Ebay has started a new scam with Pitney Bowes where they collect taxes and duties up front for the country that the item is going to. You are forced to pay them every time. They neglect to mention that quite often the countries the item is going to don't collect the duties or taxes depending on the item, and the fact that both Ebay and Pitney Bowes take a cut of said fees the collect. They charge these import fees on absolutely everything that is sold under the program, and I often wonder if they have the correct tariff lists since the fees are so out to lunch. The one benefit to it is that for larger items it is often slightly cheaper and faster to go this route, but unless you are ordering a vintage Omnibot 2000 from Texas it's a blatant rip-off. I scrupulously avoid any auctions using the global shipping program.I want to buy one for my kinetic but I only see them in the U.S.(I'm in the UK)
They want the same cost as the item to post it and then want me to pay upfront for import duty.
a) I thought samples were exempt from duty
b) Why the heck should I pay the seller the duty?
