International EIS purchase problem for real?
Buyer made an offer, I accepted. When buyer went to check -out he said he was being charged a duty fee for the item at the my original asking price. The offer I accepted according to buyer is below the duty threshold. Buyer asked to cancel and relist at accepted offer price. Anyone else run into this issue?
14 comments
trip98
OP1 year agoUpdate: Lost the sale. Buyer says bought the same ornament from someone else, so much for jumping through hoops.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoUpdate: Lost the sale. Buyer says bought the same ornament from someone else, so much for jumping through hoops.
It happens all you can do is the best you can.
marnotom!
·1 year agoCountries apply duties or tariffs to goods in order to discourage their citizens from purchasing foreign-sourced items instead of local ones.
Looks as though the threat of duty charges worked on your buyer.
It’s also what has has a lot of people outside the US worried, based on what the president-elect was saying at election time.
go-bad-chicken
·1 year agoNope!
IN GERMANY VAT (19%) WILL ALWAYS BE CHARGED FOR ONLINE ORDERS.
https://stripe.com/resources/more/import-tax-germany
"EU VAT must always be paid when goods are imported into the EU from non-EU countries. As a result, both businesses and individuals in Germany must pay import VAT.
However, there is a difference between purchases made locally and those ordered by mail. If you buy goods in non-EU countries and bring them into Germany in your luggage, you must pay import VAT if the value of the goods exceeds €430, but this only applies when traveling by plane or ship. If you enter Germany by train or car, the maximum value of goods you can bring tax-free is €300. For individuals under 15 years of age, the tax-free limit is €175, no matter how they travel.
There is no allowance for online orders from non-EU countries. EU VAT is always charged on these purchases, no matter their value. Until June 30, 2021, there was an exemption limit of €22, but the exemption was removed to prevent tax fraud."
trip98
OP1 year agoWhat is the difference (If any) between VAT and Duty in the EU?
marnotom!
·1 year agoIt's not a perfect comparison, but VAT would be like a US state sales tax except that it applies to the entire country.
Duty would be a charge that applies to imports from countries outside of the EU or where the EU does not have a free trade agreement if the item is not duty-free to start with.
marnotom!
·1 year agoI'm wondering if the $175 amount the buyer is seeing at Checkout is the offer price plus 19% VAT.
VAT is generally a “hidden†tax in the EU and what your buyer is seeing at Checkout on eBay Germany may be a reflection of that.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI'm wondering if the $175 amount the buyer is seeing at Checkout is the offer price plus 19% VAT.
VAT is generally a “hidden†tax in the EU and what your buyer is seeing at Checkout on eBay Germany may be a reflection of that.
Difficult to say but this would be similar to the sales tax a US buyer sees at checkout for a purchase. It is not identified up front since the sales tax percentage would be based on the buyers location but the buyer does see it when they checkout and pay for the item.
marnotom!
·1 year agoWhere is your buyer located? For sales to the EU, Australia, and a few other countries/jurisdictions, eBay automatically charges and collect taxes on the sale the same way they do for your sales to US buyers. There’s no “tax free†minimum , although there may be a maximum if the value of the item exceeds the duty-free limit and customs has to charge and collect instead of eBay.
As @ittybitnot suggests, your buyer’s issue is with eBay, and possibly their country’s taxation and revenue department, not you.
If I knew where the item was going and its value, I might be able to provide more specific and useful information instead of this bafflegab I’m spewing. You may need to get some clarification from your buyer on what sort of charges eBay is levying, too.
trip98
OP1 year agoBuyer is in Germany. Vintage sterling Christmas ornament. Here is the message:
Unfortunately, when I go to the check out the item still shows the old price of $175 and, in consequence, duty will apply. As eBay informed me you will have to change the sales price to $145 according to my offer and everything will be OK.They are not sure if this will work at this stage of the transaction, so maybe you will have to cancel the transaction first and start a new one.Please let me know when the changes are on and I will pay immediately.
BTW I would of course like to save the "sale", but I also want to know if this is a real problem for accepted offers under the Duty threshold.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoBuyer is in Germany. Vintage sterling Christmas ornament. Here is the message:
Unfortunately, when I go to the check out the item still shows the old price of $175 and, in consequence, duty will apply. As eBay informed me you will have to change the sales price to $145 according to my offer and everything will be OK.They are not sure if this will work at this stage of the transaction, so maybe you will have to cancel the transaction first and start a new one.Please let me know when the changes are on and I will pay immediately.
BTW I would of course like to save the "sale", but I also want to know if this is a real problem for accepted offers under the Duty threshold.
VAT and Duties are two separate types of taxes. Your new listing at $145 may get the item under the duty threshold but it may not eliminate the VAT. Let us know how the relist and resale goes and whether the new price got rid of the duty tax
ittybitnot
·1 year ago@trip98
Item prices displayed on other European eBay sites INCLUDE any VAT taxes. When the same products are viewed on the US site they do NOT include the tax. It is added on the checkout page, giving the impression you are overcharging.
Basically, your buyer's problem is with eBay, and you lowering your price will not make the buyer's problem go away. It will be a clever way to get a discount if you go for it.
trip98
OP1 year agoYes, I already accepted the offer for the lesser amount before I knew the buyer was international. The buyer is not asking for any more of discount from me. Buyer is saying at check out the item should not have any duty fees because the purchase was under $150, my asking price was above that. Ha ebay customer service told him to cancel the sale and have me relist at new price which I have done, but I don't think it is going to fix the problem for him...
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoAsk the buyer if they want to cancel the order. You can create a new listing with the BIN price equal to the offer they made. Use some special title to try and prevent it from coming up in a general search. Coordinate with the buyer on the posting time. Once you have it posted send the individual a link to the posting so hopefully they can make the purchase before anyone else does.