[skyhook]

Looking on E Bay I see that some items incur the import tax at the point of sale? Is this how it works now? Before I paid import tax once it had been shipped then billed by Parcel Force?

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Ebay

Not sure but I think it's way for E-bay to muscle in on the shipping side of things. This enables small sellers to use this Global Shipping Program of E-bay - they collect and do all the documents etc. But they use the cheapest and thus slowest type of shipping. Waste of time if you want a rod quickly to practise Catch and Return !! Cheers

p.s. Best to try and find those firms shipping themselves, I find ,as negotiation is often possible on charges.

Looking on E Bay I see that some items incur the import tax at the point of sale? Is this how it works now? Before I paid import tax once it had been shipped then billed by Parcel Force?

 

[stephen symons]

It just means the delivery will get to you without any customs hold ups when entering the country. A more efficient service really as duties are pre paid

 

[castor]

This "all inclusive package" only applies to items shipped by the ebay shipping system. If you buy privately it does not apply, and not all ebay exporters support the ebay shipping programme...

 

[ibm59]

It just means the delivery will get to you without any customs hold ups when entering the country. A more efficient service really as duties are pre paid

One of the bigger US retailers used to offer this service through their website.
Took all the guesswork out of total costs etc.

Might have been Leland , but could just as easily have been another.

 

[strowan lea]

I recently bought a discontinued line, from the states and I thought i was getting a bargain. I ended up paying
customs tax of £7.03 on top and Post Office added £8 for handling charges :shocked: On saying wtf to the post office I was told US of A always gets collared.thing is , I checked out Ebay sweden and found I could have had it for £10 cheaper. Was told by the apologetic chap at PO that it propbably would have evaded Tax!!! DYOR!!

 

[pfeul]

Believe me: AVOID buying through the eBay shipping program like the plague!

I've not count exactly but I bought more than one hundred fishing items in the US in the five previous years from hooks to rods. Everything has always gone perfectly with USPS and the local postal services (proceeding out of the eBay global system), with the odd import duties to pay from time to time.

I've bought only twice with the global shipping system and twice the experience went to total nightmare.

The system works the following way. The seller sends to a warehouse in Kentucky to Pitney Bowes who proceeds to international dispatch of the parcel. If Pitney Bowes lost the parcel, it's eBay's responsability, not the seller one. In other words, eBay guarantees not charging the seller any money in cash of a delivery issue.
Then supposedly Pitney Bowes checks the package and collects the import duties. The issue is that it does not comply with any international law as for import duties, since the lattest must be collected once the parcel has entered the final delvery country. So you'll never get any official document stating you abide with your local law as for import duties.

Second, Pitney Bowes is very well renowned fot loosing parcels.
As i said i'v used the system twice and twice they lost the parcel. And it's almost impossible to contact them.

My last experience with the global shipping program is an undelivered parcel 1 month after purchase, 2 months for being refunded by ebay. And finally the parcel was delivered 3 months after...

The best way if you get interested in an item sold through the global shipping program is to contact the seller and try to convince him to sell outside of it.

 

[AlanT]

I concur with almost everything pfeul has said above. I've had some bad experiences with the ebay gsp.

I once left negative feedback to a seller because of the way they packaged an expensive rod. Turns out the seller packaged it really well and was priced accordingly by ebay. The global shipping program then repackaged the rod in smaller lighter packaging and sent it on. Obviously they saved money this way but never passed on the savings so pure profit. Only by luck did the rod arrive undamaged. This is common practice, they have a warehouse of workers repackaging products. Google or youtube Pitney Bowes and youll see articles on them following this practice.

Once the delivery company refused to release a rod until I paid the import duty (which I had already paid through the global sp), another time I was charged import duty twice following demand letters. On both occasions it took weeks of phone calls to sort out.

I read that Pitney Bowes pays the tax en masse as a single estimated payment covering thousands of items so there is no actual paperwork covering your individual item if anything goes wrong.

I've had the odd occasion where everything has gone slickly but when it goes wrong its a nightmare and I found to be very frustrating as difficult to contact anyone directly.

A

 

[skyhook]

Believe me: AVOID buying through the eBay shipping program like the plague!

I've not count exactly but I bought more than one hundred fishing items in the US in the five previous years from hooks to rods. Everything has always gone perfectly with USPS and the local postal services (proceeding out of the eBay global system), with the odd import duties to pay from time to time.

I've bought only twice with the global shipping system and twice the experience went to total nightmare.

The system works the following way. The seller sends to a warehouse in Kentucky to Pitney Bowes who proceeds to international dispatch of the parcel. If Pitney Bowes lost the parcel, it's eBay's responsability, not the seller one. In other words, eBay guarantees not charging the seller any money in cash of a delivery issue.
Then supposedly Pitney Bowes checks the package and collects the import duties. The issue is that it does not comply with any international law as for import duties, since the lattest must be collected once the parcel has entered the final delvery country. So you'll never get any official document stating you abide with your local law as for import duties.

Second, Pitney Bowes is very well renowned fot loosing parcels.
As i said i'v used the system twice and twice they lost the parcel. And it's almost impossible to contact them.

My last experience with the global shipping program is an undelivered parcel 1 month after purchase, 2 months for being refunded by ebay. And finally the parcel was delivered 3 months after...

The best way if you get interested in an item sold through the global shipping program is to contact the seller and try to convince him to sell outside of it.

Thanks for the heads up, i was looking at the pros and cons it looked a bit ropey to me so ill not bother going down the prepaid route. It looks like a complete racket, between that and Simms now over pricing their stuff above what I think is a reasonable price. Luckily I got some good deals from Sportfish this year.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

One other thing

I see the opinion on here of the Ebay GSP confirms what I said.

However there is one other disadvantage which I cannot quite remember but I think it is about 2nd hand goods.

These should not attract VAT in the UK, if I am right, but only if the invoice clearly states the origin.

Via the GSP then one is billed for the VAT every time. C & E Rules should be clearer

Dave

Looking on E Bay I see that some items incur the import tax at the point of sale? Is this how it works now? Before I paid import tax once it had been shipped then billed by Parcel Force?