eBay Scam?

[asiamiles]

I sent a jacket to someone in the US, and for some reason it got held up in US customs for 10 days or more. Well, they finally released it and now the buyer is being asked to pay duty on it, which is unusual for items being imported into the US. But rather than just pay, he sent me this message which has set off some alarm bells. Your thoughts?

"I went to the post office today (1/9/12) and they told me that the $40.17 "COD" amount (their term, not mine) consists of a duty fee of $34.82 + a Postal Fee of $5.35. The Post Office collects the fee on behalf of US Customs and will not release the package until the fee has been paid.

In my opinion, this situation is not your fault, my fault or ebay's fault. It's the fault of US Customs, who may have incorrectly assessed the duty fee. Regardless, it is probably very difficult and time consuming to have it reversed and not worth the trouble.

Therefore, hoping to find a way to complete the transaction in a manner that will be satisfactory to everyone, I contacted ebay customer service and asked for their advice.

After first speaking to a Customer Service Representative who was unsure how to resolve the problem, I was connected to a Supervisor. The Supervisor (Renz) understood the problem and proposed the following solution: Step 1.) Ebay will waive the $28.67 fee that they would normally charge you as the seller of this item. Step 2.) You will refund $28.67 to my PayPal account. Step 3.) I will pay the Post Office $40.17 to obtain the package. This solution will cost you nothing. It will cost me $11.50 more than the amount that I agreed to pay, but I can live with that.

If you want to proceed on this basis, please contact ebay Customer Service by phone or email and give them Service Request #1-2337341183. This number will allow the agent to pull up Renz's notes regarding this matter, which should include Renz's email address if you need to contact him directly.

You should be receiving a communication from ebay comfirming their intention to waive their fee so that this matter can be resolved at no additional cost to you.

If this satisfies you (and I don't know why it wouldn't) please proceed to credit my PayPal account in the amount of $28.67. After PayPal notifies me that my account has been credited, I'll pay the Post Office."

 

[ButteMT61]

Me, I'd contact ebay/paypal and see if this is real first.

My 2¢. Good luck.

 

[asiamiles]

It's not so easy contacting eBay; I certainly don't intend making an international phone call and I don't think they actually use e-mail anymore. I certainly don't intend to pay this guy anything BEFORE he collects the jacket, it's very suspicious that he puts this as "step 3". The thing is why would eBay be prepared to make such a concession? Surely paying import duty is the responsibility of the buyer, pure and simple.

 

[deeb7]

"It will cost me $11.50 more than the amount that I agreed to pay, but I can live with that.

He's weird ...

I think he's just hoping that you are going to pay up, before realising that eBay aren't going to refund anything. Of course he may then refuse to collect the package ... alternatively, there is no duty, and he does this every time he buys.

 

[asiamiles]

He's weird ...

I think he's just hoping that you are going to pay up, before realising that eBay aren't going to refund anything. Of course he may then refuse to collect the package ... alternatively, there is no duty, and he does this every time he buys.

I initially became a bit suspicious when he replied to my comment that it must be a bit annoying for him for the jacket to be held up in customs with: "It's not annoying to me. After all, I've done my part. If the item doesn't arrive, I'm confident that ebay and PayPal will make me whole." As if he's not really bothered whether he gets the jacket or not. And in the above message I'm especially alerted by a phrase like "and I don't know why it wouldn't".

Of course, with eBay no longer having neg feedback for buyers one doesn't really know what he's been up to, even if he is a long-standing eBayer:
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d ... g=5&page=1

Maybe he is just "weird", but I'm worried what will happen if he simply refuses to accept delivery of the jacket, which seems a distinct possibility. Will eBay refund him from my Paypal account, even though he would clearly be the one in the wrong? And the solution that he claims eBay have offered just doesn't seem to be one that any company or business would suggest. Should my next step be to suggest that he collects the jacket and I will pay him when/IF I have a monthly eBay statement confirming the waiver/refund?

 

[ciddu]

That's weird - sounds like a scam to me.
Everywhere else in the world custom duties and taxes are buyer's responsibility, and I don't see why it should be different for US ebayers.
AND - it sounds even stranger that a customs manager wants to "make a deal": there are duties, or there are NO duties, it's not anybody's choice. It's not up to him to suggest a way to raise the funds to pay customs or to decide who else should give up their fees or part of the selling price.
AND - I don't see why ebay should give up their fees, just because somebody doesn't want to pay taxes. If that works this way, well, you can count me in from now on for all my purchases from abroad!
Too many strange issues about it, in my opinion!

