just bought on eBay and I saw suddenly a “UK VAT added to price” for the first time is this correct

[laugb2001]

Hi,

I just bought an item on eBay and I saw added to the final price before payment a "UK VAT added to price" to a value of 20%. I have never seen that before in more than 18 years on eBay. The seller is in UK and I am also in UK. Is this correct and have I really to pay it?

thanks.

Lau

[bobandcharlies]

There is nothing patronising about pointing out that the information you complain about not having is clearly and concisely displayed by ebay from the listing advert.

It is a huge problem with buyers online simply looking at the photo and clicking the BUY button without taking a little time to read the information provided for them to help them make an informed decision.

Even worse on Amazon than it is on ebay because Amazon adverts are very bad at displaying all information - even the seller (most items are sold by the same sellers as on ebay except hidden by Amazon to give the illusion you are buying from Amazon - very little is actually owned and sold by Amazon itself )

When a Buyer does not read the information the reaction is to hit the Blame button in their brain and send indignant even rude and derogatory statements to either the seller or ebay - stating the item was not as described, the seller  conned  me - ebay deceived me along with a tirade of sarcastic or personal abuse.

You say 

The seller advertised within their description that 'VAT 20% is included in the items cost'  if this is true then the seller is obliged to refund the VAT included in the advertised price to you - NOT the VAT added by Law by ebay at checkout which they clearly explain to you within the ebay controlled content of the advert. (ebay should refund proportionately the VAT charged on the refunded portion of the sale)

To make a claim that VAT is included  in the advertised price - the seller must be VAT registered and the UK VAT registration number must be added to the sellers details in the advert. 

If it is not displayed the seller is breaking the law  -  report the seller to ebay and HMRC and Trading Standards - it will be taken very very seriously - defrauding HMRC out of VAT is no joke and will be heavily penalised.

If however you are referring to the ebay message posted under the postage and Payment Menu

VAT: 20% (included in the listed price). The actual VAT requirements and rates may vary depending on the final sale. Learn more

You need to read and take an informed decision based on the information contained under the link 'Learn More'

By making the choice not to read the information you cannot and should not blame anybody but yourself - it was your decision - your choice - the consequences of your decision are yours.

You do not need to be an accountant - all you had to do was read the couple of paragraphs written by ebay to help you.

Your blame, indigence and sarcasm directed at myself for pointing out the realities of the situation is fine if it makes you feel better but if you take in the information given it will help you avoid the misunderstanding in the future - whenever you choose to make a purchase

[dodgeram-durango]

Once Again seller is abroad and does not say in his description that VAT is payable on item.

I did not know London was based in China.

Ebay adds vat to amount payable. I have been caught several times.

[bobandcharlies]

The reason is if the seller is based abroad but the stock is held in the UK - the seller should be VAT registered in the UK and the buyer is charged VAT -  ebay under the law have to collect the VAT by adding VAT to the sale price , if the seller  is VAT registered they should refund any VAT included in the sale price which would trigger ebay to refund the VAT on the amount refunded 

This causes confusion  because the information is available via the links in the listing but you have to follow the links - it should show the VAT at checkout where you have the option not to proceed with the purchase.

It is a complex system and I would hope ebay change the system to be easier to understand and be more transparent for buyers  - I am sure they will have to as it is causing a lot of confusion and upset for buyers at the moment

[jadie13910]

What is worse is that you only find out after you have clicked "buy it now" then it shows on the final page and it is too late then - you have commited to buy !!!! If you don`t complete the purchase - the seller then lodges a "no payment" dispute against you - and there is nothing you can do about it !!!! eBay should get a grip of this problem as they are loseing customers - Use Amazon instead - OR only buy from UK sellers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jadie13910]

Only the "seller" can cancell the sale ! the buyer can`t - the seller then can issue a "non payment" against you the buyer ---- Doe`s that "Stink" or what ?

