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11 replies

Need your thoughts on customs forms.....

M marciay96Member
So, I have an international buyer who has agreed to purchase a store item. They sent me a request for an invoice to get the shipping costs and they are requesting that I put a MUCH lower value on the custom's form that what I am selling the item for. (ITem is selling at $42.99 and they want me to list $20). I do understand about duty and customs fees and know that they will get hit with these. WHen I worked at an eBay drop off store in NY, our policy was to state the sale price on the forms and this policy was stated in our auctions. Now that I am on my own in NC and working on a much smaller scale, I did not have this in the listing (I guess I was hoping this would not come up).
SO how do you all handle these types of requests? I really do not want to make this person upset but this just has always been a policy in my previous work and in my head. Any thoughts on how to handle this one would be greatly appreciated. I have done quite a bit of international business here on my own and this is the first to come up for me on this subject.
Thanks again!
Marcia
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M marciay96Member
Thanks for your thoughts but I am not really questionning my decision to claim the sale price on the custom's forms (I actually already invoiced the buyer before I started this thread for the amount and told them I would be stating the amount on the parcel). I am looking for thoughts on how to handle this with this customer as I am pretty sure that they are not going to be happy. In fact, I have not heard back from them since I invoiced them. I would not be surprised if they did not pay or write me back stating their case. I guess I just have to stand firm and re-iterate my store's policy.
Thanks again for your thoughts and please let me know if anyone else has had to deal with this issue.
Marcia
S suthrnjewlMember
quote:
Originally posted by marciay96:
So, I have an international buyer who has agreed to purchase a store item. They sent me a request for an invoice to get the shipping costs and they are requesting that I put a MUCH lower value on the custom's form that what I am selling the item for. (ITem is selling at $42.99 and they want me to list $20). I do understand about duty and customs fees and know that they will get hit with these. WHen I worked at an eBay drop off store in NY, our policy was to state the sale price on the forms and this policy was stated in our auctions. Now that I am on my own in NC and working on a much smaller scale, I did not have this in the listing (I guess I was hoping this would not come up).
SO how do you all handle these types of requests? I really do not want to make this person upset but this just has always been a policy in my previous work and in my head. Any thoughts on how to handle this one would be greatly appreciated. I have done quite a bit of international business here on my own and this is the first to come up for me on this subject.
Thanks again!
Marcia

I have refused to do this the many times it's been requested.

Yes, it does make them angry and Yes, I wish they would ask before bidding and winning. And Yes, the majority of the persons ended up not paying for the auction and were rude/cursing in their response emails to me.

I always, ALWAYS forward this information over to eBay US and eBay whatever country they belong to.

It's just wrong in so many ways to falsify information on the customs form. I'm sure if I had ever done this, it would jump back and bite me in the arse just sure as I'm typing this.

You're doing the right thing..just go with your gut feeling on this and don't let your customer bully you into doing something you don't want.

Normally the reporting took care of the situation.

Good Luck,
Donna
R rickbradfordMember
There are as many people who recommend fudging the amount as those who don't and both sides have strong arguments, in my opinion.

However, if you already know you don't want to do that then your only risk is that the customer backs out of the sale. But then you can always file a UPI because the customer doesn't want to abide by his own country's Customs policies.

Some people also recommend stating your own policies in regards to this subject within your listings in an effort to avoid this kind of grief.
R rickbradfordMember
I always wonder, too, if all of those people think to leave the packing slips out.

I think the idea is that US Customs (or gov't internet snoopers and Postmasters) probably don't invest a lot of energy into this sort of thing because the package is leaving the US. For packages coming in, I'm sure it's another story. That's just a guess.

There's a thread on this very subject going on at the eBay boards right now, actually. I can't remember which board -- maybe the packaging/shipping one.
D dmhcollectiblesMember
it's my understanding that anyone who wants to fudge the amount should realize that by doing so they are almost certainly committing fraud, they are violating several US and whatever the foreign country is laws and regulations, and they are risking a fine and/or jail time for doing so.

Needless to say I don't fudge. The SELLER is the one who will get into trouble if anyone does, not the buyer who asked you to do it. Just keep that in mind. Not worth breaking the law in any way.
H homedecorandpetstoreMember
I have this little section in my TOS and I've haven't been asked to fudge on the forms since I started using it:

International Buyers please ask for shipping estimates.
Very Important Note... Customs forms will be filled out accurately.
They will be marked as merchandise with the value being the final winning bid amount.
The buyer is responsible for any and all duties, taxes, or additional charges in their home country.
Please consider this amount when bidding on our auctions.
M marciay96Member
Well, the international buyer did pay yesterday for the item. I had sent them a second invoice to remind them of their "purchase". I am still bracing though for possible problems and/or not so great feedback.
Oh, and for those who were wondering about the Harley I was trying to sell for my husband's coworker, the listing ended on Sunday and it did not sell. Frown I think the seller wants to try again using a different strategy so maybe that will work out better.
Marcia
W wayoutwestMember
quote:
Originally posted by dmhcollectibles:
it's my understanding that anyone who wants to fudge the amount should realize that by doing so they are almost certainly committing fraud, they are violating several US and whatever the foreign country is laws and regulations, and they are risking a fine and/or jail time for doing so.

Needless to say I don't fudge. The SELLER is the one who will get into trouble if anyone does, not the buyer who asked you to do it. Just keep that in mind. Not worth breaking the law in any way.


theyre also risking being barred from ever again being able to import/export items to/from the U.S.!

One of my main competitors has this on their website
quote:
If you would like your order sent as a gift and invoice sent separately - please note this in the comment field of checkout

simply amazing how bold some people can be!
D dmhcollectiblesMember
quote:
Originally posted by homedecorandpetstore:
I have this little section in my TOS and I've haven't been asked to fudge on the forms since I started using it:

International Buyers please ask for shipping estimates.
Very Important Note... Customs forms will be filled out accurately.
They will be marked as merchandise with the value being the final winning bid amount.
The buyer is responsible for any and all duties, taxes, or additional charges in their home country.
Please consider this amount when bidding on our auctions.


As I mentioned earlier, I don't fudge. No way, no how. I too have something like this in my TOS and although I still get an occasional request to fudge - which I refuse to do - the number of such requests has really gone down since I added that language.

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