International Buyers Stay Away From Ebay Usa!

[rochester21]

I never imagined that a person could become a criminal by buying pens from Ebay USA

Chemyst, you don`t suppose i could go to jail for this, do you ??? This must be one of the reasons why the US has the biggest incarceration rate in the world.

 

The way I see it, there`s a lot of "bla bla" on this subject. Fact is: ebay is requesting upfront money from customers without them actually knowing where the money goes to.

 

And i have a strong suspicion that the authorities in at least some of the countries where the packages are sent through this global shipping program don`t see a penny from this legal scam.

Edited August 20, 2013 by rochester21

[barleycorn]

I started a thread about this but obviously in the wrong place. The way this works is the seller sends the item to the shipper who then sends it to you. If the seller does not charge shipping or considers it in the price of the item you pay the shipping once. To get around this the following procedure is necessary. Before payment contact the seller if he/she is willing to send it another method ie USPS International shipping, then the seller can change before payment. Once payment is made it is automatically divided between seller and shipper. Given that pens separate from boxes are small and light this should make the cost more reasonable. Since the seller has chosen to list this method they may not be willing to change and you will have to cancel your bid which will affect your rating as a buyer.

 

While we are ranting about shipping, why do UK sellers say "may not ship to ...." then you have to contact them? Some list posting rates for UK, Euro, then NA etc which with Royal mail is usually quite reasonable. Shipping rates seem to have increased across the board lately making buying outside your area costly.

 

Finally, I received a package from a popular US seller for which I paid almost $40 shipping (USPS International I think). I was charged duty (taxes) on the order which was fair...but was charged a $10 handling fee by customs. This appears to be normal when I asked other people about this. The rub is that my package sat in customs for 5 days. I ordered something almost a week later that was a used item that arrived within a day or so since it did not need to be processed!?

[kilties1pet]

Fortunately, not all USA sellers have accepted this new crazy policy ... But, as usual, ebay will force them!

the US is messing around too. my partner has bought things from China, FREE shipping, it got through customs in 2 weeks when he ordered things from Deleware (RIGHT HERE IN THE GOOD OL USA) and it took a week longer they wanted,you would think the maail man was walking it here himself, I don't do any ordering I give him $ and have him find it I am computer stupid, and last time i bought something online. the ring i got him could be a bracelet, nope he is my go to guy. heres what i want heres $ find it. he also knows scams. .... e.0

[Paul80]

I wonder what will happen if a buyer pays this charge and then still gets a duty charge added before delivery because the delivery country did not or does not get paid and duty due.

 

Like all things it might be fine when its working but what happens when and it will goes wrong.

 

Who does the buyer turn to when the delivery company holds their goods to ransom.

 

Paul

[barleycorn]

I was tempted to complain to Canada Post about that but thought if I sent an email they may give an auto reply or ignore. If I called it would be time wasted really - so I let it go. Now I will careful about buying online from a US retailer since what I may save will be lost in handling fees...

If you have a beef with eBay you can take it up with them or Paypal.

[senzen]

Yikes, not cool... I've never felt all that comfortable with ebay, as I do with say Amazon... But I ship everything inside the US and have someone bring it over to Mexico... Convoluted, slow, and not available to everyone, I know. But at least it avoids these charges.

[tfwall]

Fact is: ebay is requesting upfront money from customers without them actually knowing where the money goes to.

 

And i have a strong suspicion that the authorities in at least some of the countries where the packages are sent through this global shipping program don`t see a penny from this legal scam.

 

You might trouble yourself to read the description or the FAQ's for this program, since both of these statements are blatantly false. The partner countries are just that, partners. Their postal and tariff organs have already signed off on this system and are receiving their fees directly from Pitney-Bowes.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Chemyst

[tfwall]

 

Chemyst, you don`t suppose i could go to jail for this, do you ??? This must be one of the reasons why the US has the biggest incarceration rate in the world.

 

 

I don't know if tax evasion is a crime you can go to jail for in Romania. Certainly in the U.S. such an act exposes you to heavy fines and possible jail time, yes.

