are ebay doing VAT scams?
Discussion
just bought a new light on ebay and the listing price was £8.33 yet they've debited me £10.00.
raised this with ebay and they said that because the seller is foreign (China) the listing price is subject to vat. the listing states the seller's location is Manchester,. free 3 day posting, and it arrive in 2 days - presumably from Manchester.
there's no mention of vat anywhere on the listing except on the postage section which states: "Price displayed includes VAT. The final charge may be different depending on the delivery address. Learn more.."
"Price includes VAT" seems pretty clear to me (though it didn't occur to me to check vat since in thousands of ebay purchases I've never even considered vat) and when I raised this with ebay by email they claim that the second sentence is the relevant one "the final charge...."
anyone shed any light on this? I feel like contacting HMRC
raised this with ebay and they said that because the seller is foreign (China) the listing price is subject to vat. the listing states the seller's location is Manchester,. free 3 day posting, and it arrive in 2 days - presumably from Manchester.
there's no mention of vat anywhere on the listing except on the postage section which states: "Price displayed includes VAT. The final charge may be different depending on the delivery address. Learn more.."
"Price includes VAT" seems pretty clear to me (though it didn't occur to me to check vat since in thousands of ebay purchases I've never even considered vat) and when I raised this with ebay by email they claim that the second sentence is the relevant one "the final charge...."
anyone shed any light on this? I feel like contacting HMRC
agree - looks wrong...
this will be the starting point you need:
https://www.asa.org.uk/news/to-include-or-not-to-i...
this will be the starting point you need:
https://www.asa.org.uk/news/to-include-or-not-to-i...
Of course it is. This is yet another example of huge corporations blatantly dancing on the edge of whats acceptable/legal. They know HMRC are busy picking low hanging fruit by harassing us plebs and wont dare take the fight to them knowing its beyond their capability and appetite.
Pay your VAT bill late? Easy, heres a fine we know you'll pay. Ebay will simply play fast and loose with the rules because they know how to exhaust resources and draw out any battles.
This is exactly why I never roll over for any fine or unfair request for payment, Im retired and my time is cheap. It works most of the time.
Welcome to 2023.
Pay your VAT bill late? Easy, heres a fine we know you'll pay. Ebay will simply play fast and loose with the rules because they know how to exhaust resources and draw out any battles.
This is exactly why I never roll over for any fine or unfair request for payment, Im retired and my time is cheap. It works most of the time.
Welcome to 2023.
I had a similar problem before, and the item was actually from a UK warehouse, VAT in the price but ebay said it was due to the way the seller had their account setup it was detected as being abroad so charged VAT, so charged twice! Only solution was to refund and buy from a different seller that didn't mention China etc, even though that's where they all come from.
The way ebay do their VAT on what they think is an import, it only gets added at the last second so easy to miss.
I find the search option "Location - UK only" gets rid of a lot of the problem ones.
The way ebay do their VAT on what they think is an import, it only gets added at the last second so easy to miss.
I find the search option "Location - UK only" gets rid of a lot of the problem ones.
There was an eBay thread in The Lounge which may have provided an explanation (but I can't find it).
I ordered some microfibre towels from a Chinese eBay seller located in Manchester. Price was £9.99 with free delivery. I got charged £10.00. Had to do a double/triple/quadruple check of the listing and it was £9.99 and a tenner debited from my card. I didn't add a donation, and whilst it's still only 1p, 1p on gadzillions of listings adds up for someones pot.
I ordered some microfibre towels from a Chinese eBay seller located in Manchester. Price was £9.99 with free delivery. I got charged £10.00. Had to do a double/triple/quadruple check of the listing and it was £9.99 and a tenner debited from my card. I didn't add a donation, and whilst it's still only 1p, 1p on gadzillions of listings adds up for someones pot.
ChocolateFrog said:
shtu said:
Listed at £8.33, charged £10.00?
Return it. "item not as described".
Yep. Return it. "item not as described".
As a bonus you'll probably end up with your money back and the item due to its low value.
vikingaero said:
I ordered some microfibre towels from a Chinese eBay seller located in Manchester. Price was £9.99 with free delivery. I got charged £10.00. Had to do a double/triple/quadruple check of the listing and it was £9.99 and a tenner debited from my card. I didn't add a donation, and whilst it's still only 1p, 1p on gadzillions of listings adds up for someones pot.
yes, I'm recently seen this as well.996TT02 said:
You saw the total before paying, you accepted that, and paid.
Everything else is irrelevant.
I'm not sure that is true. I saw £9.99 on the checkout screen. There were no additions as it was "free postage". The first I knew of £10.00 being taken was when £10.00 payment notification popped up on my banking phone app.Everything else is irrelevant.
I just had this on an item that had £120 VAT added on at checkout. The "invoice" was unitemised, had no VAT number and just looked like a scam. The seller was British, item was in the UK, was originally bought in the UK, but he has moved to the USA and is now resident there. He was back in the UK for a while
Turns out that eBay add VAT to all goods sold in the UK where the seller lists a foreign country as their residence. They claim it is die toe UK law since Brexit
This is going to happen more & more. Caveat emptor at checkout as VAT is not detailed on the listing
If you pay & try to reclaim the VAT, good luck without a VAT invoice & VAT number
Turns out that eBay add VAT to all goods sold in the UK where the seller lists a foreign country as their residence. They claim it is die toe UK law since Brexit
This is going to happen more & more. Caveat emptor at checkout as VAT is not detailed on the listing
If you pay & try to reclaim the VAT, good luck without a VAT invoice & VAT number
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