Import from China / Shanghai - It gets worse!!!

GeCon

Hi,

I hope someone can help me with the following.

I won a Puma branded item on Ebay last week. Seller is located in the UK, so no problem.

Since I had not heard from the seller nor received the item, I contacted him. I received a reply saying that the item was shipped directly from the warehouse and I could track it online.

Turns out the item has been picked up in China, is currently in Shanghai.

Now my two concerns are:
1. Will there be any additional charges for me as the item is being shipped from China?
2. How likely is this item not genuine?

I would appreciate your answers asap as depending on your opinions or experiences I might refuse the parcel on delivery.

THANKS.

steviebabes

It depends on the value the seller puts on the customs form, under £18 you should be OK over £18 it's the luck of the draw!
As most Puma products are made in China it could well be genuine, you would have to check their feedback for comments such as fake etc. ebay are pretty strict on counterfeit goods these days so the seller is unlikely to be selling fakes.

hitch_2

1. Probably
2. definetly

Any branded item coming from China is fake. The Chinese are starting to offer dropshipping services, looks like you have bought from one of these, this is a typical site, everything on it is fake
http://www.eckicks.com/

ZARA

everything from China that is branded is fake, but very good quality fake & its cheap! Chinese is the best!

GeCon

I really do not want to incur any further charges like duty etc.

When would I know whether duty has been charged or not? Would I receive an invoice for it after receipt of the goods?

Also, can I refuse delivery and claim through PayPal as the item was not as advertised?

Surely this would fall into that category. If items come from China, it should state that in the auction. What do you think?

goshdarnit

ZARA wrote: »

everything from China that is branded is fake, but very good quality fake & its cheap! Chinese is the best!

Don't think you'll be saying that the next time an airplane craches due to fake air parts.
Also, not every branded item from china is fake. Lots of companies have manufacturing sites out there due to the (lack of) labour laws.

mjl_3

Hi I dunno if this will help you or not.
I bought some items from a Chinese supplier a few months since.
As far as I know, the seller can mark the item as a "Gift" on the customs ticket. This would exclude customs duty, but you would be charged a handling fee by the carrier delivering to you. I'm not too sure what the Royal Mail charge, you might like to look on their website. You will have a card pushed thru your door by RM saying that a parcel awaits you at the nearest sorting office and you have to pay £xx.
The items I bought were liable for duty. Mine were delivered by UPS. The items were £130 ish and the customs duty plus vat plus UPS carrier handling charge came to £46 !! payable at the door when you take delivery.:eek:
I expected the charges. The delivery driver said that loads of folks were taken aback by the customs charges on imported parcels, "rip off Britain". He did give me the option of refusing the package tho.

Now, some suppliers will mark the package when they post it, as a "gift" or as a value of under £18 wether it is or not. This is fine I suppose but, as the buyer, you are responsible for any duty so if the dear customs open the package and the goods are worth a lot more YOU can be prosecuted for attempting to avoid duty.:eek:
This might help you out

http://http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm

Final sting in the tail for me, I couldn't sell what I bought :rotfl:

hitch_2

Who is the shipper, is it DHL, if so they may deliver it and then send you an invoice in the post.

You could call courier with tracking number and say you are not accepting goods, they would then send back to China, you could then start Paypal claim

GeCon

The courier is Parcelforce.

GeCon

mjl wrote: »

Hi I dunno if this will help you or not.
I bought some items from a Chinese supplier a few months since.
As far as I know, the seller can mark the item as a "Gift" on the customs ticket. This would exclude customs duty, but you would be charged a handling fee by the carrier delivering to you. I'm not too sure what the Royal Mail charge, you might like to look on their website. You will have a card pushed thru your door by RM saying that a parcel awaits you at the nearest sorting office and you have to pay £xx.
The items I bought were liable for duty. Mine were delivered by UPS. The items were £130 ish and the customs duty plus vat plus UPS carrier handling charge came to £46 !! payable at the door when you take delivery.:eek:
I expected the charges. The delivery driver said that loads of folks were taken aback by the customs charges on imported parcels, "rip off Britain". He did give me the option of refusing the package tho.

Now, some suppliers will mark the package when they post it, as a "gift" or as a value of under £18 wether it is or not. This is fine I suppose but, as the buyer, you are responsible for any duty so if the dear customs open the package and the goods are worth a lot more YOU can be prosecuted for attempting to avoid duty.:eek:
This might help you out

http://http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm

Final sting in the tail for me, I couldn't sell what I bought :rotfl:

The links doesn't work.

goshdarnit

GeCon wrote: »

The links doesn't work.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm