Sellers face issues with customs fees and lack of communication from eBay about the process. Improved guidelines and notifications regarding customs fees would help sellers navigate international sales more effectively.
I sold an item to a Canadian buyer. Filled correctly the customs declaration and shipped with an Italian company affiliated to ebay (label purchased directly through ebay). At some point, the tracking number stops getting updated. A couple days after the estimated delivery date, I reach out to the buyer. He hasn't received the parcel yet, but reassures me the delay might be due to an ongoing snowstorm. After another couple of days I contact the shipping company and they reply the parcel is waiting at the custom for some "internal processing". Now, skipping another week and several mails, what I learn is: this shipping company doesn't actually ship to Canada, but relies on UPS instead (that's why the tracking didn't track); the package was in fact at the custom in Canada, but waiting for the payment of the fees; no one communicated anything neither to the buyer, neither to me. It's been a month since the sale and finally the buyer received the invoice for the customs fee. He pays and guess what? The package already left the country and is returning back. Now the buyer opened a case with ebay. Asked for full refund. Ebay accepted and charged me for the full cost, without even giving back the fee it initially took. Any advice on what to do? Has anyone been in the same situation?