I got stung by an unexpected 'tax' on an ebay purchase from a UK located seller

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Apologies if this isn't the correct forum to post as I'm not sure the best area of the forum to post this. Please move to the correct forum if this isn't appropriate here.

I recently bought an item off ebay (double sided tape). I always filter my search to sellers with the item location as 'uk'

So I bought this tape for £3.75 (or at least that is the price listed)

Screenshot_2021-04-28-22-06-39-246_com.android.chrome.jpg


As it's a low value item and the seller has lots of good feedback, I didn't think too much and waited for the item to arrive.

Every now and then I log onto my paypal account to check my balance and to my surprise I see a transaction for £4.50. I couldn't figure out what this £4.50 was for as I don't remember purchasing anything for £4.50.

So I looked into it and to my surprise it was for the tape:

Screenshot_2021-04-28-21-52-53-866_com.android.chrome.jpg


The details show Ive been charged tax I wasn't aware of.

This is the first time I've been charged this unexpected 'tax'

It's not a high value item so I wont bother doing anything but if its based on a percentage then high value items could cost significantly more than the advertised price, so I thought I'd warn others and ask how would I avoid this in the future?

There was nothing on the advert about this hidden 'tax'.

Many thanks
 
thats interesting as to my knowledge you shouldnt be paying any import tax on a low value item. often you get uk listed sellers but they actually ship from china its a bit dishonest but kind of unavoidable.

I would be very interested to know what that tax is ?
 
thats interesting as to my knowledge you shouldnt be paying any import tax on a low value item. often you get uk listed sellers but they actually ship from china its a bit dishonest but kind of unavoidable.

I would be very interested to know what that tax is ?

Quite

Suez Canal Delay Tax?
Seller In The Middle of a Messy Divorce Tax?
Bung On 75p and Call it "Tax" Tax?
 
had that before, i always use the UK Only filter but some scum sent me a jacket that came from Pakistan. covered w/ foreign stamps and jam-crammed into a package the size of an egg carton. turned out completely the wrong size so instant refund. between this and Amazon's infestation of anonymous CHinese sellers, i and triple careful about checking who i'm dealing w/.
 
the only way to actually check where the item comes from is feedback as alot of peoples feedback will make you aware that items are actually coming from china.

even though its 75p i would still want to know what the tax is for future reference? so i would contact either paypal or ebay
 
maybe foreign currency transaction?

have to say tho, ebay id in CHinese characters is a no-no for me!
 
Another odd one here too.
I've sold to UK only, listed with free postage, and found the item I sold went to a "UK Hub" only then to be shipped to a buyer in the US. The buyer is listed as a UK account and I got charged by eBay for the additional shipping costs after I'd paid postage and sent the item.
 
maybe foreign currency transaction?

have to say tho, ebay id in CHinese characters is a no-no for me!

The Chinese characters are not shown on the listing though, so you wouldn't know until you see the invoice
 
That seems like vat to me.
He maybe had amount excluding vat on listing, seems its fixed now.
 
oh right. that's a bit sneaky then! just emphasises my buyer-paranoia!
 
It's VAT at 20% on the net price of £3.75.

The item should have made it clear if there were any taxes or duty to be added to the winning bid.
 
it does say on item listing


Item location:
leicester, United Kingdom

Business seller information​


CHANGCHUN YUXIANG CLOTH INDUSTRY CO LTD
YuXiang Zhang
West Street, Nanhu New Village, Chaoyang District
Room 505, Building 12
130012 Changchun City, 吉林省
China



I hate this from ebay it uk or its not uk they need to stop this
 
I actually passed my ACCA tax exam!

I specifically only filter out my eBay search to list uk items only to avoid items delivered from abroad and avoid any import tax/duty.

I thought the item was listed in the uk...

For curiosity, ive emailed the seller asking what this tax is for if the item is in the uk..lets see what they say.
 
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there shouldnt be a hidden tax. the listing problem is ebay seem to allow sellers to say they are in uk when they are a Chinese company
 
there shouldnt be a hidden tax. the listing problem is ebay seem to allow sellers to say they are in uk when they are a Chinese company

Seller is registered in China, but item is in the UK and seller also has UK VAT number.

Everything is ok here, I just think that they messed up net/gross when posting this for sale.
 
Seller is registered in China, but item is in the UK and seller also has UK VAT number.

Everything is ok here, I just think that they messed up net/gross when posting this for sale.

there should be no tax
 

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