UK Duty Fees??

[joflier]

Hi everyone. Just looking for some help from our international members. I sold an item on ebay to someone in the UK and they are now refusing to pay their duty fees. Its a frustrating situation to both parties, but in the buyer's defense, it seems like a very high fee. The buyer is claiming that they had no knowledge that these duty taxes exist and that I should take care of it for them.... I'm just wondering if this buyer is being honest with me. UK people, is paying a duty tax on packages something that's not well known? How is the fee calculated? The buyer states that the fee for the item is about 28%. Is that right?? Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[rosetta]

Duty fees are indeed very high here, but shouldn't come out of the blue to the buyer. It's their responsibity to pay it, not yours.

Did you make it clear to them that they will be responsible for their own customs and duties?

 

[joflier]

Duty fees are indeed very high here, but shouldn't come out of the blue to the buyer. It's their responsibity to pay it, not yours.

Did you make it clear to them that they will be responsible for their own customs and duties?

I did tell the buyer that they have to take care of their customs fees, and their refusing to pay. So I imagine the item then gets sent back to me....It's too bad its such a high fee. It's a lousy situation. The buyer is angry at me for not paying this. So I said once I get the item back, I'll refund their money minus what I paid to ship it to them in the first place. So that turned into a plethora of unkind emails. I'm already going to be out over $50 in my own ebay fees, and then the buyer wants an extra $30 back for their shipping cost? I don't really feel that's reasonable, considering their refusing to pay their own taxes. Sigh.....just can't win sometimes!

 

[rosetta]

I think you're being fair and the buyer is being lousy! They knew they had to pay the duties and yet are now refusing to do so.

It's not a PSer is it?

 

[joflier]

Not that I'm aware of. Never know though....
The sad part about situations like this is that it makes me want to make a standard rule that I will not ship internationally period. There are certainly a lot of good buyers out there, but there's enough bad ones that make it too problematic, and when your trying to make money, that becomes big issue!

 

[rosetta]

I see your point but I wish more people would ship internationally so I could buy from the US!

 

[Lottie]

If you advised him at the time of purchase that he was responsible for his own duty fees then you have done all you possibly can. I doubt very much that he had no idea that there were no duty fees for the UK, and to be honest if he did think that then its his own fault for not doing his homework. What a muppet .

 

[iLander]

Check their feedback and see if any of their purchases came from the US.

This is such BS, I went through this with a buyer/scammer in France and just told him that if he kept giving me a hard time I would report him to ebay. That shut him up.

I also clearly mark my auctions that I won't pay duty.

They know what the fees are, I'm sure this is not the first time he's had something imported to the UK.

 

[joflier]

So get this. I offered them a full refund for the item, but no refund on the shipping cost. Now their sending more angry emails about what an awful person I am because I won't refund them until I get the item back in my possession. WHAT?! Why does someone think I should refund them $400 for something that could be anywhere! Jeepers....

 

[mayerling]

I'm in the UK and, honestly, before my first US purchase I had no idea about duty. I was floored when I found out that it's 18% of the item value.

 

[joflier]

So one more question. If this person has the ring sent back to me, refusing the duties, do I then have to pay return shipping charges??

 

[Jennifer W]

Ilander, Plenty of people can live in the UK all their lives and never need to import goods privately, so it's perfectly feasible that the buyer didn't know.

However, that doesn't change the fact that it is the importer's duty to know what they're bringing into the country and what the rules are, not the exporter's duty (they are only bound to uphold the law in their own country). So, you're under no obligation to this person beyond honouring your part of the contract of sale. Duties and taxes are not your problem, as a private seller. If your listing said no refunds, then you still have every right to stick with that - the failure on the buyer's part to understand and know the law in the country they asked you to ship to doesn't affect your terms.

Duty is VAT +2 - 3% of the item's value, so could be as much as 23%. It is high, but we pay VAT on most goods, so it's not like the concept is a surprise.

I'm annoyed for you on the nasty emails - like somehow you are responsible for the United Kingdom's tax regime. So rude. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this, but you did nothing wrong, nothing at all. None of the responsibility lies with you. Hugs.

 

[Rhea]

The fee is very high to import into the UK. Any item over £18 (going down to any item over £15 in November) is charged at 20% VAT, plus duty if applicable, and Royal Mail charges handling of £8. It can really add up! £18 is only about $30 so it doesn't take much to go over!

 

[Pandora II]

Ditto that none of the responsibility lies with you.

All taxes and duties are the responsibility of the buyer. If you have said no returns then you should stick to that. Have you contacted eBay/Paypal to see what they say. It is not up to you to know the import regulations of every country in the world.

Standard here is 20% VAT (sales tax) and then duty varies. For example there is no duty on loose gemstones/diamonds, but there is 2.5% on jewellery made of precious metals and 4% on costume jewellery - and other percentages for different categories of goods. There is also a handling charge of £8 GBP to pay.

