The Ebay Advice Column

Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:38 am

refund question:

requested a refund and the seller processed it through paypal (not ebay). however, now ebay is showing i have an unpaid item. seller said they can't cancel as it is telling them to refund again. is there an easy solution to this? do i have to pay again and then have them cancel? or can i just leave it be (i don't want to get dinged with an unpaid item though).

hayward96 · Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:52 am

Cbjornson wrote:Has anyone had experience shipping to Belgium? I have a buyer that wants to buy a print off eBay, but doesn't want to pay for the Global Shipping rate ($150+) or pay the import taxes. It would be insured for $1,000.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Don't sell to them, why leave yourself vulnerable? You can not insure for more than you put as value on the customs form.

Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:01 pm

hayward96 wrote:
Cbjornson wrote:Has anyone had experience shipping to Belgium? I have a buyer that wants to buy a print off eBay, but doesn't want to pay for the Global Shipping rate ($150+) or pay the import taxes. It would be insured for $1,000.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Don't sell to them, why leave yourself vulnerable? You can not insure for more than you put as value on the customs form.

if selling through ebay... you should get an exact quote to ship to belgium (fully insured) and edit the listing so the buyer only pays shipping/insurance cost. GSP sucks for intl buyers and is super expensive. you should be able to ship fully insured for around $75 (approx).

options:
(1) sell via ebay GSP and insure fully (buyer gets screwed on all fronts as GSP sucks for buyers)
(2) sell via ebay but ship directly (charge actual price to ship to belgium) and insure fully (buyer only gets "screwed" on import taxes)
(3) sell outside of ebay (via paypal) and mark low value (no insurance)... but document packaging and print with LOTS of pics. send pics to buyer before shipping. make clear to buyer that any damage due to shipping is not your responsibility. make sure you ship in a bombproof tube.

soam24 · Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:05 pm

soupysound wrote:
hayward96 wrote:
Cbjornson wrote:Has anyone had experience shipping to Belgium? I have a buyer that wants to buy a print off eBay, but doesn't want to pay for the Global Shipping rate ($150+) or pay the import taxes. It would be insured for $1,000.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Don't sell to them, why leave yourself vulnerable? You can not insure for more than you put as value on the customs form.
if selling through ebay... you should get an exact quote to ship to belgium (fully insured) and edit the listing so the buyer only pays shipping/insurance cost. GSP sucks for intl buyers and is super expensive. you should be able to ship fully insured for around $75 (approx).

options:
(1) sell via ebay GSP and insure fully (buyer gets screwed on all fronts as GSP sucks for buyers)
(2) sell via ebay but ship directly (charge actual price to ship to belgium) and insure fully (buyer only gets "screwed" on import taxes)
(3) sell outside of ebay (via paypal) and mark low value (no insurance)... but document packaging and print with LOTS of pics. send pics to buyer before shipping. make clear to buyer that any damage due to shipping is not your responsibility. make sure you ship in a bombproof tube.

Your last point is fine and dandy, until they open a claim to paypal and they win since the item isn't as described.

Codeblue · Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:13 pm

ya paranoid xenophobes.

halftonegraphics · Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:30 pm

Cbjornson wrote:Has anyone had experience shipping to Belgium? I have a buyer that wants to buy a print off eBay, but doesn't want to pay for the Global Shipping rate ($150+) or pay the import taxes. It would be insured for $1,000.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

ship fully insured via USPS. claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.

if you have to, cut them some slack for the fees you would save. meet them in the middle. you would be seeing/saving somewhere between $90-$120 in fees most likely. their taxes would be $60.

Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:06 am

halftonegraphics wrote:claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.

interesting. do you have any detail on this "loophole"? how to use? what are the requirements? can't this be applied to all print shipments? sorry for the barrage of questions.

hayward96 · Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:49 am

soupysound wrote:
halftonegraphics wrote:claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.
interesting. do you have any detail on this "loophole"? how to use? what are the requirements? can't this be applied to all print shipments? sorry for the barrage of questions.

http://forum.expressobeans.com/viewtopi ... =8&t=85994

soam24 · Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:06 am

soupysound wrote:
halftonegraphics wrote:claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.
interesting. do you have any detail on this "loophole"? how to use? what are the requirements? can't this be applied to all print shipments? sorry for the barrage of questions.

Not a loophole but the tariff for importing into europe.

Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:09 am

just strange as i have sent a lot of prints to the EU and buyers never once mentioned it. i guess they are not aware. many were paying the 20% VAT without claiming the shipments under this.

Cbjornson · Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:44 am

halftonegraphics wrote:
Cbjornson wrote:Has anyone had experience shipping to Belgium? I have a buyer that wants to buy a print off eBay, but doesn't want to pay for the Global Shipping rate ($150+) or pay the import taxes. It would be insured for $1,000.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

ship fully insured via USPS. claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.

if you have to, cut them some slack for the fees you would save. meet them in the middle. you would be seeing/saving somewhere between $90-$120 in fees most likely. their taxes would be $60.

Thank you!

stuckeyc · Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:15 pm

Anyone ever ship to argentina?

halftonegraphics · Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:03 pm

hayward96 wrote:
soupysound wrote:
halftonegraphics wrote:claim print under tariff 9702.00.0000. belgium pays 0% duty and only 6% tax.
interesting. do you have any detail on this "loophole"? how to use? what are the requirements? can't this be applied to all print shipments? sorry for the barrage of questions.

http://forum.expressobeans.com/viewtopi ... =8&t=85994

this. not a loophole. some countries appreciate art and want to make sure those that collect said art don't pay a bunch for it.

the tariff code is intended for screen prints but i havent heard of anyone having issues claiming other types of prints under it.

i normally attach one or two labels to the package just to make sure the tariff code is present/apparent.

Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.59.30 PM.png

veltri · Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:31 pm

For Canada at least, technically the screen print needs to have been pulled by the artist.
Of course they never get close to challenging this, but I kind of hoped they would have the time I crossed the border with some Dave Hunter prints.

padelimike · Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:33 pm

I learned something about ebay tonight:

"7-day" auctions are not actually for seven days, they are for 168 hours.

edit: and it seems to have hurt me more than a little bit