I mainly now buy through "Amazon" at least I know up-front what the cost is - AND there returns system is a FAR superior system than eBay ! 

[fargvs]

Request to cancel ... See >

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/cancelling-order/cancelling-order?id=4004

[bobandcharlies]

If you have not paid for the item - simply do not pay 

As far as Amazon goes we also sell on Amazon - you will also have VAT added to your order from a foreighn seller - Amazon insist the seller is registered for VAT in the UK - which will add the VAT to the order -  

Amazon returns are much more biased in favour of the seller because it follows consumer law - a seller can choose whether you or the seller pay return postage - the seller can deduct up to 100% of the sale price from the refund if it is not in exactly the same condition including tags and packaging

Most goods sold on Amazon are through the same sellers on ebay but Amazon make it very difficult to identify the seller 

Amazon themselves when selling retaillers goods through their fulfillment centres protect the seller against returns 

So I am not sure you have an easier time returning on Amazon - the seller generally has the choice to accept or reject the return issue a label or force the customer to pay for the return and the seller can decide whether the purchase price is refunded in full or not

If this is better I think most sellers on ebay would welcome the Amazon return system.

It may seem better because the majority of sellers on Amazon are reputable businesses rather than hobby or private sellers who tend to give a better experiance to buyers - you can of course buy from the same sellers on ebay generally at a lower or the same price

[jadie13910]

If you simply "do not pay" as you suggest "non payment" goes against you !!!! The "buyer" can do nothing !!!! the buyer has to "request" that the seller cancells the order - if the seller does not agree - you are stuffed and eBay can not/will not do anything - FACT !  That is what happened to me ! eBay could not/would not help ! All I want is "fairness" something eBay knows nothing about - I have been an eBay user for over 20 years - and they are slowly but surely putting me off ! 

Due to this + the "unknown"  and unfair vat problem , I have started buying from Amazon more and more, as I stated - at least you know the price up-front - The "robot" type system that eBay uses is VERY unhelpful as I have found on a number of occasions -  To date I have not had a problem with Amazon ! IF they do or start to do what eBay are doing - they loose me as a customer - SIMPLE !!!! Will either of them give a toss ? NO - but enough people start to feel this way - they will, I will feel better and that is all that matters !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VOTE WITH YOUR CASH !

[bobandcharlies]

I agree the ebay buying experiance when buying from a seller  abroad whether the stock is in the UK or not is at best clunky - this will change I am sure because of the negative experiance it is giving buyers - Amazon simply makes all foreign sellers register for VAT if they hold stock in the UK  and thus the sellers price should show plus VAT

However if the seller is based abroad and the item is located abroad - Amazon zero rate the supply by reducing the sales price  and the buyer has to pay the VAT and Import duty to Amazon or HMRC - it has complications as sellers making declarations to HMRC concerning turnover and threshholds - 

It is a complicated system on both platforms but at the moment Amazon edge it with transparency although hidden taxes and duties still occur 

I hope it is sorted soon because customers who buy on ebay are important to all sellers or should be ! 

[bobandcharlies]

I have questioned ebay as to why a customer cannot cancel an item within the first 30 minutes of ordering without the seller being involved 

The reason that ebay do not do this is becasue the consumer laws which state a buyer can cancel an order placed online at the same time as ordering  is because private sellers are not governed by the same legislation and they trust business sellers to cancel orders requested that have not been shipped without having to be involved - I wish that sentiment was true.

Again I feel that this will come in for business sellers in the near future but the time limit will be set at one hour  after placing the order 

[fargvs]

Even when items are showing as located and delivered from within the UK,  it is often worthwhile to check and confirm the Seller Feedback profile for their ...

 Based  Location ( = current Address) ...

and for ...  

Country of account registration ... click on their > 'Items for sale/View listings' < links to see Seller information in the left column  ... they can often be very different and if registered/situated anywhere outside the UK , it will trigger an additional 20% VAT fee. !.

