eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

Anyone remember the time there was that glitch and Belgium ended up not being on my exclusions list long enough for a buyer from Belgium to buy 29.99 in stamps? I went ahead and shipped the stamps since I didn't think I had a good enough reason to cancel (it's not as though anything that's happening with this sale is the buyer's fault).

Now the stamps are at customs with 28.31 Euro owing. (How the heck is it that they owe more VAT on this purchase than the item is even worth? I declared it as 29.99 and sent the buyer a copy of the shipping label to see).

I also put the IOSS code, but it got cut off the label, seems these international labels don't have much room for description stuff.

This is why I don't ship to the EU, it's too much of a headache. But that's all well and good, and my listings are excluding EU countries now.

So how do I help my buyer get his stamps without paying a ridiculous amount of VAT?

C.

wastingtime101 · ‎05-29-2024

The IOSS code getting cut off is likely part of the problem.

Tell the buyer to print a copy of their order details showing the IOSS VAT Paid and see if their customs office will accept that.

Customs may also be requiring they pay duty on top of VAT.

Ultimately it's something your buyer has to work out. If they can show eBay CS they had to pay VAT (again) to customs, they can use that paperwork to get a refund of their initial VAT from eBay.

If buyer refuses to pay and package is returned to you, they forfeit their MBG coverage, but if the item eventually makes its way back to you, you can refund them less shipping/fees or handle it however you want.

GLORIOUS!

cardxcraft · ‎05-29-2024

The buyer can submit their Ebay receipt to customs showing VAT was paid.

As much as I was a proponent of EIS, I quit using the service because buyers complained about having to pay VAT twice, once to Ebay and again for release from customs. Not that you used EIS, I'm just adding my EIS experience.

In my view, the buyers are already paying exorbinant prices for EIS shipping, so to double dip them leaves them with a bad buyer experience.

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

@cardxcraft wrote:
The buyer can submit their Ebay receipt to customs showing VAT was paid.

As much as I was a proponent of EIS, I quit using the service because buyers complained about having to pay VAT twice, once to Ebay and again for release from customs. Not that you used EIS, I'm just adding my EIS experience.

In my view, the buyers are already paying exorbinant prices for EIS shipping, so to double dip them leaves them with a bad buyer experience.

I opted out of EIS because it was being applied to UK and Canadian Buyers where I can ship stuff directly pretty cheap (even with tracking to some parts of Canada is cheaper than EIS).

It's OK to share your experience with EIS, what happened to you is what happened to my buyer (with the double dip), and I agree it's a BBE. Many buyers were just refusing the package but tracking wasn't showing the refusal part on eBay's system for them to see the buyer forfeit MBG and eBay said I had to refund or they'd do it for me (the result of an INR).

The refusal did show on parcelsapp, but eBay says it has to be integrated with their system for them to pay any attention to it.

C.

dbfolks166mt · ‎05-29-2024

One of the things I like about EIS is I don't have to deal with this crap when it happens.

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
One of the things I like about EIS is I don't have to deal with this crap when it happens.

I agree, but I sell stuff that goes in little envelopes for a few postage stamps, and EIS would make me use their service to ship that stuff. If you check shipping to UK for instance, you'll see it's pretty good on many types of items.

I do have an update though... buyer messaged me back to tell me he really wanted the stamps so he paid the duty/taxes, he said he didn't feel I was at fault for this happening and he would deal with it, with the customs office. It's good to have an understanding buyer, and as a buyer myself, I'm not sure I would have taken that so well.. that was an awful lot owed on a $30 purchase.

C.

robbie31415 · ‎05-29-2024

Only reason I do international is because of EIS.

I don't want to have to deal with duties, vat, customs, hs codes, international returns.

I deal in open box too so I don't want to deal with buyers who don't read. At least the ones who don't read in the US I can easily generate a usps label.

wastingtime101 · ‎05-29-2024

@sin-n-dex wrote:
I opted out of EIS because it was being applied to UK and Canadian Buyers where I can ship stuff directly pretty cheap (even with tracking to some parts of Canada is cheaper than EIS).

How long ago was that @sin-n-dex ? eIS is different in the past 6 mo or so in that buyers have a choice between your direct shipping options and eIS. It's not one or the other like it used to be.

You can opt in to eIS and if buyers prefer direct shipping they can choose that and if they prefer eIS they can choose that.

In some cases eIS allows buyers to pay duties upfront which is one reason buyers might choose it. Or they may choose your direct shipping method if that's significantly less expensive.

