I sold someone in Italy a Botcon 2012 Kick-Off since I didn’t want it anymore and they politely asked me questions about it beforehand. Problem is that I sold it to them back in July 20 of this year. It’s been stuck in customs since and now the buyer is filing a case ID against me since the item is stuck in New York now and they still haven’t received it. This frustrates me because the item has been in customs for so long and I am just as worried for the item as they are since it’s a rare and expensive piece. They can’t understand English very well too since they’re in Italy so I guess my best efforts to tell them to be patient throughout the weeks didn’t work. What do I do now? Is there anything I can even do? Also this’ll probably be the last time I sell something on eBay internationally because holy shit this is such a nightmare to handle.
Unless it's something you feel comfortable coming out of pocket use their global shipping. It sucks for the buyer buy makes things much easier for you.
I've read of difficulties others have had when shipping to Italy. Much of it has had to do with their customs laws, but from what you've shared, it hasn't even cleared the U.S. yet. At this point, I'd try calling eBay to explain your side of things. Be proactive. And be ready to supply any documentation that's requested.
Yeah, it’s weird. It said it was in Italy on July 27 but then afterwards the tracking number just stopped updating, with the last message being “Held in Customs” until recently where it updated to “ISC New York”. So I guess it was sent back or something? Either way I’m pissed this even happened since it took so long in customs.
Yeah, don't have much to offer about this case unfortunately, but like Jack said, in the future use eBay's global shipping program for any international sales. You ship the item to eBay and they forward it on to the international address and handle all the customs paperwork...and if there are any shipping issues it all goes through eBay directly.
I thought it was stil in the states, from what I understand Italy postal service is known for sticky fingers almost as bad as Singapore back in the day.
This, unfortunately this is all you can really do to 100% protect yourself. I used to offer international shipping, but it became too much of a pain in the ass.
They do, There's some archaic importation laws against importing foreign origin plastic toys (Was told that by a post office manager when completing a customs form for an eBay sales many years ago).
Damn, wish I knew about this beforehand. I don’t know either. The current tracking says that it’s in Metro NY Distribution Center now which still baffles me as it was in Italy for like what, 2 months? Either way I’ll try to contact eBay about this and hopefully resolve this soon. I just hope the toy isn’t damaged or anything since it’s a Botcon item and also includes it’s collector’s card.
I sent a guy a G1 Jetfire before once and had to declare it as something totally else. I feel for the fans in Italy, it's definitely no fun shipping there.
OP, I could be wrong, but I think it's on it's way back to you. Held at customs then ISC after seems like it's coming back. I could be wrong though, but that does seem backwards.
That will suck if you’re right. The buyer really sounded like they wanted the item (even with their slightly broken English) and since I know about the laws now I guess my only option is to give a refund so I won’t leave them completely disappointed. I also contacted eBay but got no results. Contacted PayPal too and the only thing they suggested to me was to message the buyer or give a full refund.
The USPS office has a nice, thick book (looks like a phone book with the type paper pages are made off) , that tells you package size, limitations of demensions , customs rules and items forbidden for importation, etc . It's in that book. The secret one that the public has no readily available access to unless the agent grabs it to verify stuff. In my case I was shipping a tf via registered mail and we had to verify type of tape required.
International shipping outside of the US is a complete sh*tshow. Yet somehow, I can get a package from China in a styrofoam sarcophagus that costs, in total, less than it costs to just ship the same item from Florida to California. Ebay Global Shipping is the ONLY way to ship internationally on Ebay.
Oh. I didn't know it had actually been in Italy. From what you wrote, it sounded like it had been stuck in New York this entire time.
Italy actually has pretty strict toy import laws and things will sometimes get destroyed by their Customs if they even think an item might be violating their import rules. Also, their post office system is pretty lax with scanning and is very corrupt. In this case, either the item was seized by the Italian customs or it was delivered to the buyer (with no scans) and they're using ebay's system to get a refund from you. I would strongly suggest not selling to Italy ever.
Yeah, I probably should’ve made that more clear. But it does suck that my package was held in customs for so long only to be sent back. At least I hope it is otherwise I’ll be missing an expensive Botcon item. I’ve been messaging the buyer about this and they do understand the whole situation (and are just as baffled about Italy’s toy laws) so thankfully they’re not doing anything scummy like that. They’re still requesting a refund though so I’ll have to take care of that. Tracking says the package I sent is moving to the next facility in the USPS network so I’m guessing it’ll be at my house in a few days.
