Buyer upset about import fees. Advice please?

[cool-chaos]

Buyer question: "Hello there, I recently purchased a purple Tee from your company at the value of $24. As well as a shipment fee of $21.
When the item arrived in my town I was informed I had to pay an extra import charge of $16 as the international charge hadn’t been paid for which should of been included in the already high postage expense. As you can imagine. I’m not happy about this. I’ve been a eBay member since 2012 and I’ve never had to pay import fees for a mere t-shirt worth $24. Let alone 3/4 of that at $15. For an item in the $40-50 range I would have no qualms about such a thing. But I was rather displeased for having to pay such a high fee in comparison to a low value item. I mean it’s literally just a T-shirt. Please can you get back to me at your earliest convenience to resolve this matter?  Thank you."

Can someone advise on what to tell this customer, please? Thanks in advance! Jewel  🙂   

[robot-hands]

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@cool-chaos wrote:

Can someone advise on what to tell this customer, please? Thanks in advance! Jewel  🙂   

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Yeah.

"Tough."

[pjcdn2005]

I would explain to the buyer that if they purchase with a seller that ships using the gsp the import fees are paid upfront and that those fees are always stated separately from the shipping cost on a listing. If they don't see a separate import charge on the listing, that means that they may have to pay it when the package reaches their location.

 I would also mention that underneath the shipping cost on each listing there is a note saying that international items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges. Buyers are always responsible for paying those fees.

I do have to say though that in some cases your shipping costs are high.  For example, you charge $22 to Canada to ship a tshirt and the same to ship a key chain or a magnet. And for 4 stickers your charge $15 shipping.  Most or all of those items should ship for $9.50 (or less if you use ebay shipping) to Canada so on the first few items you are making $12+ in profit on shipping. Plus, you have free shipping in the US so you if the customer was in the US you would have had to pay ebay shipping approximately $3 for shipping so an international sale would net you about $15 more than what you would make on a domestic sale. There is nothing wrong with having a handling charge and perhaps adding in extra for an international sale but an extra $15+ is a lot imo!

With that being said, you definitely aren't obligated to help the buyer pay their import fees  and although I think you are overcharging on postage, the buyer knew the cost upfront so they can't complain about that now.  If you are feeling generous, you can offer to help them out with a portion of those fees but that's totally up to you. If you go down that road though I would make it clear that you aren't obligated to do that but you are willing to make an exception in this case only.

[pjcdn2005]

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@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
Did the tshirt go to Australia by chance? They've recently added a 10% GST to anything incoming from overseas (quite apart from the custom duties which aren't usually levied on anything under $1,000)

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The 10% Australian VAT tax is charged at the time of purchase by eBay, not at the time of delivery.

[pjcdn2005]

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@hyperrush wrote:

There's a custom form if the seller especifies is a gift, the custom won't charge.

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That's not necessarily true. Each country does things differently. 

[retrose1]

Can someone advise on what to tell this customer, please?

I'd tell them that if the fees upset them so much, to not bother to pay them and pick up the shirt and it will be shippe back to you and you will refund them when you get it back.  Do not defend your listing, postage or item.  Do not try to explain their countries customs to them.

If they have been a member since 2012 with any purchase history, they know all about their customs fees, so it is obvious that they are trying to bully you into a refund.

Scammer, nothing more.  Put them on your blocked buyer list so you won't have to deal with them again.

[cool-chaos]

Ok, I did tell him just that... He just left me a negative, the ruined our 100% store that we've worked so hard for.  This is so unfair. 😞  Boo.  I messaged him and asked him to remove the negative, as the import fee is not something we charge but his country does....

Buyer Negative feedback

• Seller was very kind. Item tho had EXTRA extortionate fee due to shipping method

  Aug 13, 2018

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Actually I've seen this complaint from a UK buyer before - right down to the "been a member since 2012 blah blah yada yada"

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@cool-chaos wrote:

Ok, I did tell him just that... He just left me a negative, the ruined our 100% store that we've worked so hard for.  This is so unfair. 😞  Boo.  I messaged him and asked him to remove the negative, as the import fee is not something we charge but his country does....

Buyer Negative feedback

• Seller was very kind. Item tho had EXTRA extortionate fee due to shipping method

  Aug 13, 2018

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You can get that FB removed btw - get the CSR to look at the messages and see that the FB regards customs fees.

[emerald40]

a

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@cool-chaos wrote:

Ok, I did tell him just that... He just left me a negative, the ruined our 100% store that we've worked so hard for.  This is so unfair. 😞  Boo.  I messaged him and asked him to remove the negative, as the import fee is not something we charge but his country does....

Buyer Negative feedback

• Seller was very kind. Item tho had EXTRA extortionate fee due to shipping method

  Aug 13, 2018

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Call ebay on this one.

Unless the rules are really upside down, ebay makes it clear that custom fees are the responsibility of the buyer, and it is illegal to use gift to get around them.

This one should easily be removed.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@fashionsandbeauty4u wrote:

eBay suggests the following statement be added to your listings that you are shipping yourself globally (versus using eBay's Global Shipping Program):

"

"International buyers – please note: Import duties, taxes, and charges aren't included in the item price or postage cost. 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 or buying."

This statement comes directly from the eBay site under "selling internationally". Hope that helps!

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Even though some sellers still have that in their listings, quite a few years ago ebay said it was no longer necessary as they showed the buyer the exact same thing before they paid.

[cool-chaos]

Thanks! You've been awesome. (He's left others feedback that kind of leads me to believe he sends this message out, trying to get customs reimbursed.) You've been great everybody! 🙂 

[nowthatsjustducky]

Don't forget to add him to your BBL.

[cool-chaos]

Thank you so much! 🙂 He admitted this morning that he has gotten other sellers to refund him. Grr. 

[lewisburggold]

Whenever we ship outside the country it is up to the buyer to pay the import fees not the seller.  However its up to the seller to get it to the front door.  We have fought several of these and have one every time.  There has also been cases we had that the buyer waited to get there money back and then go pay the import charges and get the item.   We fought those and won also.  The buyer cant expect the seller to pay import charges for a item they bought and to get into there country.  Not sure if that helps but its how we have been dealing with it.  Best regards

[nowthatsjustducky]

And if the buyer is actively preventing the package from reaching his door, like balking on paying his import fees, then that is where his MBG for INR should stop.

If it is at a point where the buyer has to take action to collect it, (like actually go to his post office to pay his fees, after which they will let him claim his package, for example) and there is nothing the seller can do to expedite the delivery any further, then it should be treated like  delivered to a PO box; and be considered delivered.