GLORIOUS!

slippinjimmy · ‎05-29-2024

@sin-n-dex wrote:
@dbfolks166mt wrote:
One of the things I like about EIS is I don't have to deal with this crap when it happens.
I agree, but I sell stuff that goes in little envelopes for a few postage stamps, and EIS would make me use their service to ship that stuff. If you check shipping to UK for instance, you'll see it's pretty good on many types of items.

I do have an update though... buyer messaged me back to tell me he really wanted the stamps so he paid the duty/taxes, he said he didn't feel I was at fault for this happening and he would deal with it, with the customs office. It's good to have an understanding buyer, and as a buyer myself, I'm not sure I would have taken that so well.. that was an awful lot owed on a $30 purchase.

C.

At one time eBay posted in the Help Files a specific link to contact eBay regarding double charged on VAT transactions,

I can't seem to find that page anymore (maybe @wastingtime101 can?), the gist of it was that in the case where a buyer is charged VAT on receipt in error they would compensate but I don't remember if it was a refund from eBay to the buyer or a refund to the seller to cover their refund to the buyer.

I had a couple of these in the early days of EU VAT collection but never tried to get compensation from eBay.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

@wastingtime101 wrote:
@sin-n-dex wrote:
I opted out of EIS because it was being applied to UK and Canadian Buyers where I can ship stuff directly pretty cheap (even with tracking to some parts of Canada is cheaper than EIS).
How long ago was that @sin-n-dex ? eIS is different in the past 6 mo or so in that buyers have a choice between your direct shipping options and eIS. It's not one or the other like it used to be.

You can opt in to eIS and if buyers prefer direct shipping they can choose that and if they prefer eIS they can choose that.

In some cases eIS allows buyers to pay duties upfront which is one reason buyers might choose it. Or they may choose your direct shipping method if that's significantly less expensive.

I got a message from eBay about the new EIS where buyers could choose, and then a buyer in Australia chose EIS shipping on 4 different stamp lots (where shipping is $4 for each one), and then complained about the shipping cost and how she couldn't combine because she purchased each one separately. After that I had issues with an EIS order from a Canadian buyer (who didn't really want EIS when she found out what it would cost).

It's kind of a headache and it's not the easiest thing to do to educate buyers on how eBay works, so I figure if I ship directly myself and that's the only option, I'll have fewer headaches.

C.

wastingtime101 · ‎05-29-2024

Are you referring to this page @slippinjimmy - the section under refunded purchases?

https://pages.ebay.com/vat-eu/

If not, I'd suggest the buyer go to this help page and use the contact option at the bottom because going through this help page should get them to the right department within eBay CS to request a refund after double-paying VAT.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/shipping-delivery/changing-delivery-address-method/international-pu...

GLORIOUS!

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

@wastingtime101 wrote:
Are you referring to this page @slippinjimmy - the section under refunded purchases?

https://pages.ebay.com/vat-eu/

If not, I'd suggest the buyer go to this help page and use the contact option at the bottom because going through this help page should get them to the right department within eBay CS to request a refund after double-paying VAT.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/shipping-delivery/changing-delivery-address-method/international-pu...

From his message he seems to have it under control.

I saw the message from BPost that said monies were owed (it was in Dutch and French, I could read it in both languages), and a link for him to pay. Since my shipper has my email address, it's applied to shipments and I get the messages the buyer receives. (I haven't been providing buyer emails, maybe I should, I have been letting the buyer know if I get anything I think they should see, usually it's just a note to tell me the tracking location of the package at that time).

I contacted the buyer with a screenshot of the Dutch message and apologized to him for what happened. I also sent a copy of the shipping label for him to see what I did. Thankfully he's a nice buyer and wasn't upset with me.

My post was to try and help him out with this problem, and it wasn't until after I posted and got some replies that I heard from the buyer where he told me he paid the duties and is going to deal with it. I'm just glad it sort of worked out... it would not have been good if he refused the package, then I would likely be refunding.

Anyway I'm glad EU is blocked, I don't need these headaches. Other countries are easier to deal with.

C.

rossgames · ‎05-29-2024

same thing happened to me. Buyer left me a negative for having to pay twice. Ebay removed the text but left the negative because it was the buyer "experience". Being charged twice had nothing to do with me!

sin-n-dex · ‎05-29-2024

@rossgames wrote:
same thing happened to me. Buyer left me a negative for having to pay twice. Ebay removed the text but left the negative because it was the buyer "experience". Being charged twice had nothing to do with me!

I'm not expecting a neg from this buyer (not after his last message). But if I get one for this kind of reason, I'll just have to come up with a reasonable reply. I don't know that I'll bother trying to get it removed if they're going to remove the comment but not the neg, then no one knows what happened and for all they know it was expletives before calling me a scammer or something like that...

Not all negatives have damaging comments... I got one once because the coin was "heavy". (Uh, coins are metal).

C.