Import fees

[frederic_4102]

Hi all I’ve ordered some air suspension from a seller in Germany , UPS have just knocked at the door and requested £223 from me to have the item delivered within 10 days apparently due to import fees , I was not notified of this by the seller nor was anything mentioned about it and obviously after spending £1700 on air suspension I don’t and won’t pay a extra £223 for my item when I wasn’t notified of this and it should have been on the eBay sellers ad I’m obviously very un happy and have contacted the seller and ask them what there gonna do about it and said i won’t pay that so if they won’t come to some sort of resolution then I will be cancelling the order 

where do I stand with this and what advice would u guys recommend 

I received as follows from eBay themselves 

##teammate to select buyer or seller message and and enter user/item details 

##We are writing to you because your seller #x-parts_de# informed us they would like to discuss some issues with their sale of the item #187661758614#

To keep the eBay marketplace effective and reliable, it is important for our users to be able to communicate easily with each other.

Please check your eBay Messages and make sure you clarify any open questions concerning the item. If a request has been opened, please communicate directly there. You can check open requests or cases in the Purchases section in My eBay or in the Orders tab in the Seller Hub.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, just get in touch , we are here to help 

please any advice on this as that alone I don’t understand what it means 

many thanks 

[plpmr]

if a buyer refuses to pay import duty they void eBay buyer protection, meaning they could lose the item and their money.

[**peaseblossom**]

It's not up to sellers to know about other countries import tax.    Probably the safest thing to do is to accept delivery then arrange a return and apply for a refund of the tax.   See: "If you’re charged too much or return your goods" on here:

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

[fargvs]

Be aware that any purchases from outside the UK are subject to additional UK Import VAT @20% and any other Customs Duty and Shipping charges based on ££s limits here ---- Failure to pay means that the item will not be delivered and you will be outside eBay Money Back Guarantee.>

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=2&pos=2&query=P...

[*vyolla*]

@frederic_4102 

eBay have sent you a gibberish answer because this issue is nothing to do with them, they don't recognise it, there's no point in contacting them.

Import fees are nothing to do with eBay or eBay sellers, it's down to you (as the importer) to know that there'll be import fees, and Customs Duty will kick in for an item valued over £135. These fees are set by our very own HMRC.

If you don't pay the import fees then you stand to lose your £1700, and UPS will still chase you for their admin fee, they always go the legal route if you don't pay. 

[frederic_4102]

Okay that’s fine I never knew about it but I guess this is definitely lesson learnt I’ll pay the fees as I’d rather loose that than £1700 obviously and just get it sorted
Sent from my iPhone

[*vyolla*]

@frederic_4102 

We've always paid fees to import items from the US, Japan, Australia, but until Brexit didn't have to pay any import fees when purchasing from an EU country.