[raging.dragon]

There's nothing to be gained by presuming what ebay may or may not do in the future, nor in rage based on such speculation. For now this is an optional service for ebay sellers who either don't want to deal with the hassels of international shipping, or who don't want to deal with ignorant or abusive international buyers who complain voiciferously about, and demand the seller reimburse them for, customs and brokerage fees.

 

If a seller is using this service, I'd either pass on the item or guesstimate the difference in import charges and processing fees, then bid lower to compensate for any percieved difference in cost, shipping time, etc.. I've only bought from a seller using GSP once, and that was a buy it now, so the final charges were listed in description and the price was low enough to offset any difference in fees or shipping time.

 

 

Hi,

 

While I agree that Brokers are typically international companies, and I do not know their internal financial machinations, the tracking information I had access to showed that the Broker did not receive the Item after it cleared Customs, as would be the case if the Broker was also the carrier. As mentioned, the carrier is the postal system.

 

If anyone else has recently made a purchase using the GSP, I encourage them to carefully review the tracking information, which may be different than the legerdemain I saw.

 

Bye,

S1

 

A broker files the customs paperwork and transfer funds between the shipper/consignee and import country. Postal services tend to offer inexpensive and minimal brokerage services. In contrast the brokerage services provided by courier companies are usually rather expensive (unless one pays for fast and expensive shipping). Third party brokers compete by offering lower fees and/or additional services and are commonly used by businesses that recieve a large volume of import shipments.

 

I started a thread about this but obviously in the wrong place. The way this works is the seller sends the item to the shipper who then sends it to you. If the seller does not charge shipping or considers it in the price of the item you pay the shipping once. To get around this the following procedure is necessary. Before payment contact the seller if he/she is willing to send it another method ie USPS International shipping, then the seller can change before payment. Once payment is made it is automatically divided between seller and shipper. Given that pens separate from boxes are small and light this should make the cost more reasonable. Since the seller has chosen to list this method they may not be willing to change and you will have to cancel your bid which will affect your rating as a buyer.

 

While we are ranting about shipping, why do UK sellers say "may not ship to ...." then you have to contact them? Some list posting rates for UK, Euro, then NA etc which with Royal mail is usually quite reasonable. Shipping rates seem to have increased across the board lately making buying outside your area costly.

 

Finally, I received a package from a popular US seller for which I paid almost $40 shipping (USPS International I think). I was charged duty (taxes) on the order which was fair...but was charged a $10 handling fee by customs. This appears to be normal when I asked other people about this. The rub is that my package sat in customs for 5 days. I ordered something almost a week later that was a used item that arrived within a day or so since it did not need to be processed!?

 

The brokerage fee isn't charged by customs, it's charged by the broker (presumably the post office or courier in this case, though in theory you could have contracted a third party broker) for:

1. Filing customs paperwork on your behalf.
2. Loaning you the money to cover the customs fees for the time period between customs clearing the shipment and you recieving the shipment and paying the fees.

For what it's worth, as brokerage fees go, $10 is cheap. Couriers charge quite a bit more for brokering "ground" shipments, with varying degrees of discounts if more expensive shipping services are used.

Edited August 28, 2013 by raging.dragon

[cbaytan]

 

The brokerage fee isn't charged by customs, it's charged by the broker (presumably the post office or courier in this case, though in theory you could have contracted a third party broker) for:

1. Filing customs paperwork on your behalf.
2. Loaning you the money to cover the customs fees for the time period between customs clearing the shipment and you recieving the shipment and paying the fees.

For what it's worth, as brokerage fees go, $10 is cheap. Couriers charge quite a bit more for brokering "ground" shipments, with varying degrees of discounts if more expensive shipping services are used.