As of next week, you have to pay VAT on goods worth £15 or more rather than the current £18 and private gifts over £40. Duty is not payable on the first £135 of value.

HM Customs have a website with all the details on and ignorance is not a defence.

If they are being horrible then I would withdraw any offers of repayment and talk to eBay. I really don't trust that they want the refund before shipping back to you - I have a feeling things might get 'lost in the post'.

There is also an issue if it is jewellery that they bought - it is pretty much impossible to send jewellery abroad from the UK and have it covered by insurance. Businesses can do it, but I had a nightmare trying to send a piece to the USA and in the end got my SIL to take it over and post it within the US.

Have they received the goods yet? Sometimes they deliver and then ask for payment later, sometimes you have to pay to have the goods released. If they haven't received the package and have refused payment of duty and tax then it is normally just returned to sender so they wouldn't incurr any return postage costs.

 

[joflier]

Ditto that none of the responsibility lies with you.

All taxes and duties are the responsibility of the buyer. If you have said no returns then you should stick to that. Have you contacted eBay/Paypal to see what they say. It is not up to you to know the import regulations of every country in the world.

Standard here is 20% VAT (sales tax) and then duty varies. For example there is no duty on loose gemstones/diamonds, but there is 2.5% on jewellery made of precious metals and 4% on costume jewellery - and other percentages for different categories of goods. There is also a handling charge of £8 GBP to pay.

As of next week, you have to pay VAT on goods worth £15 or more rather than the current £18 and private gifts over £40. Duty is not payable on the first £135 of value.

HM Customs have a website with all the details on and ignorance is not a defence.

If they are being horrible then I would withdraw any offers of repayment and talk to eBay. I really don't trust that they want the refund before shipping back to you - I have a feeling things might get 'lost in the post'.

There is also an issue if it is jewellery that they bought - it is pretty much impossible to send jewellery abroad from the UK and have it covered by insurance. Businesses can do it, but I had a nightmare trying to send a piece to the USA and in the end got my SIL to take it over and post it within the US.

Have they received the goods yet? Sometimes they deliver and then ask for payment later, sometimes you have to pay to have the goods released. If they haven't received the package and have refused payment of duty and tax then it is normally just returned to sender so they wouldn't incurr any return postage costs.

The goods were not released to them. I basically have to offer a refund, otherwise the buyer just files a claim with ebay, and I'm forced to anyways. That's the major downside to ebay. Buyers can flake out of a purchase at any time for any reason. Ebay basically never backs up their sellers on those situations.

 

[Deia]

I was shocked when I first saw the duty fees. To be honest though, if you're buying something olnine, internationally, you shoudl know you will have to pay fees. I love the extra £8 handling fee too. Recently bought two gemstones on ebay from the US. One showed up quickly without being stopped, the other took almost two extra weeks to show up and on a 85USD purchase the total fees to pay were £18 (almost 30USD). Really sucks to be honest but it is NOT the responsibility of the seller to pay for these. Everyone should know that. I would open a case because this is not up to you to pay.

 

[Pandora II]

I was shocked when I first saw the duty fees. To be honest though, if you're buying something olnine, internationally, you shoudl know you will have to pay fees. I love the extra £8 handling fee too. Recently bought two gemstones on ebay from the US. One showed up quickly without being stopped, the other took almost two extra weeks to show up and on a 85USD purchase the total fees to pay were £18 (almost 30USD). Really sucks to be honest but it is NOT the responsibility of the seller to pay for these. Everyone should know that. I would open a case because this is not up to you to pay.

I'm afraid I would just say tough luck to those who bought and open my own case first - it is not a case that the goods are not as described, or that they have gone missing, they are just refusing to pay the fees. At the very least, if you decide to refund, do not refund the postage and leave them negative feedback. They need to learn to check these things in advance.

Have you looked for advice on the eBay forums? I've found them to be quite helpful in the past.

 

[joflier]

Yeah, I checked with ebay. Basically, I have no recourse other than to refund. Ebay is really not pro-seller at all, in my experience. Now I just have to hope the buyer will cancel the transaction so I can get refunded my $50 in ebay fees. If not I'm totally stuck there too.

 

[Pandora II]

Hold tight - no refund till item is returned and they cancel the transaction. You then issue refund minus the postage.

 

[Rhea]

Hold tight - no refund till item is returned and they cancel the transaction. You then issue refund minus the postage.

Ebay tells the buyer not to cancel the transaction until the item is refunded. I had an issue recently and followed ebay's advice. The seller refused to refund me until I cancelled the transaction. I refused to cancel the transaction until I received the refund. As a buyer I had less recourse if I agreed to cancel the transaction before receiving my money.