 

[Jaguar46]

Why not contact Ebay by email, with references to the above statements from him? That won't cost anyone anything.

 

[Jason]

If the message came via the ebay system, then forward it on to ebay themselves and ask of the veracity of its contents, They'll soon tell you.

If the message arrived via other means, then its outside 'the system' and you can 'ignore' it as it'll have no standing as far as ebay goes? If he doesn't want to pay the duties because he feels he shouldn't be due any in this instance - it occasionally happens to the best of us - then thats his problem. Locally, some items that ought not to be charged duties sometimes do get slugged, and you just have to live with it, or not accept your package. Customs the world around seems to be an immovable object. He should accept that, pay his dues (no matter how unfair) and move on.

 

[ciddu]

Jason, I totally agree with you.

But it seems that aceepting the situation and just moving on is exactly what he doesn't want to do.

 

[asiamiles]

The message did indeed arrive via an eBay message but from what I can tell, the only way to contact eBay now is via telephone! Yes, you can try asking a question that fits into a particular category but beyond that you're stuffed.

As David said, the buyer does seem 'weird' as any normal person would surely, as Jason said, "pay his dues (no matter how unfair) and move on". And to be honest how unfair is the charge? Could it possibly be correct for an almost US$270 jacket? I don't know what people in the US are supposed to pay on imported goods...it's never come up before.

The only way forward I can see is to ask him to pay the fee, and tell him I will pay him the the money eBay are supposedly going to pay me after I receive it. If he refuses, I guess I should try and report him to eBay...if I can find a way! If anyone has any other suggestions, please shout out!

 

[Rutger]

What mistake exactly was made?
Or is it a non-taxable item by nature?

The form that should come with it will probably state (very clearly) that if he objects he'll have to pay just to get the jacket, after which he can start a refund operation at customs to get his money back.

Almost all stuff being imported is subject to customs, but they only will check part of the daily flooding of small packets.
So if on average like 90% is "usually" not taxed, that doesn't mean his jacket was unjustifiedly taxed.

Ebay would have nothing to do with that, and neither does the seller, wether he did or did not indicate on the auction that duties are not on him.

He should contact customs and ask them why and how it was taxed, and let him find out how to get is refund.

You can inform ebay on his proposal, but you're not even (morally) obliged to do that.

 

[asiamiles]

Absolutely, but he sounds like rather than collect and pay the tax he will just leave it there. Maybe he regrets buying it and he sees this as a way out for him? Eventually, it would presumably be returned to me. Whether eBay would refund him, who knows? They certainly should not do so in ANY circumstances, but it's already very strange in that he claims they offered to cover his customs fee by refunding my final value fee and then me paying him from that. It just makes no sense at all!

 

[deeb7]

• What if the item is stuck in customs because the buyer won't pay the import fees?
  
  Cross-border trade disputes will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis using all available transaction information. We will not accept cases filed by international buyers where the sole complaint is high customs duties. Sellers who sell internationally can also facilitate reviews of their cases they receive by specifying in their item description that international buyers are responsible for any customs, duties, etc. imposed by the buyer's home country.

 

[RCSignals]

You should be able to contact eBay customer service by email. Yes they have that annoying system but as I recall there is away of contacting them with the problem directly by email. They can also look at all the correspondence that has passed through their system.
As a seller can you not open a case related to the transaction as well?

What is odd about this is you haven't yet received that email from eBay confirming all of this. It is even more odd to me that eBay wouldn't tell the guy that possible Customs duties are a fact of life when you purchase Internationally.

 

[asiamiles]

You should be able to contact eBay customer service by email. Yes they have that annoying system but as I recall there is away of contacting them with the problem directly by email. They can also look at all the correspondence that has passed through their system.
As a seller can you not open a case related to the transaction as well?

What is odd about this is you haven't yet received that email from eBay confirming all of this. It is even more odd to me that eBay wouldn't tell the guy that possible Customs duties are a fact of life when you purchase Internationally.