[jadie13910]

I think a lot of the above "community experts" are missing a huge point here - at least in my case, mine was the purchase of 2 x coins at total cost of £3.50 - big deal, advertised as vat included + free postage - so far so good ---- clicked "buy it now" whent to pay with Paypal - signed in, reviewed details which showed + vat which increased the price !  It is NOT the extra cost that bothers me ! (not on £3.50 anyway) it is the fact that I was then in a "no way back" situation which I knew nothing about until I had commited to buy and not of my doing - I felt CONNED !     What if it had been £350 or whatever ?

The point you are all missing is twofold !  Firstly I felt CONNED/DUPED into an impossible situation of which I had no control ! Second I do not want to wade through pages of legislation, sales law or vat rules !!!! I have better things to do with my time ! BUY it ! RECEIVE it ! BE HAPPY with it ! USE it !

If everybody on here do not get that, and if you read through all previous postings on this subject - then you are all sadly missing the bigger picture - If you deal with a system/seller and feel uncomfortable - the likelyhood of buying from that system/seller is less - I want to select a product, pay for it, and receive it ! I do NOT want to get embroiled in a never ending discussion about the rights and wrongs !

I hope everyone on here understands this as I have tried to simplify it as much as I can ! If eBay do not see this and sort it out - they are fools - sort it out or loose your users - your choice ! 

This will be my last post on this as I am sick and tired of it ! 

Thank you

[myriad*seller]

Nobody was asking you to become conversant with UK tax laws

Just to read the information provided on the listing that clearly explained about customs charges and IMPORT VAT being charged 

The information was all there on the listing

You just chose not to read it and are not blaming others

[dodgeram-durango]

Conned/Duped is a fair topic. I have just had the seller (at my request) cancel yet another order as it stated UK dealer but Ebay on checkout added the dreaded VAT which was hefty.

Even their invoice did not show any sign of VAT due.

There was no way back before paying, no way to cancel the transaction and NO information on the vat, Just a different amount total!

Surely this amounts to FALSE representation!

Ebay should not join the ranks of the scammers and make payment/invoices correctly show the VAT element they are responsible for and give a cancllation button BEFORE requesting payment!

[unclestein]

Erm... user <

jadie13910

> clearly stated at the beginning, the Ebay sale was made from an alleged 'UK seller', (who's location is listed as a UK address) to a 'UK buyer'.

Therefore, according to the Ebay

 rules they should not be charging VAT.

[jadie13910]

Just to add to the pathetic eBay system - the payment was paid to someone in California US ????? try and explain that if you can ! registered in UK (coming from China payment to US) its a sick joke 

[jadie13910]

I tried cancelling through eBay and the seller just ignored me !!!! I even phoned eBay and they said that only the seller can cancell - So what next ? If the seller ingnores me what do I do ?

The link you sent will only work IF the seller follows it - THEY WOULD NOT !!!!!!

[jadie13910]

Hi, Just to add a little more confusion - the seller, listed as UK, actually in China - My payment went to California US ?? Confusing or what ? 

[fargvs]

Seems that your China seller with a USA registered account has misrepresented the Item location as being in the UK which can be reported >

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/listing-policies/item-location-misrepresentation-policy?id=4244

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Announcements/IMPORTANT-ACTION-FOR-ITEM-LOCATION-MISREPRESENTATION-P...

As previously mentioned >> A check on a Buyer/Seller Feedback profile shows current Based location (?China) ... but by clicking through their 'Items for sale /View listings' links it will show their Country of registration  (? United States) > under Seller information in left column ...  often different and if either member is anywhere outside the UK, it will trigger due HMRC/Government VAT import fees !.

[Anonymous]

Hi I think it's a bloody disgrace I live in Northern Ireland I have always used eBay for buying items but frustrated to see every item I purchase has vat on top of the sale I still thought that Northern Ireland was part of the uk so we all shop on eBay to get a good deal well that's all hit on the head now