eBay

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-01-2026

I sold an item a couple of days ago. It's actually a USA medallion, so no tariffs regardless. There's nothing in my title that says anything about tariffs or not, but the buyer got the idea when they bought there would be no tariffs on their order.

At some point between payment and now, the buyer saw something on the listing that said tariffs would be due upon delivery.

Also the buyer was told their item would be there by Jan 13th when they looked at the listing, and now eBay tells them they can't file an INR until January 28.

So due to all of the above which eBay is doing, suddenly I'm a scammer and the buyer wants their money back and plans to leave negative feedback. FWIW, the order probably will arrive by Jan 13 since I ship with Stallion.

Any shipments with Stallion or Canada post have tariffs prepaid (so the buyer doesn't pay), but regardless, it's a US medallion! So being manufactured in the US there's no tariffs. (I don't go there about where things are made relating to tariffs since Stallion is collecting those, so it's irrelevant for the discussion whether or not an item has tariffs, they have to be prepaid).

Anyway I (as calmly as possible) explained to the buyer how I ship, that there are no tariffs, and eBay is giving a long delivery time because the item is coming from Canada, therefore it can take 2-3 weeks to clear US Customs (which is evident from posts made in December in this forum), but due to the fact I ship with Stallion they will clear the item across the border in 2-3 days, and then it goes USPS.

I did not refund the buyer their money, I'm not going to go and give them a refund so they can leave negative feedback. But the time they can file an INR on the item it will have been delivered and they'll figure out (I hope) that I'm not scamming them (and that they didn't have to pay tariffs on delivery).

No reply from the buyer yet, I would take that as a good sign.

C.

john_koenig99 · ‎01-01-2026

And that's why, even if I were able to ship any of my listed items to the US not using eIS, I just wouldn't do it.

If they want to complaint about anything related to tariffs and/or estimated delivery dates, take it with eBay. Not with me.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-01-2026

@john_koenig99 wrote:
And that's why, even if I were able to ship any of my listed items to the US not using eIS, I just wouldn't do it.

If they want to complaint about anything related to tariffs and/or estimated delivery dates, take it with eBay. Not with me.

They read my reply and calmed down. They've received a few UPS packages from Canada with tariffs owing (hence the reason eBay puts the warning). I'm sure when they get my package and all is good, it will be OK.

C.

recped · ‎01-01-2026

I would make a rough estimate that 98% of the US population has never (knowingly) paid any type of tariff, duty or brokerage fee. When eBay insists on stating on listing that "buyers WILL...." it's reasonable to think that buyers will believe it. Especially true in the absence of any type of disclaimer from the seller or worst a statement like this "International buyers are responsible for any duty, taxes, or import fees."

If you are shipping DDP or if there are no applicable tariffs (CUSMA etc.) why do you not include this in your descriptions?

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

byto253 · ‎01-02-2026

Great job. Buyers are very confused by it all and yours obviously hit the panic button. Canadians have always had to navigate crazy UPS fees and the US has now joined us in needing to pay attention to how items are shipping.

femmefan1946 · ‎01-02-2026

They've received a few UPS packages from Canada with tariffs owing...

Good to know that UPS, which I have had to use a few times over the past few months, is charging on the doorstep.

EIS charges any tariffs before we ship as I understand it.

Either way we are not paying the Trump Tariff from our profits.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-02-2026

@recped wrote:

If you are shipping DDP or if there are no applicable tariffs (CUSMA etc.) why do you not include this in your descriptions?

It does say that in my description, that I ship DDP with Stallion Express or Canada Post and no tariffs are due on delivery. (Not this store, this store is for Canadian buyers, no talk about US tariffs or shipping to the US on most items).

It's on the other store, the buyer may have read that and believed it, then eBay went and told them they will pay tariffs and they got mad.

They did calm down and it seems to be they had bad experiences with other sellers and have a negative opinion of eBay (all stuff that has nothing to do with me personally).

C.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-02-2026

@femmefan1946 wrote:
They've received a few UPS packages from Canada with tariffs owing...

Good to know that UPS, which I have had to use a few times over the past few months, is charging on the doorstep.
EIS charges any tariffs before we ship as I understand it.
Either way we are not paying the Trump Tariff from our profits.

The buyer said the "package came with fees owing" but did not elaborate.

Even if UPS does charge on the doorstep and the buyer refuses, the package is still RTS with the sender on the hook for the tariffs.

