VAT being added to UK sales listings

[kje_nufc]

I was born in the UK and lived there until 2017 before moving to the USA. I created an ebay.co.uk account in 2001 and still use it to this day to buy items from both countries without any issues.

 I have 100% feedback with over 1,000 purchases/sales. 

I still have a home and bank accounts in the UK and during a recent visit there I listed some items that were gathering dust on ebay.co.uk to sell with prices listed in GBP (British Pounds).  A prospective buyer reached out to me to today notify me that when they click Best Offer or Buy It Now, the listing then adds VAT to the item, increasing its cost by 20%. While the addition of tax after a sale is common in the US and is based upon the sales tax of the purchase state, the UK is different, the price you see is the price you pay. If a price tag on an item in a store says 20 GBP, you pay 20 GBP at the register.

My listing clearly shows that my items are listed in the UK so prospective buyers should not be charged VAT. Is there a way that I can prevent this from occurring?  Or should I simply create a whole new ebay.co.uk account which has solely a UK address tied to it? I've seen other users try this, but because they reside in a different country to the one they are creating the account in (in my case I live predominantly in the US but would want to create a UK account) eBay thinks something fishy is going on and suspends/blocks the account. After working hard to achieve 100% feedback over the last 20 years it would be a shame to have to start a selling account from sctratch.

Any advice as to what the best course of action is would be greatly appreciated. 

[lacemaker3]

@kje_nufc,

Thanks for coming back and sharing that information. I'm afraid that the reason is there, in the chat transcript. But you have to be able to read between the lines to see it.

eBay won't tell you because they don't know if they are talking to "you" or a hacker/scammer.

We can't know for sure why, but I think that they gave you a clue: the first thing the first agent brought up was the micro deposits they sent to your bank account. You said that you haven't received the micro deposits, which is not good. I don't think you will be able to get this sorted until you are able to get the micro deposits and report them to eBay.

One possible reason for this, from eBay's viewpoint, is that you don't actually have access to that bank account (i.e. because you're not "you", you're a hacker impersonating "you").

I've no way to know what might cause you to be unable to receive the micro deposits in the UK, but in the states, this frequently happens if a seller tries to use an online payment service that provides checking account services, but isn't really a bank (is not FDIC insured). I don't know what the equivalent is in the UK, but that's another possible reason. Also, in the USA, certain routing numbers for major banks in some regions have been associated with issues, so you just can't use those banks in those regions (e.g. Bank of America in Georgia). I don't think UK banks use routing numbers, but they must have something that serves the same function, to identify accounts digitally.

I would suggest that you try posting on the eBay UK community, and ask for help to understand why you can't receive the micro deposits and verify your bank on your eBay UK account.

https://community.ebay.co.uk

You could try contacting eBay through social media, as I said before, but unfortunately when there are account issues like this (especially verifying your identity) then they usually say that you have to contact eBay CS through the eBay website, to get help.

[kje_nufc]

Thanks again for your advice. The bank account is a checking account and a brick and mortar bank (Santander) so once again everything is above board. UK bank accounts use a 6 digit sort code and an account number. So a little different to the routing number used by US banks but both of these were provided. 

At this stage I've invested so much time and energy, and others such as yourself have that I think I'm at my limit of patience and need to cut my losses and accept that ebay is stone walling me and won't ever release my money.

A life lesson learned. Guilty until proven innocent and given no information regarding the accusation by eBay. Sucks, but I'll just vote with my feet in future and be sure to notify others of such practices. 

I had lots more items to sell, so it's a shame, but I would rather get nothing than continue to fill eBay's pockets after this debacle. 

Thanks again for all of your support. If only eBay were so supportive this could have been resolved in minutes...