It is very odd. Is he making it all up?! I just checked my invoice for December and the Final Value Fee of the item is not the same as the amount he stated eBay would waive.

No, I don't think there is any way to contact eBay via e-mail anymore.

Anyway, trying to keep it all under control I sent him the following message. If he declines to act upon it should I report the matter to eBay rather than let it ride?
"I would recommend collecting the item from the PO and paying the required fee. Then when I have received the refund from eBay I will simply send that on to you.
If you delay collecting the jacket the PO may return it to me."

 

[John Lever]

I always get worried when I sell to the US as it's the only place to have caused problems for me.
Once an item worth $700 was held up in customs for 10 days, this was clearly shown to be the case as I sent it with full tracking and insurance. The buyer opened a dispute and wanted a full refund and messaged me to say it was my problem and to deal with it. I was faced by the loss of the jacket and my sale price.
What influence do I have with US customs ?
I finally telephoned the buyer to reason with him and to ask him to patient. It arrived within the hour of the phone call. The buyer left excellent feedback !
Just goes to show that sometimes people get frustrated and start to behave irrationally.

 

[ciddu]

Anyway, trying to keep it all under control I sent him the following message. If he declines to act upon it should I report the matter to eBay rather than let it ride?
"I would recommend collecting the item from the PO and paying the required fee. Then when I have received the refund from eBay I will simply send that on to you.
If you delay collecting the jacket the PO may return it to me."

That sounds OK, I would do the same, trying to keep things calm and not to raise a dispute with the buyer.
It seems very unlikely to me that ebay will refund the fee just because he feels he's not supposed to pay custom duties... in Europe we know we're supposed to pay it, and if we skip it or not it's just matter of luck.
Anyway if ebay complies, well, all the best, you'll send him the refund and everything will be OK.

 

[dmar836]

I agree with your response to him. If it's all legit, he should pay the fees and you will reimburse him when HIS deal comes through. This is his after-the-fact idea, not yours and you shouldn't have to be part of him trying to cheat his way out of "paying the man," He should have understood these fees prior to bidding. Why is it always up to the other guy to take the hit for something. I'd propose you guys do your way or you will immediately open a complaint with Ebay for failure to complete the deal. Then again, he might then go pick it up and keep if for the price of customs...... and claim he doesn't have it. Even if he signs for it and commits international mail fraud, are you going to go to the trouble of suing him? This is an enigma and why have developed a general distrust of others.
The only delay here is his - by not picking up his package. Cheapskate!

BTW, I have never had anything held up on this side of the pond from anywhere. It is usually elsewhere that worries about customs, fees, declared values, etc. This thread has the first two stories of US customs delays I have ever heard.

Dave

 

[ButteMT61]

You must file with ebay/Paypal. You can paste anything into an ebay message to another ebay user.
It is slow, but ebay will side with the buyers 99.9% of the time. It seems like a scam indeed, but it can also be legit. Either way, you will get bad feedback and dinged if you don't get proactive with it. I've been buying/selling on ebay for 13 years with 100% feedback as has my wife and only maybe five times in that span have we had trouble with someone. It takes quite a bit of effort to do, but it's the only way. I have a number that I have not used in a while, but give this a shot if Paypal was involved in the auction: (402) 935-7733.

Scott

 

[asiamiles]

I always get worried when I sell to the US as it's the only place to have caused problems for me.
Once an item worth $700 was held up in customs for 10 days, this was clearly shown to be the case as I sent it with full tracking and insurance. The buyer opened a dispute and wanted a full refund and messaged me to say it was my problem and to deal with it.

I think this is down to US buyers not expecting or being familiar with the idea of paying import duty. In most other countries, people who buy from overseas know what the score is.

If he refuses to pay for it the post office is going to hold it for certain days!
I think the package then is going back to US Customs?
If you did not pick “return to the sender” on the mailing form then the jacket is gone! (abandoned item)
I am not sure is there an option “return to the sender” on Japan’s mailing form!

I think EMS packages are automatically returned to the sender, without charge. I've received a few over the years and usually they come back pretty quickly. One was actually from a guy in UK who didn't want to pay the duty and asked if it was okay for him to refuse it and then pay to have it resent as it would be much cheaper than paying duty!