Shipped item to US - Stuck in shipping / Customs

[stellersbrights]

I am from Canada, and I sold a some what expensive item (Approx $1000) to a US ebay customer .

I used Canada post / USPS  to ship the item.

I've never had a problem shipping to the US before, but this package has now been stuck at customs for about 2  weeks, or 11 Business Days. 

When I contacted USPS they had no real updates for me, and they claimed customs can hold items for up to 45 Days.

The customer has contacted me about this now. They are still waiting for the item, and I am unsure how long it will take.

What is ebay's and paypal policy on this? Who is responsible ?

[thedeadheadshop]

You haven't mentioned what the item is. That's important because if it's prohibited or restricted then you have a serious issue. Below is a link to US Customs which gives you a good overview of why some internet purchases can get stuck in customs for extended periods.

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases

As to "Who is responsible", the that would be you. The seller is always responsible for delivering the purchase to the buyer.

You mentioned that the item has been stuck in customs for roughly two weeks, but you haven't mentioned how long in total it's been in transit. The buyer has thirty days to open a dispute for an item not received with eBay, and longer with PayPal. The buyer, rightfully so is getting a little antsy and is already contacting you. 

You haven't mentioned what the eBay estimated delivery dates were on the shipment. That's a critical piece of information. If the buyer opens a dispute and your item exceeds those dates you're in real jeopardy of eBay forcing a refund. The timeline here is critical in terms of what happens going forward.

Additional information would help follow-on responders give you a better answer especially what the item is and how long total in transit. 

[sin-n-dex]

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@stellersbrights wrote:

I am from Canada, and I sold a some what expensive item (Approx $1000) to a US ebay customer .

I used Canada post / USPS  to ship the item.

I've never had a problem shipping to the US before, but this package has now been stuck at customs for about 2  weeks, or 11 Business Days. 

When I contacted USPS they had no real updates for me, and they claimed customs can hold items for up to 45 Days.

The customer has contacted me about this now. They are still waiting for the item, and I am unsure how long it will take.

What is ebay's and paypal policy on this? Who is responsible ?

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I ship from Canada to US. The personal import limit is $800 USD. If it's above $800, it needs to be assessed for Customs (I was told this is just for sales tax coming from Canada). My courier won't permit imports above $800 per customer, per day, because of the Customs import problems.

Your customer will have to wait, it's all due to the value of the shipment.

C.

[stellersbrights]

Item was a tablet.

Ebay Estimated delivery is 7-10 business day

[martoutlet]

7-10 business day is for low ticket items,they fly though customs,but this will need duties to be paid.

the limit might be $800,i know it's uper hundreds when duties need to be paid.

heh,i have sent items to canada and sat in customs for a month...on a 30 dollar item.

[7606dennis]

Who is responsible?  You, the seller, are responsible for getting your item safely to the buyer in a reasonable amount of time.  That amount of time is shown as the estimate delivery period given by eBay.  If the item isn't delivered to the buyer by that last day of that period the buyer can file a INR dispute against the following day.

Unfortunately, US Customs can hold onto the item for a considerable period of time just as Canadian Customs can for shipments coming into that country.  Hopefully, your buyer will be patient.

[slippinjimmy]

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@stellersbrights wrote:

I am from Canada, and I sold a some what expensive item (Approx $1000) to a US ebay customer .

I used Canada post / USPS  to ship the item.

I've never had a problem shipping to the US before, but this package has now been stuck at customs for about 2  weeks, or 11 Business Days. 

When I contacted USPS they had no real updates for me, and they claimed customs can hold items for up to 45 Days.

The customer has contacted me about this now. They are still waiting for the item, and I am unsure how long it will take.

What is ebay's and paypal policy on this? Who is responsible ?

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Have you checked the tracking directly on the USPS site? It's usually a bit more up to date than what you might see at Canada Post.

Which customs office is it at? Some are faster than others, Jamaica NY can be pretty slow but Chicago is generally reasonably fast.

[stellersbrights]

On USPS website that last place it was at before Customs was "ISC New York"

[slippinjimmy]

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@stellersbrights wrote:

On USPS website that last place it was at before Customs was "ISC New York"

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Yeah that's Jamaica NY, one of the slowest at processing (but no worse than Vancouver BC for Canada Customs).