Awful customs changes for Ebay (and other platforms?)) coming January 1st?

Here's their press release. It looks like it applies to the UK starting Jan 1 & the EU starting March 1.


Starting January 1, 2021, eBay will be legally required to begin collecting and remitting value-added tax (VAT) for consignments (shipments of goods) imported into the UK with a value of up to £135. eBay will charge buyers the applicable VAT amount directly and remit this sum to the UK Tax authorities.

U.S. sellers who create listings on the UK or any EU site and who trade with UK buyers will need to provide both gross price (i.e., the item price including VAT) as well as the applicable VAT rate used to calculate the gross price on all listings. If sellers do not specify gross price and VAT rate, or if sellers specify a VAT rate of 0%, eBay will assume that the price provided is the net price (i.e., the item price excluding VAT), and eBay will calculate the gross price that is displayed to buyers.

We strongly urge sellers listing on eBay.co.uk or any EU site to update their existing listings to include applicable VAT rates as soon as possible. All new listings should include a VAT rate. You will find the field for the VAT rate beside the price when you create or edit listings.

What you need to know:

- Starting January 1, 2021, eBay will start to collect and remit VAT for UK imports on all consignments with a value of up to £135. There will no longer be a VAT exemption for small consignments up to £15.

- In cases where the seller is a non-UK business and the goods are already in the UK, eBay will collect and remit VAT for goods sold to consumers within the UK, regardless of their value.

- Sellers should begin listing the applicable VAT rates on all their existing and new listings as soon as possible.

- Starting March 1, 2021, a VAT rate will also be required on all EU sites when listing items.
 
And the international rates go up by the following percentages Jan 24, 2021.

Global Express Guaranteed: 0.9%
Priority Mail Express International: 3.6%
Priority Mail International: 5.1%
International Priority Airmail: 74.1%
International Surface Air Lift: 32.6%
Airmail M-Bags: 5.0%
First-Class Package International Service: 4.8%
International Ancillary Services: 3.4%
 
Do you think Discogs, Amazon and others will follow suit? What about selling on Facebook marketplace?
 
So far I think it's only ebay & Amazon but you can be sure they'll be going after the other markets in the future.
 
Postage and fees are killing international sales.

4.8% increase in 1st class package will mean a 45 to UK is about $16 and Europe & Australia close to $18. One LP will be over $25. UK residents also pay at least 8 pounds in custom charges on each package.

Priority International is already out of range for anything but very expensive items.

Interesting how this comes at a time when shipping is more automated and efficient than ever.
 
Discogs already collects the 10% tax on imports to Australia.

Private sellers with sales under $500,000 aren't required to collect that tax, so you can save a buyer that with a sale outside of Discogs. Not sure if this will also apply to the UK, but I expect so.
 
I've been using ebay international standard shipping for awhile without any problems.
All the packages go to a US address (usually Kentucky) and then they're reshipped. It's similar to Global Shipping but they don't collect VAT taxes (though they will starting January).
I think the packages are being reshipped by DHL and they're insured for $100. It takes longer to get to Kentucky but overall it seems to be faster than the PO which is a disaster right now.
Here are ebay's rates:
ebay.JPG
 
chas_kit said:
Discogs already collects the 10% tax on imports to Australia.

Private sellers with sales under $500,000 aren't required to collect that tax, so you can save a buyer that with a sale outside of Discogs. Not sure if this will also apply to the UK, but I expect so.
Click to expand...

Yes, both Discogs and ebay sellers have to collect 10% of the sale price for items sent to Australia. This is supposed to encourage online buyers to only buy from Australian sellers. What really sucks is we have to pay 10% of the postage as well.
 
this really blows. shipping to europe has been super expensive for a couple of years and if ebay starts forcing their toll collecting programs on everybody, it will be a nightmare.

it makes no sense buying midprice stuff for like $20 or $30 if there's $30 of shipping and taxes. i know we were spoiled when a 45rpm could be sent for $3.50 , but, man, that was great.

but what the heck, checking the ebay "garage" listings is mostly sickening anyways.
 
This has been happening in Australia for about a year or more already. Everything you buy on international eBay gets the 10% Australian GST (goods and services tax) applied right at the eBay checkout. It's bad, but not as bad as paying $25 postage for a $5 record.
 
no
tymespan said:
I've been using ebay international standard shipping for awhile without any problems.
All the packages go to a US address (usually Kentucky) and then they're reshipped. It's similar to Global Shipping but they don't collect VAT taxes (though they will starting January).
I think the packages are being reshipped by DHL and they're insured for $100. It takes longer to get to Kentucky but overall it seems to be faster than the PO which is a disaster right now.
Here are ebay's rates:
View attachment 4426
Click to expand...
not talking about current rates. Just new 2021 rates and customs changes.
 
Can someone decipher this for me?
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2020-12-21 New Value Added Tax (VAT) Arrangements for US Sellers Exporting to UK.png
    Screenshot_2020-12-21 New Value Added Tax (VAT) Arrangements for US Sellers Exporting to UK.png
    81.3 KB · Views: 5
Yeah.
It's seems to be saying that for packages under £135, the seller has to collect the VAT. Seller has to be registered with UK to do so. However, eBay will handle all that for sellers. It's the same way the Australia VAT has been handled by Discogs since it was implemented last year. Like there. eBay will add it to the invoice.
If the value is over £135, I think they're saying that the UK will invoice the buyer directly.
 
Heitkotter77 said:
Yeah.
It's seems to be saying that for packages under £135, the seller has to collect the VAT. Seller has to be registered with UK to do so. However, eBay will handle all that for sellers. It's the same way the Australia VAT has been handled by Discogs since it was implemented last year. Like there. eBay will add it to the invoice.
If the value is over £135, I think they're saying that the UK will invoice the buyer directly.
Click to expand...
So does the uk buyer pay a vat and also a customs fee if I declare the full value or is there no longer a customs fee since there is a vat tax?
 
Frantic said:
So does the uk buyer pay a vat and also a customs fee if I declare the full value or is there no longer a customs fee since there is a vat tax?
Click to expand...

Yes, there is also a customs fee which is charged to the buyer separately from the eBay transaction.
Customs fees and VAT are two separate fees. (Or technically, VAT is a tax, customs is a fee.)

Remember VAT is equivalent to our sales tax.
 
Heitkotter77 said:
Yes, there is also a customs fee which is charged to the buyer separately from the eBay transaction.
Customs fees and VAT are two separate fees. (Or technically, VAT is a tax, customs is a fee.)

Remember VAT is equivalent to our sales tax.
Click to expand...
So are we going to still claim a low value or is that over?
 
Frantic said:
So are we going to still claim a low value or is that over?
Click to expand...

The eBay message seems to say they ae going to have full value declaration at least for the VAT.
That's exactly the way Discogs has worked it with the Australian VAT. It's automatically added to the invoice the seller creates (as is done for sales tax for US buyers).
However, with the Discogs, I found that the customs declaration is separate from the invoice when you create a mailing label; you still get to input your own value. That holds even if you buy your postage through 'Scogs.
I haven't sold on eBay in a long time, so I'm not sure how their set up is for that. I do know that if you use the Global Shipping Program, value is automatically declared at the final price. If you buy your postage elsewhere (Endicia, Pirate, PayPal, etc) , the functions should still be separate.
Whether eBay plans to interface with other companies (or try to hinder their use with eBay purchases) is something Idon't know, but wouldn't surprise me if they did.
 
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