Customs charges because seller has put wrong declared value on declaration.. Help please?

[*wraith_hunter*]

Hi All,

Is there anything I can do if a seller puts the wrong declared value on a parcel that results in the parcel getting charged duty?

Long story short I purchased an item off eBay Australia & paid $250AUD plus postage & insurance of $80AUD. The seller who is based in the US has put the declared value as $550USD. The listing was in AUD & I paid in AUD. I received the Customs bill when I got home tonight & they are wanting $170NZD ($130AUD approx).

I checked on the Customs online duty calculator with the amount I paid (including shipping) and it came back that no duty was required. 

What normally happens in this situation? Can I get customs to wipe the duty by providing proof of payment? or is the seller liable to pay the duty seeing as they put the wrong amount on the customs declaration?

Thanks in advance 🙂

[davewil1964]

Including Lyndal? And who elected you spokesperson?

[*crikey*mate*]

*sigh*

[thecatspjs]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

Do you know anything about New Zealand Customs catspjs?

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Yes.

I do.

[lyndal1838]

Then perhaps you should have answered the OP with some facts instead of allowing everyone else to speculate?

Most of us said we were only guessing.

[i-once-was-bump]

I, too, disagree, if the item is only insurable for the price paid then how can it be worth more than that on a declaration?

[i-once-was-bump]

How long do you get to edit a post?

My previous post was stomped on by my cat before I had finished but after 3 or 4 minutes I couldn't edit it to finish.

If an item can only be insured for the amount paid for it then how can the declaration be higher than that amount? That seems to make perfect sense however if I were to purchase an item for $100 but then get it valued at $800 can I insure it for $800 for postage?

Also what would be the declared value for customs?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@i-once-was-bump wrote:

How long do you get to edit a post?

My previous post was stomped on by my cat before I had finished but after 3 or 4 minutes I couldn't edit it to finish.

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I've heard of cats buying on eBay, but posting on the boards??????       

You should have 4 minutes to edit, but that includes the time taken to edit as well.

[tstore]

I once purchased a bulk lot of items (200 items) that cost about $200. The seller put the quantity cost as $200 PER ITEM which resulted in the parcel value $40,000 (rather than the true value of $200) and I was told by customs I had to pay $1,000s to release. All I needed to do was supply PayPal and eBay invoices and they released it a week later without duty payable

[*wraith_hunter*]

I spoke to NZ Customs today & they said that I can apply to have the bill reviewed. I need to provide a copy of the Paypal email with the amount I paid on it and they will consider re-calculating or not charging the duty. The lady I spoke to said this happens on a regular basis and it's normally due to the sender putting an increased value for the insurance. There's no guarantee that they will do anything but at least it's a start.

As for eBay I did speak to them and they told me to speak to Customs and if they refused to help I was to call eBay back and they would help me sort it out. They didn't go into details on how they were going to help sort it out but said they would.

Still no response from the seller so I'm hoping I won't need anything from them.

Crossing fingers I can just get this all sorted with customs.

[lyndal1838]

Well what do you know.....you were given the right advice 3 days ago.