Another EBay Thread
- Thread starter JohnG7
- Start date
This is where eBay confuses things for everyone, because they are still including the UK in the EU when it comes to delivery options.
So the seller has selected he's willing to ship to EU, probably initially unaware that this means eBay will offer it out to UK buyers.
The buyer has just bought an item that eBay shows on the listings in the UK and shows as 'ships to the UK'.
One of these parties is now going to take a hit due to this confusion.
If someone selects 'Ships to European Union', eBay shouldn't still be including the UK as it does above.
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Spot the 're-moaner'.
That's correct. We're also not in the EU.
If you're asking if you're in the right with regards to Ebay T+Cs, then yes, you could just ignore him.
If you're asking if you're in the right morally, then my opinion would be to consider what you would have done if he had given you the option to pay for the extra postage beforehand: if you would have paid extra then you should send him the money, if you would have cancelled and bought the item elsewhere then you shouldn't feel the need to pay up.
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Option 3 - tell him you sympathise but to take it up with eBay and ask them why they offered his item for sale to UK buyers, complete with wildly inaccurate automated postage estimates etc. when he selected that he was only happy shipping to the EU.
I have wanted items from EBay US and it states in their listing "May not ship to UK", now this does not mean they will not so I MSG them before I bid.
Now IMO this is a different situation as I read it as he will ship anywhere in Europe/EU whatever you want to call it now as its same location as before but not to Russia or China or USA etc etc.
I did post here for both sides so I am fine with your input and I will just ignore it and not bother with feedback period.
Now IMO this is a different situation as I read it as he will ship anywhere in Europe/EU whatever you want to call it now as its same location as before but not to Russia or China or USA etc etc.
I did post here for both sides so I am fine with your input and I will just ignore it and not bother with feedback period.
It's the same location as before but the process is different, which is what the seller is having problems with. The customs forms and proforma invoices he's complaining about have to be done because he's sending outside of the EU - he wouldn't have had to do this before.
I wouldn't be giving him the extra, as it's not your problem that it's happened.
It's unfortunate from his perspective, as it's not really his problem that it's happened either but he did have the opportunity to not post it, email you and say 'holy crap John, since Brexit the postage to the UK is way more expensive than the rest of the EU, it's going to cost me €45 instead of the €13.99 it would cost if you lived in Ireland, are you happy to pay the extra or do we cancel?' but he chose not to. He then has the option to take it up with eBay why they still incorrectly list the UK as an included destination among the 'within the EU' postage option.
Be interested to see if customs pick it up too, being over £135, and add 20% VAT for you at import stage.
That's an interesting point, I wonder if the seller has had to pay the VAT? The numbers add up correctly €13.99 postage + 20% of €157 = €45
I know sellers need to pay VAT before items are sent into the UK now but I didn't think that was applicable to second hand goods?
Well if I need pay extra duty I will not be too chuffed as EB should state this like Amazon USA even Amazon UK but USA/Global seller and only if it has that already sorted by Amazon (probably in the price or even exempt for some reason) and a fair amount.
The seller in this scenario wouldn't have had to pay it at point of shipping regardless - with an online marketplace like eBay it'll either be collected as part of their payment and invoice process (when under £135) or picked up by customs (when over £135) and charged as import VAT.
If you look at his other auctions, anything still under the £135 threshold has a notice saying the final fee may include VAT (as eBay have to collect it). Anything over that figure, that message vanishes, as eBay aren't involved - it reverts to import VAT procedure where you're at the mercy of customs spotting it and charging the VAT and any relevant import duties.
It may be he is not going to post it if I do not pay him (even though EB states it was posted above does not, so pay another 20 then possibly pay more again on DEL), I would rather forget it as there is always other items and know to avoid EU now.
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The same rules will apply to pretty much all foreign sales, anything bought abroad is now expected to get VAT added either at point of sale or point of import, dependent on value.