posted on March 20, 2001 05:43:08 AM
danilynn71
You did the right thing.
Taxes in Canada go towards important things:
Health care and allowing our politians to sue each other.
Maybe previous posts are correct: customs won't be concerned with small items.
Why should you risk it?
It is unreasonable for a buyer to spring this request on a seller, especially after the auction ends. He had opportunity to find out if you were willing to do this before the auction closed.
>If you don't want to lie, cut the seal on the package and voila, it's "USED". This is person-to-person selling, and unless you include an invoice from your business, it's not going to be considered new merchandise. There's nothing dishonest about it since once you open the package, it can't be sold as "new" anymore.
If this is done for the purpose of avoiding a tax, it IS dishonest. What school of ethics did you graduate from?
posted on March 20, 2001 10:27:13 AM
I have a similar buyer and I would like your opinions.
I state in my TOS that I will ship to Canada but shipping is slightly more. We'll this person paid by PayPal (including the US shipping cost) before telling me they were from Canada. I let it go and figured I would pay the difference (about $.55). Then (after paying)they tell me to mark the Customs form with a $5.00 value instead of the $8.99 value. Now, I'm not trying to be petty but I do include an invoice and my "little voice" is telling me not to lie on the Customs form.
After reading this thread first, I politely email and told the person that I can not do that and then received this email back:
"I have made payment for this item, please follow the shipping instruction which I have sent to you. "TO AVODI CUSTOM CHARGE ME" "
What do you guys think? We're only talking $3.99 difference but what about the risk?
TIA!!!
Lori
I'm sorry, I just got to thinking....maybe I should post this in a thread of it's own?
[ edited by jessbax on Mar 20, 2001 10:42 AM ]
I think NAFTA isn't worth the paper it is written on.
There should be NO duty when I ship north, because there is no duty when I get something from Canada, and if they (Canadians) want "free trade" they should not charge duty (GSP Tax, or whatever they call the border tax)
I know this doesn't have much to do with this thread, but you asked what we thought.
posted on March 20, 2001 04:19:14 PM
Hello. I asked the workers at my post office about this little "problem". Not one of the people there thought there was anything wrong with putting something as a gift...or lowering the value (It's to our PO's benefit if the price is marked as less..if the item is damaged..they pay what it was insured for). One postal worker said she was asked by another person if SHE would mark the gift spot...she did. The customs forms are for the bidders's country. If anyone gets "punished", it will be the receiver of the goods. The Japanese or Canadian police aren't going to arrest me if I write a "Happy Birthday" note on the package.
If I can save a bidder from paying extra taxes, I will do anything I can. I had a man from Sweden buy some books from me. He asked that I write his name on the inside of each book and a note of thanks for the use of his books...I gladly obliged. This man had to pay over $40 to ship $70 in books....I think he deserved a break.
My point is...you don't have to worry about being arrested..our postal system couldn't care less.
