Ebay item marked as "gift"-is it a can of worms?

[franglais]

Hello all-
Living in Euro zone, it's too tempting right now to buy electronics from the states. I found a Squeezebox Duet on ebay.com; it says it's shipped from the states and marked as "an inexpensive gift" for international buyers, thus avoiding nasty things like VAT and customs duties.
But would I lose an protections from ebay/paypal by buying, ahem, "an inexpensive gift"?
If I bought it here in Paris, it would be about 150 euro more!

Thanks in advance for ANY input

[nheather]

As far as I understand, PayPal protection is for the purchase value regardless of how it is described.

Cheers,

Nigel

[overkill]

I would ask them to post it as a gift, nothing else. I would worry that customs would become suspicious otherwise.

[franglais]

Originally Posted by overkill

I would ask them to post it as a gift, nothing else. I would worry that customs would become suspicious otherwise.

Hmmm...You may be on to something...that would suck if I ended having to pay massive fines and whatnot....

[dan1979]

I don't know how it works in France but marking something as a gift to the UK bumps the tax threshold up by something paltry like £6 so doesn't really achieve much.

[nheather]

I don't know how it works in France but marking something as a gift to the UK bumps the tax threshold up by something paltry like £6 so doesn't really achieve much.

Think UK gift threshold is £36 but ....

They are a little more generous than that and use discretion. It is intended for situation where my sister (now living in New Zealand) wants to send a birthday present to my son then it is marked as a gift and the regardless of value (within reason), customs treat it as such.

However, if customs ever have reason to think that the gift is actually a commercial transaction then they will come down heavily, tax wise and the seller could be in serious trouble.

Cheers,

Nigel

[franglais]

Originally Posted by nheather

....and the seller could be in serious trouble.

Cheers,

Nigel

"seller" being the operative word there, wink wink, so as long as customs doesn't bother me, the buyer, I should be alright?
But more pointedly, should I trust a seller whose scruples are so low as to conduct business like that?

[Peridot]

Originally Posted by franglais

"seller" being the operative word there, wink wink, so as long as customs doesn't bother me, the buyer, I should be alright?
But more pointedly, should I trust a seller whose scruples are so low as to conduct business like that?

The seller has probably had lots of requests to mark items in that way and knows that there is probably little a European administration could do to prevent them doing so.

In my experience a reasonable number of items correctly identified with their value get through UK customs anyway so I always hope for the best

The seller has good feedback ... good enough for me to order a Duet from him a few days ago. I've had tracking details emailed to me and hope to have it delivered, with or without customs charges, sometime next week.

I'll update with my experience if it helps

[franglais]

Originally Posted by Peridot

I'll update with my experience if it helps

Yes please,
That would be great!
And thanks for your input on the seller.

[Peridot]

It left JFK at 9:11 PM yesterday.

I'll post again when it arrives

Or if it doesn't

[andykn]

Originally Posted by franglais

"seller" being the operative word there, wink wink, so as long as customs doesn't bother me, the buyer, I should be alright?
But more pointedly, should I trust a seller whose scruples are so low as to conduct business like that?

I bought a pair of lovely "**** centre speakers from the manufacturer in the US and was delighted when they put "computer speakers" on the customs declaration for about 25% of what I paid for them.

Even reputable businesses hate the taxman.

And there's plenty of disgruntled ebay sellers on here complaining that Paypal always favours the buyer.

[franglais]

Thanks all for your reassuring words; you've put my fears to rest
...well, almost. I'm waiting with baited breath to hear more of Peridot's experience

[Peridot]

It's arrived this morning - and with no charges

Was marked as 'Home Electronic Parts' with a value of $49.85 and the 'Gift' box ticked.

Ordered it on Sunday 6 July, so I'm very pleased with the service and price.

[Naqv]

I've ordered countless items as gift and they have all got through apart from one, which was marked as a gift, but to a high value $200.

[LFC_SL]

I've imported a good few things from abroad. DVDs, headphones and an amp. In fact I am currently waiting on new Audio Technica ESW9 headphones

Just note if an item is marked down, then caveat emptor applies. Should the goods be damaged then it would be at the discretion of the seller to insure you up to the full amount of the goods, rather than the stated insured amount

I will point out from experience (as you have now found), customs and RM don't have a clue when it comes to audio gear (save iPods ) I've never paid more than a tenner (quite reasonable vs price of gear)