 

The issue with that broker system has no international standards, ebay US assumes every country works like US or expects be like US. Typical American mind. Here in Turkey once an item drops to customs coming through an independent carrier (Not official postal system) only a broker can get the (your) item from customs. To get your item, broker have to have an official document stating that he is your broker and authorized by you he can get your item for you from the customs. This document can be obtained only from a notary public, this one time document costs about 230 USD (notary poblic fee and it has a renewal period not lifetime) , even if your item worths 20 USD, I don't think there is no other way around, because a photocopy of the aggreement between you and the broker has to be included in the all the papers of the customs transaction for each specific item We must add a broker fee for each item is additional expense, as you say 10-20$.

 

Another issue is, an incredibly huge corruption going on in the brokerage system and the customs, all aimed to rub customers in some countries, I won't get into the personal experiences, but with this new Ebay thing say even it supposedly worked out well, buyers become innocent geese awaiting the be their feathers plucked by the broker-customs trap. There are other things/assumptions too but it'll be too long so I better stop here.

Edited August 28, 2013 by cbaytan

[Sandy1]

There's nothing to be gained by presuming what ebay may or may not do in the future, nor in rage based on such speculation. For now this is an optional service for ebay sellers who either don't want to deal with the hassels of international shipping, or who don't want to deal with ignorant or abusive international buyers who complain voiciferously about, and demand the seller reimburse them for, customs and brokerage fees.

 

If a seller is using this service, I'd either pass on the item or guesstimate the difference in import charges and processing fees, then bid lower to compensate for any percieved difference in cost, shipping time, etc.. I've only bought from a seller using GSP once, and that was a buy it now, so the final charges were listed in description and the price was low enough to offset any difference in fees or shipping time.

 

 

A broker files the customs paperwork and transfer funds between the shipper/consignee and import country. Postal services tend to offer inexpensive and minimal brokerage services. In contrast the brokerage services provided by courier companies are usually rather expensive (unless one pays for fast and expensive shipping). Third party brokers compete by offering lower fees and/or additional services and are commonly used by businesses that recieve a large volume of import shipments.

 

 

The brokerage fee isn't charged by customs, it's charged by the broker (presumably the post office or courier in this case, though in theory you could have contracted a third party broker) for:

1. Filing customs paperwork on your behalf.
2. Loaning you the money to cover the customs fees for the time period between customs clearing the shipment and you recieving the shipment and paying the fees.

For what it's worth, as brokerage fees go, $10 is cheap. Couriers charge quite a bit more for brokering "ground" shipments, with varying degrees of discounts if more expensive shipping services are used.

 

Hi,

 

I certainly agree with your overall comments.

 

However there is a bit of a distinction to be drawn in the functioning the GPS

and most other Brokers, most of which do indeed loan the recipient the monies for taxes & duties.

 

In the case of the GPS, the recipient has already paid the taxes & duties up front, so the cabal of Broker+eB@y+PayPoodle is borrowing that amount of the recipient's money from the time the recipient pays for the Item until it is rendered to the recipient's government. A short span of time to be sure, but considering the sum of money in play from all GPS transactions, it would not be an insignificant amount of 'unearned' profit.

 

Kindly pardon my nit-picking.

 

Bye,

S1

[Susanna]

Colex,

I'm just curious to know if you eventually received your parcel, and if it was really fully paid (or if you had to pay something else at delivery, for some other customs taxes, maybe)

[Mickey]

 

Hi,

 

I certainly agree with your overall comments.

 

However there is a bit of a distinction to be drawn in the functioning the GPS

and most other Brokers, most of which do indeed loan the recipient the monies for taxes & duties.

 

In the case of the GPS, the recipient has already paid the taxes & duties up front, so the cabal of Broker+eB@y+PayPoodle is borrowing that amount of the recipient's money from the time the recipient pays for the Item until it is rendered to the recipient's government. A short span of time to be sure, but considering the sum of money in play from all GPS transactions, it would not be an insignificant amount of 'unearned' profit.

 

Kindly pardon my nit-picking.

