Ebay - International

[alison43331]

Hi

Has anyone purchased items on EBay before from an American seller?

I have linked my visa card to my bank account and am verified on PAYPAL. Does this mean that the price I pay will be the final bid price? I won't be charged any extra costs (ie taxes, for buying an item in a foreign currency will I?

Sorry about this, but this would be my first time buying from an international seller and I am a bit nervous

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[TheWinner]

Hi, I buy/sell worldwide on ebay. I, too, use Paypal. What is it you are buying? If you are buying say a book, you should see the price of the book and the postage cost to the UK. There is no extra charge. I think you are referring to any extra import charges, but that would only be for certain items, for example buying expensive jewellery or stuff like that. (I believe Canada have extra duty to pay for things they buy and import into their Country). Paypal do all the currency conversion for you, you don't have to do anything. They take your english money, convert it to US dollars and pay your seller in US dollars. No extra charge to you. The person who is selling pays Paypal for the service, and it is not a lot of money.

[bednobs]

hi allison. depending on what you buy and how much it costs, it may attract import tax. This has nothing to do with ebay or paypal and is (i think) levied by hmrc but actually taken from you by royal mail. The seller will have to put a customs form on the parcel stating what is in it and how much it's worth. Please see chrises answer reproduced below from 2009. When you see a little square, substitue a pound sign. His answer is based on cotton clothing.
Import duties vary but most clothing attracts duty at 12%. However the UK is currently imposing a trading sanction against the USA (because the USA is breaking World Trade Organisation rules by illegally subsiding their cotton farmers). That means that cotton-based goods, from the USA, currently attract duty at 27%. (Duty is ignored, though, if it comes to less than �7).
Then there's VAT which is charged, at 15% on both the value of the goods and on top of the duty. (VAT is waived if the value of the goods is less than �18)
Lastly, there's an �8 inspection fee to be paid for examining your goods. (If there's no duty or VAT to be paid, the fee is waived).
Examples. (All are for cotton-based clothing):

1. You buy an item for the equivalent of �15. The duty is theoretically �4.05 but it's waived because it's less than �7. The item is worth less than �18, so there's no VAT to pay. Since there's no duty or VAT, the inspection fee is waived. Amount to be paid to postman, upon delivery = Nil.

2. You buy an item for the equivalent of �20. The duty is theoretically �5.40 but it's waived because it's less than �7. However the item is worth more than �18, so you pay 15% VAT = �3. There's also an �8 inspection fee. Amount to be paid to postman = �11.

3. You buy an item for the equivalent of �30. The duty is �8.10. You're charged VAT on �38.10 (the cost of the item plus the duty) = �5.72. There's an �8 inspection fee. Amount to be paid to the postman = �21

[heathfield]

Note, too, that HMRC consider the value an item is what you paid for it plus what was paid for postage. They reckon the total is what it's worth to you, so that's what they'll value it at

[alison43331]

Hi

I was thinking about purchasing a soft toy from an EBay seller who is base in China. The item is very cheap & is listed in UK pounds sterling (under £2) The postage is apparently free, so am I likely to incur any customs costs?

Thanks