Customs tax query

[jamest494]

hi. I am a seller. I have sold a couple of model cars to France and I listed international postage. The buyer has just messaged me to tell me he has to pay €31 in customs tax and he is expecting me to settle this amount. He’s saying that I didn’t highlight that there would be customs tax to pay in my advert therefore I am responsible, but I had no idea he would need to pay this tax. I rarely sell outside of the UK and had no knowledge and would have expected eBay to highlight this if I was to choose international postage on my advert. Is there any way I am responsible for this as the centre is now requesting a return which is going to cost me more money than if I pay his customs tax. I do not understand how I am responsible for this and surely if eBay are aware then shouldn’t there be something in small print automatically added to my advert when I select international postage? Once again it is impossible to contact eBay directly so I thought I would try here first. Appreciate any help

[**peaseblossom**]

The buyer is totally wrong.   Sellers cannot be expected to know about other countries' import tax.   That is not your responsibilty.    The buyer should have investigated at his end before he bought.  

As a private seller you do not have to accept "change of mind" returns but if you do the buyer would have to pay the return postage.

[tobiasd4]

To add.

If buyer refuses to pay customs fees, they invalidate ebay MBG.

[*vyolla*]

Politely let him know that import fees are the covered by the importer, the buyer, and are set by his country's government, and are nothing to do with eBay or eBay sellers. 

Has the buyer opened a return?

If so, what reason have they selected for the return?

[jamest494]

They had requested a return because, apparently, it is my job as a centre to make them aware in my advert that they would need to pay custom tax. They lodged a complaint with eBay but I have taken screenshots of this conversation and post it to them and they have now cancelled their return and complaint. Thank you for your help 

[jamest494]

Thanks for your help

[jamest494]

Many thanks for your help

[jamest494]

Great. Many thanks for your response on this. Buyer has now cancelled their return request

[*vyolla*]

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@jamest494 wrote:

They had requested a return because, apparently, it is my job as a centre to make them aware in my advert that they would need to pay custom tax. They lodged a complaint with eBay but I have taken screenshots of this conversation and post it to them and they have now cancelled their return and complaint. Thank you for your help 

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Excellent, unfortunately there are a lot of daft buyers out there who are unaware of their own country's rules and regs, I get stuff sent back all the time as not collected due to customs fees not being paid (mainly from Germany). I wish they'd teach this stuff as life lessons at school, just a bit of useful basic knowledge.