 

Bye,

S1

It's called playing the float and it is a feature of virtually every financial transaction in the world, other than unaccounted, direct barter. Even direct cash sales includes the float, as sales taxes (in many countries) are frequently deductible from one's income tax. The state 'borrows' the money (the tax) at the time of sale against a presumed need (their budget) which is only reconciled to the buyer and seller (the tax payers) after the year's income taxes are figured. The state thus has the benefit of interest on the excess tax collected. So, any transaction involving a tax or government fee, even if the tax is not obvious, (IOW any financial transaction) includes a float of some sort or other.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Mickey

[raging.dragon]

Colex,

I'm just curious to know if you eventually received your parcel, and if it was really fully paid (or if you had to pay something else at delivery, for some other customs taxes, maybe)

 

The shipment I bought via GSP was delivered with no additional fees. Ebay are big enough, and have collected enough enemies and haters, that if their service wasn't as advertised I'm certain it would be huge scandal covered by major media outlets, commented upon by politicians, and investigated by bureaucracies.

[Drone]

I'll bet if you dig deep enough into why ebay is doing this, it will lead to a pack of Lawyers.

[Mickey]

I'll bet if you dig deep enough into why ebay is doing this, it will lead to a pack of Lawyers.

Hint: their zip codes are probably 20500, 20510, and 20515

Edited August 30, 2013 by Mickey

[colex]

Colex,

I'm just curious to know if you eventually received your parcel, and if it was really fully paid (or if you had to pay something else at delivery, for some other customs taxes, maybe)

 

No, the transaction was canceled by the seller that no longer wanted to sell the item when, at the request of the assistance of e-bay, I was required to eliminate GSP cost from auction...

The ebay custmer service asked me that they did not care if the seller completely eliminated the cost of shipping or GSP because their gain is a % on the value of the object and not on any other cost connected, then the seller could rectify the auction and agree with me the amount of any other shipping fee...

But this has not happened, because of the seller and not of e-bay rules!

 

 

However, I want to thank publicly a great FPN member gary

, who read this thread, and make me happy sending in Italy a little Waterman WITHOUT ANY CUSTOM FEE OR GSP COST, he proposed to trade a Waterman 52V red, here it is on my desk:

http://i.imgur.com/NZRUdPh.jpg

 

with any one of my vintage italian FP.

I sent him this Italian green celluloid made in the '30s / '40s...

 

http://i.imgur.com/C7iY6Ai.jpg

 

I hope him enjoy with it!

 

 

 

Thanks a lot gary!

 

 

Edited August 31, 2013 by colex

[Guy007]

I also came across this recently and I will certainly be wary of any future purchases on eBay where the sellers have signed up for this.

 

To me there is no clarity on what the percentage is total and how the fees are split - GST / Handling etc. I recently purchased something from Florida, it cost $200 and the fee was $30 (+ the $12 shipping). Being based on Alberta, the tax here is only 5% so if they are taking a 10% 'fee' that's not right in my opinion. It was shipped through USPS/Canada Post. I have no issues paying taxes on it locally, but if it was just sent and then CP did the taxes the fee would have only been $10 taxes + $5 handling, so half what I paid - and I know it would go into the governments tax account. What was also frustrating is that the 'pre paying' of taxes added an extra week to the shipping time, which to be honest, was the more annoying factor.

 

FedEx and UPS traditional have been friends with the Customs folks, but at least when you ship through them it is a speedy process.

 

This will certainly affect how I purchase from US eBay folks in the future.

[ksh]

Prior to the GSP program, the cost of my shipping a pen to Europe/Australia/Asia from the US would be close to $40, using the cheapest method that has tracking, Int'l Priority. Now I can send the pen to Ebay's domestic US shipping center for under $5. So there are substantial savings for the US seller, presumably reflected in the prices charged. I understand the griping, but the cost of the pen and/or the customs % would have to be quite high for the customs hit to be more than the $35 in saved shipping. And my understanding is that in some countries, i.e., Germany, the odds of a package slipping by customs are low.

[jthole]

I have stopped buying from Ebay USA ... there are too many things that can go wrong, or turn out to be more expensive than thought.

 

Strangely enough, dealing with sellers from e.g. Singapore or Australia seems to be easier than working with (some!) USA sellers.