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ebay import warning

M

Mr Ian

pfm Member
Cut a long story short, I bought an amp off ebay Germany. Made an offer and it was accepted. The parcel was returned to the sender before it left Germany because the customs paperwork wasnt correct. The seller, a private individual, then said the paperwork was very complicated but he would try. Then I get an offer to ship with a lower price on the customs declaration so he can use easier paperwork. But I have to accept all the risks. I decline to accept the risks and suggest he cancels the sale and returns the payment. Next I get an message from ebay telling me to raise a not recieved claim BUT I cant do this for another week. Take heed dont buy expensive items from abroad
 
Either incompetent seller or attempted scam. Probably the latter since the paperwork isn't exactly challenging (what it is and price).

Go with the ebay item not received option, but assuming you paid by paypal, credit card or debit card also alert them and raise a claim immediately since he's probably trying to get the money out of the system before ebay can make a move.
 
Since Brexit I’ve had issues with parcels from abroad, requiring more documents or missing details which were on paperwork attached and we’re talking about online retailers shipping fair bit abroad .
As to the OP if Seller decides to lower the value of the item even if accepted Ebay is still on your side and EBay Money Back Guarantee cover your purchase up to full value as long as you use one of the payment methods listed.
 
brexit has made life difficult.. me and a few mates have a cigar club and we meet bi monthly for a cigar and a few beers and a mardle.. we used to buy form a retailer in germany as they were way cheaper than uk (even if we got hit at customs), they now won sell to the uk as its too difficult sort small parcels to private individuals..
 
Yes, the item was over Euro 1000. He sent packing up photos and when the parcel was returned to his house tracking showed a matching box. I am confident that the seller was genuine but the whole process wasted a lot ot time, wasted money in terms of shipping and caused stress all round. Ebay have initiated a not recieved claim, today, following my request.

My warning holds true, buying high value items from abroad is high risk these days.
 
The UK Government appears to want to make everyones life difficult these days. Its not just imports, the hoops and hassles one has to go through to get an income tax refund after you have logged in to the secure HRMC portal is unbelievable. Not to mention the Making Tax Digital and plans to extend it to self assessment. Rant over
 
Buying items from abroad on Ebay is easy if you use the Global Shipping Programme. The seller posts the item to the GSP office in their home country and the GSP takes over. The buyer registers with the GSP before bidding and pays for shipping from the GSP office to their home address plus any taxes which will be calculated and collected by the GSP. Attempting to buy from abroad without the GSP is gross stupidity in my opinion and it looks as though that is what the OP has done.
 
LecsonQuad said:
Buying items from abroad on Ebay is easy if you use the Global Shipping Programme. The seller posts the item to the GSP office in their home country and the GSP takes over. The buyer registers with the GSP before bidding and pays for shipping from the GSP office to their home address plus any taxes which will be calculated and collected by the GSP. Attempting to buy from abroad without the GSP is gross stupidity in my opinion and it looks as though that is what the OP has done.
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This, although as a buyer it's not always clear that you're buying through the GSP. As a seller, it's a piece of cake; it's a single tick-box to enable it for your sales. And it's excellent like you say, and quite fun - I sold something to someone in China, and a relatively low-end Arcam amp to a chap in Mexico (!) - he was over the moon, too. In both cases the shipping and customs charges more or less doubled the sale price of the items :D
 
I think both I and the seller learnt a lot. No it was outside GSP but I did send an offer price first which the seller had every chance to refuse.
 
I'm glad you're on the way to sorting things out via eBay. Having bought a few items from the EU with the seller using eBay's GSP - as mentioned above- makes things easy for both buyer and seller.
 
hifi-dog said:
brexit has made life difficult.. me and a few mates have a cigar club and we meet bi monthly for a cigar and a few beers and a mardle.. we used to buy form a retailer in germany as they were way cheaper than uk (even if we got hit at customs), they now won sell to the uk as its too difficult sort small parcels to private individuals..
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I've a customer who's a cigar collector/smoker he was telling me that it's cheaper to fly to Switzerland to buy his cigars than what it is buying them online. Think he said he used to buy them from the US.
 
twotone said:
I've a customer who's a cigar collector/smoker he was telling me that it's cheaper to fly to Switzerland to buy his cigars than what it is buying them online. Think he said he used to buy them from the US.
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crazy world! back to relying on friends and family going on hols for duty free, not that many airports stock cigars now either.. plenty of e-cigarettes tho..
 
Mr Ian said:
The parcel was returned to the sender before it left Germany because the customs paperwork wasnt correct.
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Mr Ian said:
The UK Government appears to want to make everyones life difficult these days.
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If the package never even left Germany how is it the UK Governments fault ?

I live in France and it's just as difficult to get things to here from the UK ....thanks to the French Governments customs and tax requirements.
 
Everyone gets het up about the ramifications of Brexit but there are hundreds of countries in the world all of which have their own customs and taxation requirements to fulfil. The EU is a very very small part of the world.
 
Mr Ian said:
Cut a long story short, I bought an amp off ebay Germany. Made an offer and it was accepted. The parcel was returned to the sender before it left Germany because the customs paperwork wasnt correct. The seller, a private individual, then said the paperwork was very complicated but he would try. Then I get an offer to ship with a lower price on the customs declaration so he can use easier paperwork. But I have to accept all the risks. I decline to accept the risks and suggest he cancels the sale and returns the payment. Next I get a message from ebay telling me to raise a not recieved claim BUT I cant do this for another week. Take heed dont buy expensive items from abroad
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Brexit my friend. We have the same problems now. I used to buy a lot from the UK. I threw the towel. What a pity.
Not your fault mind you. The money goes into the state’s pockets.
I had to pay €100 for a gift, yes, a gift from a British friend. Never again.
 
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