymore unless something is done.
If anyone here has experienced something similar or can offer advice, please help.
zakstreasuretrove
·1 year agoThank you for the detailed information. I should have know FedEx would have their grimy hands in the pie! 😉
All in all, I'm happy to stick to EIS and avoid this type of thing. Especially on eBay. If I had my own platform where I make the return policy.....that's different.
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@zakstreasuretrove
I think there's some confusion here because of people in the USA not being used to tariffs/customs charges yet ... here's a summary of what OP said happened:
So far, that's straightforward. But, because the item was more than $800, there would be customs due on the item, no matter where (outside the USA) it was shipped from. The buyer, as the importer on record, is responsible for paying the customs (and tariffs, if any) on the package. These are charged separately from the purchase, and are collected by the shipping carrier (FedEx, in this case). OP made no mention of paying these fees before delivery, which is unusual.
However, if the package was shipped from China by SpeedPAK (which is required for most items drop-shpped from China) then the seller is required to prepay the customs, duties, tariffs, etc. when they pay for the shipping label. So that is not what happened here.
I stopped trying to keep track of the tariff situation a month or two ago, but if there were tariffs charged because the item was shipped from China, they would have been as much as the purchase cost ($894.04), or more. So that's not what the FedEx charge was for, either.
The only thing that would explain an import charge invoice for less than $100, would be charges for importing an item valued over the de minimis exemption, plus the brokerage fee for taking it through customs. Such a low charge suggests that there were no additional tariffs charged, just the regular customs and duties plus brokerage. This would have been charged no matter where the item was imported from. Import charges are charged to the buyer/importer, and are normally collected before the package is delivered.
However, if OP has a FedEx account, then FedEx may have charged the OP's account and delivered the package right away, rather than delaying it. I think that is the most likely explanation for the charge. I don't see any other way that FedEx could have charged OP for the fees after the fact. FedEx must have had OP's credit info already. Otherwise they would have sent an invoice for the import charges and brokerage fee before the item was delivered.
If the FedEx customs charge had been for returning the package to the seller, then it would have been charged to the seller, not to the buyer. I don't think anything was redirected, I think that the OP did not understand that they were responsible for the original import charges, which FedEx charged to their account, and now OP has to pay them.
When an imported purchase is returned, the buyer/importer can apply to the USCBP for a refund of the customs and import charges that were paid. Here's more information about this:
sihes_6616
·1 year agothanks for your tutorial, very helpful
zakstreasuretrove
·1 year agoI'm confused about the 'redirection' too. Was it some kind of official notice or just what the seller told you?
If it's an official notice, maybe it will say that the item will be seized if not paid. If that's the case and since you already got your refund, let them keep it. If it was from the seller, just ignore it or advise him that it's been re-redirected back to him.
kalyoth
·1 year agoFirst - just to confirm - you got a full refund before the customs fees - yes?
Please explain to us how they "redirected" the fees onto you.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoWhen you ship to another country using UPS or FedEx, if the receiver fails to pay the customs fees (and the courier’s inflated processing fee), FedEx/UPS will often bill the person who purchased the label for the unpaid fees.
kalyoth
·1 year agoCustoms etc. decades ago broke that scam - if you don't pay them up front, they don't deliver the shipment. That is where I'm confused. If it got delivered, then the fees had to have been paid to allow for delivery.