Fedex, or Chinese Seller Scam? Who did it?

[wnob4544]

1st November '24 I bought an item from a Chinese Seller. The cost of the item was £334.80 (subsequently borne out by the US$ Bill of Lading converted into Sterling) + £10 delivery and I checked with ebay regarding Import Duty and VAT liability.  The responses were a bit vague but confirmed as 20% VAT only, so the order was placed and paid. I had a discussion with the Seller before ordering as he'd been noted as demanding VAT numbers before providing Tracking information and when not provided, posting false Tracking details and never despatching the item. I had to ask but eventually was told Fedexd was the freight company. Despite the Fedex Tracker giving a delivery date of 18th November, it arrived on 8th November without any prior notification of Duty payable.  I waited several days, phoned and was told it was 'in process'.  Eventually Fedex sent the Invoice for VAT and Handling fees on 21st November and it was £101.52, far more than I'd calculated. I immediately queried it with screenshots of all the documents, eBay listing, Order details, proof of payment amount, etc, etc and waited for a reply - and waited............ Eventually on 5th January '25 I phoned and queried it again. On 6th January they responded with basically 'tough', you'll have to get the Seller to send an ammended bill - and our charges will be an extra £60+VAT for processing. I demanded a breakdown of charges as the original Invoice only showed total VAT and their VAT inclusive fee of £12.75. It arrived (attached below) and unbelievably they had taken the total payable (which included the £10 delivery, paid at purchase) charged VAT at 20%, then decided their freight charges were an additional £97.76, added 70% of that, plus another incomprehensible series of calculations and charged VAT on the whole lot.

After a lot of discussion and argument Fedex eventually issued a new Invoice using the Seller's £10 delivery charge as theirs which brought the total within £3 of my calculation.  Enough hassle, I paid it.

My concern is:

How many other unsuspecting Buyers of items imported by Fedex have simply paid up and not questioned it? Fedex don't send out itemised Invoices as a matter of course.  Has the Seller palmed Fedex off by saying I'm paying freight? Ebay are not willing to investigate, or make the transactions transparent (I'm shocked 😱!) and the only benificiaries are HMRC - and they aren't going to stop it.

Whatever happened/whoever dunnit, beware of items that attract Import Duty and VAT and be especially wary of machinery part store.

[tobiasd4]

You would have paid 20% VAT at time of purchase, this is collected by ebay on behalf of HMRC.

As item was over £135, you also have to pay import fees.

Fedex deliver item & send invoice later for fees.

Had it been delivered by RM, they require import fees before delivery.

Non payment of import fees invalidates ebay MBG.

[tommystrezures]

FedEx to my knowledge are one of the few carriers that will deliver then send an invoice. Most others eg ups etc make the receiver pay before delivery is made.

in the item price you mention there would have been duty to pay as the item price was in excess of £135.00 duty may differ by item depending on the hs code used by the seller. It is of course always the sellers responsibility to ensure the commercial invoices are filled out correctly. Most items sent are sent DDU (delivered duty unpaid) for a seller to make the buyer pay then the buyer needs a fedex account as in this instance and to have given the seller their account  details.

if an item at eBay checkout is under the limit I mentioned before vat should be shown.

[wnob4544]

tobiasd4:

I'm afraid that's wrong on almost all counts.  Looking at the detail of the attached Invoice, the charges are for VAT on the value of the goods and 70% of the freight, plus the Fedex charges.  No VAT is paid by eBay for imported goods over £135, that becomes the responsibility of the Purchaser/Importer.  I attached a copy of that Invoice but it's been dumped somewhere along the way.

[wnob4544]

tommystreazures:

The Invoice and Tax calculations showed there to be no Import Taxes, or Protection Taxes, only VAT (+Fedex dues).  I've attached it again in the hope.

I do not have a Fedex Account, never did have. I did all the transactions as a 'guest'.

Apologies for my mistaken comment about the 70% calculation on the Fedex freight charge.  It was a mistake, the freight cost was all laible for VAT.

[tobiasd4]

Which ever way you want to interpret Fedex invoice, they will persue you to pay it.

If you think it is wrong, you need to sort with them, ebay won't get involved.

[wnob4544]

tobiasd4:

If you read the first post in full, it's detailed that I had discussions with them, the fact that they wanted a fee of £60+VAT for processing any new Seller's Invoice, that they acceeded and submitted a new Invoice and 3/4 of the way down the post it's noted that I PAID IT!