Concerns buying from HK private seller w/ limited selling history

[tmel88]

An OVO jacket that had a limited run a couple of years ago that I have been looking to purchase for a while now popped up on eBay a couple of days ago. The seller accepted my offer first time which surprised me a little bit as it was a fair whack lower than the listing price. I asked him to send me more photos of the jacket (this time with a close up with the tags) which he has.

My concern is that he's listed as a private seller in Hong Kong and doesn't have much of a history as a seller (9 items sold with feedback on 2 of those sales - 1 positive and 1 neutral although the comment related to packaging rather than the authenticity of the item).

With the reasonably solid buyer protection that eBay has, do you think it's safe to purchase and that I'll be able to get a refund/return if the item isn't legit?

[tommystrezures]

I am always sceptical of anything that comes out of this region as it is likely to be a fake or copy. If you know your beans so to speak and can determine its authenticity then fine, but you have to act promptly once the item has arrived if there is any thing not right with it.

I dont' know what the value of the item is, but be aware you will also need to pay vat and possibly duty on the item too, so I hope that you have factored this in to your cost?

[tmel88]

Thank you, that's really helpful. The item cost is £450. I am expecting to pay import & tax although really not clear about how much. I used the import & VAT calculator on Wise with a commodity code for a jacket and it was showing as a very small import charge and no VAT... which I'd love to be true but doesn't seem right

[tommystrezures]

VAT will be charged at 20% - this includes postage price and duty. So there is I would think £100 straight away before the duty. Also if the carrier notifies you there is usually a further administrative charge of £10 or there abouts (depending on carrier) to add.

If you know the HS code then using the official UK government link should give you a more accurate figure.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

[tmel88]

That is a lot more in line with that I was expecting - £111.60 (20% VAT and 4% import). So presumably if it the item isn't legit I'd lose out on that (and any potential admin fee) but I should be protected for the amount paid for the purchase? 

[papso22]

The ebay MBG should still apply so you should be able to get a refund for the jacket, but you will then have to deal with getting the import VAT and duties refunded from HMRC and I suspect you will have had to return the jacket to get that, unless you can convince them that as a fake it was overvalued at import.

You need to balance your desire for the jacket with the very definite risk that you will lose money.

[tommystrezures]

Yes @papso22 has to leave country and you have to show documentation thus, to enable a claim on the duty and vat. I can’t remember where but think that is also detailed on the .gov uk website, along with the forms etc.