How to sell internationally safely please? and if held in customs?

[justcruising49]

 Seems stange to ask this after selling successfully internationally for many years. Now find that registered post is no good with no tracking, and have one lost 1 now and australia post need up to 60 days to find it. Needless to say buyer has a full refund. Been told track and pack only tracks out of Australia then after customs will be trackable again, so is that a better option now?

  My second question is if a seller gets charged customs their end and decides not to pay, the parcel will never be trackable in that time as will be still in customs, so they can just claim a refund - that is what I suspected happened already. Anyone know what happens then please?

[lyndal1838]

I presume you mean if the buyer gets charged by Customs......the buyer is responsible for Customs charges and cannot claim non receipt of items if they do not pick the items up.  They also cannot claim if the goods are confiscated by Customs.

[justcruising49]

That means it is stuck in customs with no tracking available while there, so they will just get refunded by ebay

[justcruising49]

I was told tracking stops while in customs so they are in their rights to get a refund if they do not want to pick it up

[lyndal1838]

If the tracking shows that the items has indeed entered Customs in the country that it was sent to the buyer should not be able to make a successful claim.

If you can show that the item is in Customs then fight any claim as hard as you can.   The seller is not responsible for Customs charges or whether the item is a prohibited import to that counrty.

Do you have a disclaimer in your listings to the effect that the buyer is responsible for import fees and duties as suggested by ebay?

[justcruising49]

No, I guess I will need to put in a disclaimer. But I have just picked up my first Pack and Track form from the post office, and I have to sign that '' I accept any liability for any costs including customs or exercise duty which may be imposed by Customs'' so that makes a disclaimer null and void already. Maybe I should do another ebay post on that? 

[justcruising49]

I am fighting hard!  Ebay have notified me that yes it was not picked up at customs so is being returned to me, nut got a thanks you for being a cgood ebay customer. Seller has their refund, ebay has their fees so thy are all happy!!! ME - $28 lost postage over, $13 lost ebay fees so $41 loss, and probably another $28 postage for it to come back or if lost a $100 item gone. SO MUCH FOR SELLER PROTECTION WITH EBAY!!!!!!!!  All a seller has to do is decide they do not want to pay customs if it qpplies and good old ebay will just fully refund them for being good....gues that will also apply if they do not want to pick up at item from the post office if they change their ming. Can then claim they did not eceive it. And ALL TRACKING CEASES while in customs, I was told by austpost.

[lyndal1838]

First, you will not be charged any postage on the item being returned to you.  It will be sent by the cheapest method which in the case of the UK will be surface mail.  It could take up to 3 months to arrive.

Ebay are breaking their own rules by refunding when the item was not collected by the buyer.  You should have had seller protection also as you can prove that the buyer did not pick the item up.

I think I would be contacting the authorities.....tell paypal that you will be contacting the Ombudsman and do so if they do not return your money. 

[jensmanchester-australia]

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@justcruising49 wrote:

I am fighting hard!  Ebay have notified me that yes it was not picked up at customs so is being returned to me, nut got a thanks you for being a cgood ebay customer. Seller has their refund, ebay has their fees so thy are all happy!!! ME - $28 lost postage over, $13 lost ebay fees so $41 loss, and probably another $28 postage for it to come back or if lost a $100 item gone. SO MUCH FOR SELLER PROTECTION WITH EBAY!!!!!!!!  All a seller has to do is decide they do not want to pay customs if it qpplies and good old ebay will just fully refund them for being good....gues that will also apply if they do not want to pick up at item from the post office if they change their ming. Can then claim they did not eceive it. And ALL TRACKING CEASES while in customs, I was told by austpost.

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If you use a trackable method such as Pack N Track if the parcel is held up in customs for the UK it will show up on on the Royal Mail tracking site that it is being held in customs due to the Vat and processing fees being owed.

Unless the buyer has actually advised ebay that they refused to accept the parcel, ebay only have access to the same tracking information that you have

Tracking does not actually cease whilst a parcel is in customs - if there is no change in the status of the parcel then there is no reason for the tracking information to change.

I think your main problem is that you posted the item using a  postage service which does not provide you with full tracking and thereby you do not quality for seller protection under the Money Back guarantee Policy. If you had used a service such as Pack N Track or Express Courier Internationl which provide tracking then you would have been covered by ebay.