v30
Well-known member
Seeing more and more of this lately when (as a canadian) surfing ebay.com
Basically, if the seller has chosen this option, I see a shipping charge as well as a import charge. I think once purchased the seller ships the item to an ebay shipping center in the US, and ebay then ships it out of the US to Canada (for example).
This creates an increased processing/handling costs and shipping costs that are passed on to the (out of country) buyer. Its labeled as an import fee but they are quite a bit higher than taxes/duty if the item was shipped by the seller directly to the buyer. These added fees are substantial and make most items cost prohibitive to out of country bidders and has little to no benefit to the seller. Basically seems like another money grab by ebay. Unfortunately seeing it more and more lately but am hoping the trend doesn't continue as it really sucks for buyers outside of the US.
Basically, if the seller has chosen this option, I see a shipping charge as well as a import charge. I think once purchased the seller ships the item to an ebay shipping center in the US, and ebay then ships it out of the US to Canada (for example).
This creates an increased processing/handling costs and shipping costs that are passed on to the (out of country) buyer. Its labeled as an import fee but they are quite a bit higher than taxes/duty if the item was shipped by the seller directly to the buyer. These added fees are substantial and make most items cost prohibitive to out of country bidders and has little to no benefit to the seller. Basically seems like another money grab by ebay. Unfortunately seeing it more and more lately but am hoping the trend doesn't continue as it really sucks for buyers outside of the US.