Opinions on this situation please.

[thedees98]

Hello,

I am not sure what to do in this situation.

A buyer from America bought a book from me and paid for it with Paypal.

When I went to the post office it was a lot cheaper as it was lighter on their scales than mine so I refunded the buyer the difference.

Anyway after a few weeks I emailed the buyer to see if it had arrived and then received a very abrupt email back which said "The Package has been shipped back. I need my money back with pay pal."  That is it no explanation, nothing. I politely emailed her back asking why it was being returned but as yet I have had no reply.

Today I received the book back with 'Refused' written all over it, still no explanation. The parcel has not even been opened so it can't be it was the wrong book or not as described.

Now I have no problem refunding the cost of the book but the postage cost was $84.30 of which I have already partially refunded some of it. I do not think it is fair I wear the cost of the postage, especially as it so much, when I have no idea why it was returned.

Thanks in advance

debbie 

[mbselections00]

---

@thedees98 wrote:

Possibly customs, I have never had this problem before and I have sent a few books overseas. Apart from refused written all over it and the stamp of a finger saying RTS there is nothing else on it. I was just taken aback by the blutness of her email, short and not so sweet lol

I now only post overseas to NZ and the Asia area as I am not impressed in paying high fees on the high postage on large items with ebay then again with paypal. A lot of my heavier books are around $10.00 so with the fees you're not left with much.

---

This was the first time I've ever had a customs issue also - it's never been mentioned before by any of my customers.

I'm afraid this one size fits all approach by eBay doesn't sit well with me.   Let's say I'm a Size 10-12, I don't try and squeeze into Size 6 or 8 clothes and similarly I don't wear Size 20 - So I sort of break the rules so to speak - Local postage has the FVF for post included in what I charge, along with the cost of padded envelopes etc etc, so for Overseas Postage (which is usually around $25 - $30) I have a $3 handling cost to cover eBays FVF etc, apart from that I charge the exact amount I pay.

I'm not saying what I'm doing is perfect, but to me it seems the fairest way.  I know we are supposed to build the fees into the price of the item not the postage, but many of my customers buy more than one item, so with combined post, I feel I would be ripping them off if the postage fvf is built into every item.  But that's just me & my thoughts . . . . .

[cherry*135]

Peculiar.

Are parcels returned to overseas senders, if the address is wrong or 'refused' by recipient? I would think they would go to a dead letter office, if no-one is willing to pay the return international postage. Letters/cards, yes, they get returned to sender.

Maybe it was customs that didn't clear it. Would they have let the buyer know, that had refused to clear their parcel? But, it hasn't been opened?  A real mystery.

[cherry*135]

I have sold many out of print magazines to US buyers, the cost of shipping from Australia,tips them over the edge sometimes. I haven't had any comments which lead me to believe they had to pay customs duty/tax on them before they can collect them. 

The UK/EU have a new VAT thing starting this month. If a seller, for example, in the UK sells an item to a person in an EU country, they have to add tax on at the rate it is charged in that country. Then they have to do VAT returns, which could include lots of differenct sales to different EU countries at different VAT rates. Makes it difficult for small time sellers.

[cherry*135]

Was the title of the book included on the green customs declaration form? Any chance it is a book banned by the US Govt?

[thedees98]

No it didn't have the book name on it. It was just a gardening book. 

There are no customs stamps or anything on it asking for extra costs.

Also she had refused and sent the book back before I contacted her so no idea there.

[cherry*135]

Unless the buyer spills, it looks set to remain a mystery. If the buyer wants a refund through Paypal the buyer is going to have to give some details, why delivery was refused etc.

[digital*ghost]

It seems likely the refusal was from the buyer - AFAIK books are exempt from duty in the US, so it wouldn't have been a refusal to pay extra. Plus, the buyer being fully aware the package was back on it's way to you, and not sending a message along the lines of they didn't get something they bought and still wanted, all suggests they made the decision to refuse it....and that could have been for any number of reasons, I suppose (most commonly it's simply change of mind, or bought cheaper elsewhere). 

[digital*ghost]

---

@am*3 wrote:

The UK/EU have a new VAT thing starting this month. If a seller, for example, in the UK sells an item to a person in an EU country, they have to add tax on at the rate it is charged in that country. Then they have to do VAT returns, which could include lots of differenct sales to different EU countries at different VAT rates. Makes it difficult for small time sellers.

---

That is currently only applicable to digital goods, and affects all sellers worldwide selling digital goods to EU countries. The EU currently has the view to expand these requirements to physical goods next year, though.

[cherry*135]

Yes, it is for digital good/services from 1 Jan 2015, threshold £0. Sounds a giant pain for hobby/small sellers.