C.

byto253 · ‎01-03-2026

Minimum UPS charge seems to be $10US even if a zero tariff item.

vintage_america · ‎01-03-2026

Not if they’re charging at doorstep, or a pre-pay online option, which they are. If the buyer doesn’t pay tariffs and it’s RTS there are no tariffs to pay. It’s just return shipping cost.

vintage_america · ‎01-03-2026

Ya it’s pretty confusing now. I’ve had several packages with UPS that I thought would have tariffs go through with no tariffs to buyer. Clothing made in Canada and even China. They were low value though. Maybe there’s an amount they don’t bother with? Who knows? Not even UPS customer service knows. Shipping is basically a mystery now. And Zonos…well it’s taking forever for those to get to USA customers. Out of control.

reallynicestamps · ‎01-03-2026

Whose tariffs?

Canada doesn't charge tariffs on most of the goods sold here.

And the tariff if any would be at a Canadian set rate, not something Trump pulled out of his diapers.

And there are no import fees charged on Returned Merchandise, since this is a Failed Transaction (no sale happened).

And Canada doesn't charge US tariffs.

Who would they be paid to?

reallynicestamps · ‎01-03-2026

Minimum UPS charge seems to be $10US even if a zero tariff item.

They're back to that, eh?
There was a 5000+ postings thread, pre GSP, about commercial shippers and their high "customs brokerage" fees some years ago, probably still archived somewhere.

At the time the fee started at $25, and imports valued over $20Cdn were dutiable and charged that.

It was one of the reasons for GSP, one that actually benefitted buyers since GSP had a service fee of about $5.

Canada Post has a service fee of $9.95 for wrangling shipments through customs.

Not enough evidence to say what the eIS fee is.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-03-2026

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Whose tariffs?
Canada doesn't charge tariffs on most of the goods sold here.
And the tariff if any would be at a Canadian set rate, not something Trump pulled out of his diapers.
And there are no import fees charged on Returned Merchandise, since this is a Failed Transaction (no sale happened).
And Canada doesn't charge US tariffs.
Who would they be paid to?

I don't understand what you're talking about.

It was a US buyer and I"m shipping DDP. eBay told the buyer that they would have to pay tariffs when their order was delivered and they flipped out because they thought I was shipping DDP and changed that to DDU between putting up the listing and sending their shipping confirmation.

Everyone says the buyer pays the tariffs, that's because sellers have to include it in either the purchase price or shipping. It doesn't change the fact that when you use Canada Post and Zonos it's going DDP and the seller is the one remitting the tariffs on behalf of the buyer, it's not collected when the package gets there (unless of course you choose to use a DDU service which doesn't seem to have worked for most people who tried that).

C.

vintage_america · ‎01-03-2026

I thought you were saying that UPS charges Canadians tariffs upon return if buyer refuses delivery. They do not.

As for Zonos CP I don’t know what happens to tarifffs paid DDP if it’s returned. I suspect there’s a way to reclaim them. But that’s why I don’t ship DDP, as well as the fact that I don’t want to contribute to USA tariffs on Canada. You’re just reinforcing the tariffs by doing that.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery · ‎01-03-2026

@vintage_america wrote:
I thought you were saying that UPS charges Canadians tariffs upon return if buyer refuses delivery. They do not.

As for Zonos CP I don’t know what happens to tarifffs paid DDP if it’s returned. I suspect there’s a way to reclaim them. But that’s why I don’t ship DDP, as well as the fact that I don’t want to contribute to USA tariffs on Canada. You’re just reinforcing the tariffs by doing that.

No, what happens is UPS fronts the tariffs when the item enters the US, so if the item is RTS, then the tariffs go back to the seller. That's been posted in here a few times. It's not Canada charging tariffs, it's UPS collecting US tariffs from the seller because the buyer didn't pay. Sometimes this comes to bite you months later.

C.

flipistics · ‎01-03-2026

@vintage_america wrote:
As for Zonos CP I don’t know what happens to tarifffs paid DDP if it’s returned. I suspect there’s a way to reclaim them.

There is not. The tariffs are NOT refundable.

vintage_america · ‎01-04-2026

From personal experience, UPS does not front the tariffs. They collect it from buyer online or upon delivery. If buyer does not pay it gets returned without tariffs. There can be a million posts but I've dealt with this exact scenario and all I was charged (regardless of time) was return delivery.

vintage_america · ‎01-04-2026

If that's the case then it would seem unwise to ship DDP. Unless buyer paid for tariffs through increased shipping or item costs baked into selling price by seller.

john_koenig99 · ‎01-04-2026

@vintage_america wrote:
From personal experience, UPS does not front the tariffs. They collect it from buyer online or upon delivery. If buyer does not pay it gets returned without tariffs. There can be a million posts but I've dealt with this exact scenario and all I was charged (regardless of time) was return delivery.

That's only if you have an UPS account. If you don't, UPS delivers DDU, and you are on the hook for tariffs, if the buyer refuses to pay them.

Understanding Customs | UPS - Canada