Please Help! Deal gone horribly wrong!

[silvialee]

Two weeks ago I purchased a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes via ebay for $320 (A really good deal! orginal price is over $600) from the UK. They were used and it was evident on the soles where the red paint has worn off. Today the mail man came from Canada Post and I was so excited then he told me how much I owed in customs.....$249.63! WHOAH. The mail man was nice enough to stay so I could actaully have a look at the fees written on the package and I saw that Customs had declared the value of the shoes as $750! Even if they were new it would not have been that much but clearly they were used they could have been worthless for all they know.

I need help I have no idea what to do I love those shoes but I'm not paying almost the price of new Christian Louboutins to have a pair of used ones. This time the thrifty saver failed me I never would have thought customs would charge me this much. I call Canada Post the lady said theres nothing I can do but talk to the seller but what if she doesn't take returns? Are there not any other options for me? The shoes were totally mis evaluated for twice the price.

[saveadollardiva]

Sorry to hear what happened!

I would call her/email her and say listen, you didn't tell me that I might have to pay customs? You should informed your customers of that before they purchase your items. If that is the case I might as well got band new ones. Tell her you want to return them and you want your money back. If she doesn't I would post about her and state she is not honest and buyer beware.

I would contact her first and see what she says, she might take the return no problem, if the shoes are nice I am sure another buyer will want them.

[patty26]

I know nothing much about this, but I think the lady that you've talked to at Canada Post is right about talking to the seller. Usually if I send something to relatives in the US, especially if it is a USED one I would declare the value of it and state that it is USED. The value that you declare to the customs would serve as the basis for computation of taxes/duties as well as the replacement value if in case something would happen to the parcel. Try talking to the person who sent those shoes (it will give you an idea on how much she declared it) and hopefully accepts a return.

[sweet sparrow]

Unfortunately, the seller may not accept that since we face custom duties from cross border shopping if the border guards your car. It may be assumed that you know fees apply if you're in a different country. Was it mentioned on the ebay page that custom fees may apply?

Who evaluated the price? If it was customs, can you call them and ask them to re-evaluate the goods since they are well-used? Or the seller if the seller was the one that placed that value on the shipping documents?

[couponlinda]

the declaration should have been declared on what you paid for them and used should have been written as well. I would open up a dispute via ebay and see if something can be settled that way or refused the package and make a claim back via paypal

[Saving4Trips]

Customs fees are payable on anything delivered to you outside of Canada. When I shop on ebay I ship items to the States to my family and pick it up when I'm there.

[gobo]

I am not exactly sure how it works. But my understanding is that you can ask the custom to recalculate the fees by providing them the proof to show how much you paid. Just call them to find out how. You may have to pay first.

[sebbmom]

You need to dispute it, but it's not Canada Post who handles it (they are just delivering it). Here's the info you need :

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal...ation-eng.html

[IMLN]

Custom fee on shoes are horibly expensive!

[silvialee]

I emailed the seller she has yet to get back to me but my concerns about having the package shipped back is that it might get lost, or that customs may have already damaged it when they opened it therefore she might refuse me a refund. Yes I've looked into repealling the fees and I tihnk it's my best option and I have left a message with the customs office in mississagua and I'm waiting for them to call me back but there are two choices in repealling duties. one. go to the post office and have the postal clerk check off appeal on the package and have them send it back to customs for reevaluation along with your phone number so that they can call you when they are reevalutation. two. pay the fee and fill out a form so that they may look at it and see if you can get a refund or partial refund. I've searched a few other forums and people have said that they filled the form with no response. Couldn't anyone commenting on sending the package back to customs but I'm also afraid that they will not ever call me or choose for some reason to retain my package forever... or lose it

[Arshes76]

One of things my sister and i used to do was request that the package be labeled as a gift on the form when the seller sends out the package, so custom fees aren't charged. But we haven been on ebay for a while so i dont know if sellers are still willing to do that or custom fees have changed.

[AndieH]

Have you already paid the fees? I assume you have. If you return the shoes won't you still be out that money?

[sarajk]

What did the seller mark as the value for shoes?

When I have been overcharged because customs has assigned a different value I have paid the customs and then filed a dispute.
The paper work is attched to the package. Print off the ebay page showing what you actually paid.
I've always had my money back within a month. Never had one denied. But I can understand you not wanted to do this with
that much money owed.
What currancy was the auction in?
If you paid $320 Canadian & then your custom charges should be around $47.
I've never tried to figure out how them come up with these funfilled amounts.

[CouponLadybird]

One of things my sister and i used to do was request that the package be labeled as a gift on the form when the seller sends out the package, so custom fees aren't charged. But we haven been on ebay for a while so i dont know if sellers are still willing to do that or custom fees have changed.

Listing an item as a gift when it is not is actually illegal, and you can get in a whole lot of trouble for it

[sarajk]

One of things my sister and i used to do was request that the package be labeled as a gift on the form when the seller sends out the package, so custom fees aren't charged. But we haven been on ebay for a while so i dont know if sellers are still willing to do that or custom fees have changed.

Gifts are only suppose to be $50 and under.
They let higher amounts through but if they were going to declare it $700 theres no way the gift option would've worked.
It doesn't matter what the seller had put.