My first problem w/ ebay came up... needs your advices

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine_at_idirect.com>
Date: Mon Apr 23 14:48:33 2001

>John Foust wrote:

> I can't tell you how many times I've said "USA only" and had
> international bidders and winners, or how many buyers want to
> back out because of regret combined with an inability to read
> the description, or who can't read the e-mail I send them that
> says "US Mail or UPS, your choice" or "Shipping is $8" - rapidly
> followed by their e-mail that says "How much is shipping?"...
> and then the "USA only" international buyer wants you to falsify the
> export document so they don't have to pay customs fees.

Jerome Fine replies:

On the other hand, what about a vendor who specifies that payment
via Master Card/Visa, Money Order, etc. are acceptable, and later
in the text also adds that PayPal is allowed as well, but never says
that Master Card/Visa MUST be used via PayPal. One Vendor
I purchased from added that restriction AFTER the auction and
then turned around and said "that because no one else has ever
complained, I was not allowed to do so either" and that PayPal
was clearly stated. Yes, PayPal can been clearly stated as an option,
but many other vendors do so as well. Some vendors mention
both (as he did) and others mention ONLY Master Card/VISA.

Also, I have never asked a vendor to submit a false export document,
but I have asked that they verify that they would put ONLY the
declared value of the shipment on the "Commercial Invoice" to Canada
and not include the handling and freight - which is exactly what the
customs people want to have. When a shipment is made to Canada
and the declared value is less than $ US 12.00 ($ Can 20.00), customs
does not bother to collect GST ($ Can 1.40). This saves two things.
It speeds up customs by a whole day Also, a broker is not needed
to clear the parcel which can be 5 or even 10 times the GST cost,
since the brokerage charge is based on the amount of GST to be
collected and can be 3 or even 5 times the amount of the GST.
Received on Mon Apr 23 2001 - 14:48:33 BST