My items are over £270, so there is an extremely complex customs form. Secondly, if Ebay pre-charges any import duties, you have to find a way of connecting the customs documents to the tax. Thirdly, Royal Mail charges a lot extra for insuring large value packages, but the insurance is extremely complex to claim. Also, you can't lodge a claim until long after you've had to refund the buyer. If Royal Mail then finds the package, as they frequently do, they hand it over to the buyer and don't pay the insurance to the seller. Also, you may get asked for the Ebay tax ref by the post office if you say it was an Ebay sale (how many people would know where to find that or what it is? I didn't have any idea the first time.) The Trump tariffs now mean that there is a threat of the buyer not ransoming the book when it arrives in the US and they will have to hand over their tax codes potentially - the book could get stuck in a forever queue or returned to sender with postage expenses forfeited. Also the amount below which you are exempt from tariffs has already changed once and might change during transit. Overall, there is now an unacceptable list of risks and delays for other international services AND you often get treated as though you are a smuggler by staff.
