International buyer from Germany asking me to lower value and mark as gift on customs form

[vp-enterprise]

I am a 20 year eBay seller and have never had this asked of me...  but I have an International buyer from Germany asking me to lower the value to $10. and mark as gift on customs form.  The item is a pure silver coin and he paid $200 for it and that is about the value of it.  As far as I know that is against eBay rules and customs fraud isn't it?  

[moldy5]

Oh boy, yes that's fraud & against eBay rules. Buyer knows it too. Just tell him you can't/won't do this for him! It's not worth your getting botted off eBay for.  Have had this asked of me in the past & I just declined the request. Every buyer went, OK, still want it.  Guess they figured it was worth a try!

[city*satins]

It's not allowed, you're right.  And buyers are not supposed to ask.

Here's the relevant policy:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/rules-policies-buyers?id=4206

Text of note:

If you buy an item from a seller in another country, you can't ask the seller to mark the item as a gift in the customs declaration. This is illegal, and against our policies.

Report the buyer to eBay if the request was made using eBay communication.

[myoasisjewels]

i would not try to lecture them on what is legal and what is not.... instead i would approach it from the liability angle... i would explain to them, that since you are responsible for the package (if lost or damaged in transit) until it reaches the customer, you have to fully insure it. hence you do have to disclose the total value for insurance purposes, or else you will not be able to recover the total value, if needing to file a claim.

if you need this translated into german, pls let me know, i can do that for you.

[gracieallen01]

First off not only does it mean falsifying a customs form, many countries have sanctions for importing pure silver, gold and jewelry and you can't insure for the value of more than what is declared.  Tell the buyer that in isn't legal to devalue it on customs or declare it other than what it is, and that you will be glad to cancel, at their request.

[vp-enterprise]

Thank you for confirming that for me.    

[gwzcomps]

Stuff like this is why I stopped selling internationally anymore. Used to get extortion threats of neg feedback if I didn't lie on customs forms...

[csbbct]

I had so many asking me to do this, I finally added this to the terms for international buyers in all my listings - "Customs Declarations will be marked as “Merchandise” with the description of the actual item and value of the final purchase price.  Please do not request any modifications to this!".   I haven't had anyone request it since and they know up front, before they purchase, that I won't do it.

I'm not going to the federal pen so they can save a few bucks!

[luvlux2014]

Yes, it's against eBay policy. Also, if the item get lost in the mail, you won't be able to collect the value for that item. We got a buyer from Russia asked us to do the same thing because she dosn't want to pay taxes. We declined. Stay safe!

[luvlux2014]

Enrol in the Global Shipping Program with eBay. Its the best with those kind of situation. You ship to eBay and eBay ships International! Best Method! 

[artyom78]

You say you have 20 years experience on eBay but yet you fail to use USPS help page to find all the info you need.

Coins; banknotes; currency notes, including paper money; securities of any kind payable to bearer; traveler’s checks; platinum, gold, and silver; precious stones; jewelry; watches; and other valuable articles are prohibited in Priority Mail Express International shipments to Germany.

In most (all) cases you can't ship precious metals to other countries. The coin will be seized by the German customs. As to customs form - I always put low price in customs form and mark item as a gift to make life easier for my dear customers all over the world. If you don't have desire to bear risks then why even bother to ship internationally? 

[byrd69er]

Document the true value on the customs form.

Ship the coin.

Block the buyer.

Done.

[iart]

I'm not sure why you wouldn't break federal laws and violate ebay TOS for some random stranger in Germany.

[buyselljack2016]

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@artyom78 wrote:

You say you have 20 years experience on eBay but yet you fail to use USPS help page to find all the info you need.

Coins; banknotes; currency notes, including paper money; securities of any kind payable to bearer; traveler’s checks; platinum, gold, and silver; precious stones; jewelry; watches; and other valuable articles are prohibited in Priority Mail Express International shipments to Germany.

In most (all) cases you can't ship precious metals to other countries. The coin will be seized by the German customs. As to customs form - I always put low price in customs form and mark item as a gift to make life easier for my dear customers all over the world. If you don't have desire to bear risks then why even bother to ship internationally? 

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Very few sellers would use Priority Mail Express International for shipping anything.

[buyselljack2016]

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@artyom78 wrote:

You say you have 20 years experience on eBay but yet you fail to use USPS help page to find all the info you need.

Coins; banknotes; currency notes, including paper money; securities of any kind payable to bearer; traveler’s checks; platinum, gold, and silver; precious stones; jewelry; watches; and other valuable articles are prohibited in Priority Mail Express International shipments to Germany.

In most (all) cases you can't ship precious metals to other countries. The coin will be seized by the German customs. As to customs form - I always put low price in customs form and mark item as a gift to make life easier for my dear customers all over the world. If you don't have desire to bear risks then why even bother to ship internationally? 

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When I ship internationally the customs form is prefilled with the value of the shipment.