The 'E' Type Forum

Hi All....I'm sure many of us buy and sell on ebay....so be aware that there rules have changed....just on something simple I nearly got caught out.....were talking a large auto parts seller here who only sell new items...I was after a puller listed a £75 or offers.... so I offered £60... they counter offered at £65....which was great....I accepted but when I went to pay it was £65 plus vat..so £78...and it wasn't a fixed price as it said price could vary depending on delivery....so I backed out....this is all UK..supplier..items are in the UK as am I....I have since purchased the puller at the original £75 with no issue .so just beware of final cost which are detailer befor paying....Steve ..PS...rather than click on buy it now i would advise to first put it in your basket..then view and go th checkout to look at final price befor pompleting purchase

Steve, thanks for the heads up

Geoff

I have also had this scenario, initially it happened on an international purchase so I was not so surprised, the next time it happened for a home UK purchase I too backed out. The seller wasn't aware either and was most annoyed I came back with an offer minus the VAT bringing my originally accepted offer up to total later. I then phoned in attempt to explain, only to find they sold items on ebay at an increased price and my offer was fine should I wish to go ahead now.

Thanks for the warning, Steve.
As an EU continental needing to buy often UK sold items, I am used to the additional VAT (and additional import duties!). Same for the US, but even worse with the larger shipping costs.
Whenever possible, I buy within EU, but not easy for Jag items...

Once I bought on ebay Australia, that's was my worst experience.
Not only the VAT was indicated on ebay before concluding the purchase (so I knew it) but also I paid it again (plus import duties) when imported in Belgium
And impossible to have it reimbursed by ebay...
I tried once again to buy on ebay Australia, requesting in advance that the VAT be deducted from the price, that also was not possible.
So I have given up from ebay Australia.

Question I would ask about this: just who is charging the VAT?

If it's a seller business, that's OK but, they should declare so in the listing showing their VAT number.

If it is Ebay, then I'm not sure. Can they? I don't think so. You don't pay VAT on the purchase price at other auctions, just on the commission.

And, if you buy from abroad, seller should not charge you VAT or any other sales tax.

Jerry...I'm not talking about auction items....just the general sale items...Steve

The seller from AU told me he could not manage VAT and ebay AU automatically adds it.
When I discussed with them (ebay AU), they pretended that I could ask the Belgian customs not to pay VAT, which is impossible as the process of VAT exemption has to be implemented beforehand by the seller.
Avoid ebay AU!

I also find that if you add an item you want to buy to your “watch list “ instead of purchasing it right away, the seller often contacts you with a reduced price within a few days. Handy if your intending to purchase anyway

mystery type wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 7:56 pm

I also find that if you add an item you want to buy to your “watch list “ instead of purchasing it right away, the seller often contacts you with a reduced price within a few days. Handy if your intending to purchase anyway

How does that happen? When you sell, you get a notification of how many people are watching, but not who they are, so not sure how they contact you.

OK a quick update from Ebay....I looked at the item and its listed as in and delivered from UK...however the company is registered in China....so under new vat rules ebay collect the vat on all items up to £135 comming into the UK.....thats why vat is added at checkout....so again check price befor completing purchase.....
Malcolm....iv had offered sent to me either by business and private sellers after adding their item to my watch list....Steve

malcolm wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:27 am

How does that happen? When you sell, you get a notification of how many people are watching, but not who they are, so not sure how they contact you.

They send an offer to all the people that are watching.

Regards

I say use eBay only as last resort, it is getting worse in all respects.

JerryL770 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 4:32 pm

Question I would ask about this: just who is charging the VAT?

And, if you buy from abroad, seller should not charge you VAT or any other sales tax.

HMRC are charging and requiring the VAT to be collected.

Under their new procedures to ensure it's collected, overseas sellers have to collect it on a sale to the UK and remit to HMRC. Obviously that's onerous on overseas sellers who don't want the hassle or paperwork so if they sell through eBay or AliExpress for instance, eBay or AliExpress collect and remit it on behalf of the seller and just add it to the transaction cost.

In addition if the item (including shipping) comes to more than £135 then import duty will be levied as well at the appropriate rate. The shipper/delivery company will contact you to collect any import duty levied (+ their handling fee) which you have to pay before they will deliver the item.

eBay are doing nothing wrong here, in fact they are facilitating you being able to buy items from abroad that you couldn't otherwise purchase.

The only bit eBay have got wrong is that their offer/bid software is messed up and cannot cope with a reduced offer coming in as a result of a bid and they end up trying to charge you more than the original price with the appropriate taxes after you receive a lower offer as both Steve and I have found out

paydase wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 5:42 pm

The seller from AU told me he could not manage VAT and ebay AU automatically adds it.
When I discussed with them (ebay AU), they pretended that I could ask the Belgian customs not to pay VAT, which is impossible as the process of VAT exemption has to be implemented beforehand by the seller.
Avoid ebay AU!

What VAT exemption process? VAT is added to the bill by ebay on behalf of the receiving country tax office. If you are exempt, you claim refund in yr tax return. Nothing to do with the seller. Are you expecting the seller to reduce their price to compensate for the VAT that Belgium tax office is requiring you to pay?

johnetype wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:09 pm

The only bit eBay have got wrong is that their offer/bid software is messed up and cannot cope with a reduced offer coming in as a result of a bid and they end up trying to charge you more than the original price with the appropriate taxes after you receive a lower offer as both Steve and I have found out

Are you assuming that the original price included VAT?
Hard to see how ebay could predict the VAT when the price is still being negotiated.
Also VAT is based on the exchange rate at the time it is levied, not the time of the sale.

Related topic, fyi, ebay seller fees include a 13% variable component.

Colin,
I am not exempt from VAT in Belgium.
Issue is that ebay AU collects the VAT but not on behalf of Belgium, Belgium never receives it, the funds go into a dark hole either in ebay or in the taxation authorities in AU.
Hence the reason why the Belgian taxation authorities require that I pay it, meaning for me ...twice!

Thank you for the explanations, particularly Johnetype.

I'm clearly behind the times, things move on and as said eBay is getting steadily more difficult to use.

Note that now as a seller on Ebay, they automatically add a 'buyer protection fee' to the advertised price (75p plus 4%, I think for the UK), and the seller doesn't receive the sale funds until item delivery has been confirmed. As a seller, this makes your items immediately appear more expensive on the site, unless you reduce the initial price to compensate. It's far less attractive to sell on there now, even though technically there are zero fees. It's not great having to wait for a delivery confirmation before getting the funds released.