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Help with a purchase from England
Good morning everyone. I’d like to buy a shirt from a private English seller (something I used to do often before Brexit, then I stopped because prices skyrocketed due to taxes and customs fees).
Shipping to Italy would be via Royal Mail International Standard (which isn’t trackable but at least costs “only” 11 euros and in the past, touch wood, I’ve never had any problems). The real doubt, though, is whether, in addition to the VAT already calculated in the order total, I’ll also have to pay customs clearance and/or the extra postal service fee. I’ve read that this happened to some users but not to others... And I don’t understand why.
Simulating the purchase, before proceeding to payment, below the total to be paid it says “VAT added to prices based on the delivery address. No additional customs charges will apply.”
I therefore wanted to ask whether it’s really like that or whether there’s still the risk of having to give the postman more money to get the parcel.
Thanks everyone and sorry for the hassle.
sika700
Mentore2 years agoOf course... the customs fees mentioned in the message are those applied to the order... but they can't know those applied upon delivery...
Best regards.
breccio86
OP2 years agoAnyway, it’s really ridiculous... There’s not a shred of clarity on eBay as far as this issue is concerned. Why is it, for example, that other users sometimes pay these extra charges and other times they don’t (always for the same purchase from the same seller)? I mean, it makes absolutely no logical sense.
I’ll give up on the purchase... But by now, with sales commissions that keep getting higher, NO protection for sellers, and other unclear things, they’re really doing everything they can to push longtime users toward other platforms (which have cheaper, simpler shipping and above all no “surprise” extra fees).
What a disappointment.
Thanks anyway for the reply and sorry for the rant.
Best regards.
sika700
Mentore2 years agoIt’s not eBay that needs to make things clear... it’s you who need to know that there will be charges if you import from a non-EU country.
It was the European Community that changed this issue precisely to discourage imports.
So it’s not a problem limited to eBay but to every import.
Have a good day.
breccio86
OP2 years agoIt is EBAY that, under the total amount to be paid, LITERALLY writes: "No additional customs duties will be applied".
In Italian, a sentence like that leaves no room for interpretation or for distinguishing between order customs duties and delivery customs duties, and they know it perfectly well too.
The sentence is deliberately misleading, because BEING CLEAR is something else entirely.
Kind regards.
sika700
Mentore2 years agoIt seems clear to me though... since you are BUYING and many sellers use the GSP service where customs clearance fees are calculated in advance, in this case, since it is not being used, no other costs will be applied during the purchase, but in the purchase process... which is outside the DELIVERY process!
Logically, eBay, not being a shipping company nor a customs broker, CANNOT know in advance what awaits you upon delivery.
You are therefore the sole person responsible for the import, and it is up to you to find out... and shifting this responsibility onto the marketplace is not correct.
Have a good day.
breccio86
OP2 years agoAll the more reason, the phrase "No additional customs fees will be applied" is just as misleading as it is deceptive. A marketplace that aimed for clarity would have written something quite different, but this is just a personal opinion.
Instead, the fact that these extra customs clearance and delivery charges happen completely randomly (even for the same item, as testified by several users who, out of 5 orders, 4 times paid NOTHING and 1 time did pay them) is yet another thing that is very, very unclear.
No point in continuing the discussion, there’s not much left to say anyway.
Best regards.
sika700
Mentore2 years agoThis shows that it did not depend on eBay, but on the carrier that will take charge of the parcel in Italy... and even if it is the same carrier, the customs offices may be different...
Have a nice day.
marioelegio
Mentore2 years agoCommunity directives require ebay to collect VAT, in the case of imports with a total value of less than 150 euros. In these cases there are no customs duties and VAT is the only customs charge.
The courier is however excluded; each courier has its own fees for customs clearance (some call them customs charges, others postal charges, others ....) and ebay cannot know which Italian courier each non-EU courier is partnered with. It ranges from free clearance, within a certain price range, with Poste Italiane up to 15-20 euros with other couriers.
If the seller does not fill out the documentation correctly, specifying that VAT has already been paid and the courier also requests VAT, just get a receipt that clearly states what is being paid for and, with this receipt, ebay will refund the VAT paid in excess.
https://www.ebay.it/help/buying/paying-items/pagare-le-imposte-sugli-acquisti-ebay?id=4771&st=3&pos=2&query=Pagare%20le%20imposte%20sugli%20acquisti%20eBay&intent=imposte%20importazione&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1425
bye
mario
breccio86
OP2 years agoYes, I had already read a similar post from you, and since the total value is indeed less than 150 euros I was hoping to have to pay only VAT (already automatically included in the final price), also considering eBay’s wording that "no additional customs charges would be applied"...
But some say there will be charges, others have paid them, others have paid nothing. And honestly, all this uncertainty seems absurd to me for a marketplace like eBay.
Thank you anyway for the reply, very kind.