I received an order from the USA 5 months ago for over $800—around $3,000 to
be more specific. I imagine this order had additional customs duties besides
the sales tax charged by the state of Pennsylvania. Apparently, the buyer refused
to pay those charges, and now UPS wants to charge me here in Norway. I'm
not really sure how I should proceed in this situation. Invoice is arround 1000
usd with the charges.
I think it's best to have the package returned and refund the buyer's
money, perhaps minus the return shipping costs because he refuses to pay taxes
that he owes, not you. However, he may then file a PayPal claim and you will
have to pay the total amount back.
The problem is that the package was delivered to the buyer without those duties
being paid, five months ago. I only found out about this recently. Since UPS
was unable to collect the payment from the buyer, they now want to charge me
instead.
In Help, coloredbricks writes:
I think it's best to have the package returned and refund the buyer's
money, perhaps minus the return shipping costs because he refuses to pay taxes
that he owes, not you. However, he may then file a PayPal claim and you will
have to pay the total amount back.
The problem is that the package was delivered to the buyer without those duties
being paid, five months ago. I only found out about this recently. Since UPS
was unable to collect the payment from the buyer, they now want to charge me
instead.
I would complain at UPS, especially if delivered 5 months ago, it's not at
you to pay for THEIR taxes. They first shouldn't have delivered. Complain.
The buyer is supposed to be responsible for paying those duties, but if for some
reason you end up not paying them, they could charge me instead. I will complain
about it, but I doubt it will solve anything.
Thanks for your comment.
In Help, 1001bricks writes:
In Help, Yourbricks writes:
Hi thanks for the answer.
The problem is that the package was delivered to the buyer without those duties
being paid, five months ago. I only found out about this recently. Since UPS
was unable to collect the payment from the buyer, they now want to charge me
instead.
I would complain at UPS, especially if delivered 5 months ago, it's not at
you to pay for THEIR taxes. They first shouldn't have delivered. Complain.
"Yes, it would be good to look into it. Just having to check this with a
lawyer already costs quite a lot of money here in Norway — not to mention the
time. I'm still dealing with UPS about the matter; it's been over a month
now."
Thanks for your comment.
In Help, TheBrickGuys writes:
In Help, Yourbricks writes:
Hi thanks for the answer.
The problem is that the package was delivered to the buyer without those duties
being paid, five months ago. I only found out about this recently. Since UPS
was unable to collect the payment from the buyer, they now want to charge me
instead.
In Help, coloredbricks writes:
I think it's best to have the package returned and refund the buyer's
money, perhaps minus the return shipping costs because he refuses to pay taxes
that he owes, not you. However, he may then file a PayPal claim and you will
have to pay the total amount back.
According the UPS website:
Who pays duties, taxes or fees on international shipping?
Either the shipper or the receiver will be responsible for payment of duties,
taxes and fees. In rare instances, these may be charged to a third party.
When the shipper pays duties, fees or taxes, it is called Delivery Duty Paid
(DDP). This can improve the customer experience by providing additional clarity
and transparency during the buying process. Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU) means
the receiver will need to pay.
If you do not have a UPS payment account, and are simply paying with a credit
card, it will default to DDU, meaning the receiver will have to pay the duties,
taxes and fees in order to receive their shipment. By opening up a UPS payment
account, you can choose who will pay when you create the shipping label.
If the recipient will be responsible for these charges, we recommend you inform
them of this before the transaction, to avoid any surprises. However, if the
receiver does not pay, UPS may recover the outstanding amounts from you.
According to the last sentence UPS will require you to pay: "However, if
the receiver does not pay, UPS may recover the outstanding amounts from you."
This in their terms of service and I have no idea how you local laws are set
up in regards to payment of these types of fees but it could be worth your while
to check and see what the local laws in your specific country to see if UPS is
allowed to pass the fees onto you just because they were negligent in requiring
the receiver to pay them before they left the package. Hopefully your countries
laws do not allow UPS to do this.
I received an order from the USA 5 months ago for over $800—around $3,000 to
be more specific. I imagine this order had additional customs duties besides
the sales tax charged by the state of Pennsylvania. Apparently, the buyer refused
to pay those charges, and now UPS wants to charge me here in Norway. I'm
not really sure how I should proceed in this situation. Invoice is arround 1000
usd with the charges.
Probably too late for this advice but I would not ever ship internationally with
UPS.
I'm a bit confused that there were any duties assessed since toys (9503.00.00)
are duty-free in the USA. That could be why your buyer refused to pay.
I received an order from the USA 5 months ago for over $800—around $3,000 to
be more specific. I imagine this order had additional customs duties besides
the sales tax charged by the state of Pennsylvania. Apparently, the buyer refused
to pay those charges, and now UPS wants to charge me here in Norway. I'm
not really sure how I should proceed in this situation. Invoice is arround 1000
usd with the charges.
Probably too late for this advice but I would not ever ship internationally with
UPS.
I'm a bit confused that there were any duties assessed since toys (9503.00.00)
are duty-free in the USA. That could be why your buyer refused to pay.
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
[…]
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
[…]
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
$1,000?!
Not suprising from ups since the op said it was a $3000 package.
[…]
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
$1,000?!
I mean, even if they were tariffs I think $1,000 is far too high, that's
33%. So that doesn't really make sense either.
There's also the possibility of the wrong harmonization code and $1000 is
a combination of duties and brokerage fees.
[…]
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
$1,000?!
I mean, even if they were tariffs I think $1,000 is far too high, that's
33%. So that doesn't really make sense either.
True.
There's also the possibility of the wrong harmonization code and $1000 is
a combination of duties and brokerage fees.
There are lots of stories floating around the internet of UPS's insane brokerage
fees. Of course one can never know how real they are, without experiencing it
for oneself.
These are charges from U.S. Customs—it's actually around $600 plus additional
fees for payment delays and package storage, which never actually happened because
the package was delivered three weeks after it was sent. I'm still discussing
this with UPS. Both UPS Norway and I are waiting for a response from UPS USA,
but their current response time is 8 weeks.
In Help, peregrinator writes:
In Help, SylvainLS writes:
In Help, peregrinator writes:
[…]
Is it possible that these are not customs fees at all from UPS, but customs brokerage
fees? My understanding is that these are sometimes charged by UPS and other carriers
even in the absence of actual customs fees.
$1,000?!
I mean, even if they were tariffs I think $1,000 is far too high, that's
33%. So that doesn't really make sense either.
There's also the possibility of the wrong harmonization code and $1000 is
a combination of duties and brokerage fees.
Toys (9503.00.00)are duty-free in the USA regardless of the value of the package?
Also is value is over 800 usd?
This could be one more reason to challenge this invoice if you are right.
In Help, peregrinator writes:
In Help, Yourbricks writes:
I received an order from the USA 5 months ago for over $800—around $3,000 to
be more specific. I imagine this order had additional customs duties besides
the sales tax charged by the state of Pennsylvania. Apparently, the buyer refused
to pay those charges, and now UPS wants to charge me here in Norway. I'm
not really sure how I should proceed in this situation. Invoice is arround 1000
usd with the charges.
Probably too late for this advice but I would not ever ship internationally with
UPS.
I'm a bit confused that there were any duties assessed since toys (9503.00.00)
are duty-free in the USA. That could be why your buyer refused to pay.
Norway
Germany, Baden-Württemberg
France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
USA, California
Austria, Steiermark
Canada, Ontario