@porcelain_dolls_by_me wrote:
The ACCC stipulates that any advertised pricing, where the targetted buyer is based in Australia, MUST be the final price to the buyer. That is to say it is not permissable to advertise an item for sale at a price but at the payment stage add the GST cost. I wonder how EBay will cope with this?
In some cases (it's not mandatory in all cases, eg wholesale suppliers usually display pricing less GST, though I doubt eBay could be considered a wholesale website).
The issue in this case is the final price is going to depend on varying factors, so the final payment total can really only be determined at checkout stage. If I go into an Aussie B&M and purchase a trolley full of goods, where I live, where I'm taking those items, and how much they are worth in total, is not going to change what I have to pay for them, but it will with the international GST rules.
GST will only apply to purchases <$1000, as goods valued over that will be handled the same way they always have been, so if I buy one $600 item, eBay will charge GST, but if I buy two $600 items (from the same seller), eBay won't charge GST (or shouldn't). If I use a forwarding service and supply an address located in the US, eBay won't charge GST, but they will if I use an Australian address, so the GST component is only calculable in the final stages of the purchase. (The GST will still apply at some point if you use a forwarding service - the new laws have a specific provision for it).
Not sure how it's going to be handled when the GSP is involved, though. I'm guessing eBay will handle it all if the goods are under $1k, and Pitney Bowes will handle it if it's over, but there's been no mention of it that I've seen as yet.
