GST nightmare to begin, Bye Bye EBay US, eBay U.K., eBay......

[mica357_4]

Sad days are ahead I fear.

Im an eBay buyer, mostly from overseas. Why? Because what I want or need isn’t available here to buy. Or it’s a pre loved item. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the Global Shipping Program or likewise eyewatering shipping costs, but what’s a gal to do?

How the @@@ is this 10% GST on everything and anything going to work?

Yes people’s, everything , all items, be it a 10th hand vintage coat or an Art Deco cabinet plate, everything.

The fact that the seller, as a person making less than $75,000 a year from their online selling and is therefore actually exempt, is irrelevant, the Govt is going after the Marketplace ie EBay, Amazon, Etsy, Alibaba. I mean they even have PayPal in their sights as a collection agency!

Currently, if you buy an item over $1,000, apart from shipping and handling fees, the cost is $55 for a do it yourself customs declaration, more if you use Fedex or the Global Shipping Program.

So, you have to factor this extra $55 to $100 into your overall cost. 

After 1 July, that $10 widget spinner you want has a $1 GST fee payable. How much extra is eBay going to charge an Aussie buyer to compensate themselves for the hassle and inconvenience of being responsible for collecting our Govts new fee? That whole $1!

Another 10% (ok if it’s a $10 widget, not so good if a $990 bag) or say $10 a purchase (ok if you’re buying that $990 bag, not so good for the $10 widget buyer).

And how hard does it get when you return that widget to the seller cos it’s faulty and want your $1 GST refunded. Imagine the cost and the effort for eBay to apply, on your behalf because they collected it, to retrieve your $1 back, and hopefully before you die.

Here’s your invoice from eBay, your $10 refund for the widget return, the $1 GST collected and subsequently refunded and our bill for $157 for the processing.

Or more likely, we’ll just be excluded.

[countessalmirena]

Oh! That box set is another item for my wish list, which by now is bulging at the seams. It's a bit like a fat man refusing to increase his trouser size.

[davewil1964]

Luckily for me I've never even heard of him, much less had an impulse to buy even one of the films.

[elderbluedragon]

my wishlist is always full  >.<

[digital*ghost]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Luckily for me I've never even heard of him, much less had an impulse to buy even one of the films.

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Well, it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, which is true of just about any artistic endeavour, if not all of them 🙂 , but the Samurai X ova is brilliant (IMHO). The Rurouni Kenshin series a little less so, but it has its charm. I've seen the first live-action film already, and it did a great job of taking the best bits of both, plus the lead actor (Takeru Satoh) did very well at capturing the more unique mannerisms of the animated character without ever being hokey, which (for those who are familiar with the character) is truly something to be impressed by, even without all the other theatrics.

For whatever it's worth.  

[tangledstitches]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

That's pretty much been my reasoning for the huge amount of money I've spent the last 4 weeks (most of it was stock, though). 

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I haven't bought any stock for ages.  One place in the US that I used to buy a lot of stock from said they sold more to Australia to anywhere else.  They used to put $10 or $20 on boxes worth over $500 so it'll be interesting to see whether they comply.  I'd imagine the govt may have been taking notice of the businesses that sell a lot to Australia for quite some time so they know who they are.

I've loved the lousy exchange rate because it meant my items were better value than buying direct from the source, but they'll be even better value now.  One man's meat is another man's poison.  🙂 

[kkmm26]

So my Granny knits a jumper for me and sends it by post from England.  Does Customs & Excise open it and make a value judgment?  It is a one-off hand made item with no lable or intrinsic value.  It is not a fungable good.  What will AusPost do then?

[lyndal1838]

As far as I know your jumper will not be taxable if the Customs declaration shows that it is a gift.....nothing has changed there.

[c_mount]

Crispy duck yumm...

[tangledstitches]

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@kkmm26 wrote:

So my Granny knits a jumper for me and sends it by post from England.  Does Customs & Excise open it and make a value judgment?  It is a one-off hand made item with no lable or intrinsic value.  It is not a fungable good.  What will AusPost do then?

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I hope you don't tell your granny her jumper has no intrinsic value!  This is why I never give craft items I've made to anyone as a gift - if they don't do craft themselves they don't think they're worth anything.

[countessalmirena]

If your Granny is in the UK, is a business / runs a business knitting jumpers, and she knits the jumper for you as a special order and you pay for it, lo and behold, you'll be charged GST on the invoiced or declared amount.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "fungable". (This isn't intended to be my being picky about spelling; it's just a question of definition!) If you mean "fungible" (typo), then you're talking about your granny being able to knit another jumper for you if this first one got lost in transit or if she accidentally gave it to someone else... Essentially, a replacement jumper would be just as good. But if the one-off hand-knitted jumper is a labour of love by your granny, lovingly made for your exact measurements and in the exact shade of wool that most flatters your complexion, hair and eyes, it may well NOT be a fungible item!

If you mean it's not made out of fungi and are deliberately coining the term (which would be lovely! - although you could use the word fungal instead, I suppose), I can only say... have you considered purchasing clothes made from mushrooms? Mycelium (the fungus root) is being used as a fibre for textiles! Read more:  https://neffa.nl/portfolio/mycotex/. Tell your granny about it!

But... if your granny is a sweet non-knitting-business lady, or an acerbic beak-nosed non-knitting-business lady, OR if she's a knitting-business lady but the jumper is a gift to you, then rest easy. As Lyndal has said, no GST on gifts; just make sure your granny fills out the Customs declaration with the relevant correct information.

(Alas. If only Harrods were my granny...)