Problems with customs clearance for a shipment

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Summary: shiunee describes a problem with an order from South Korea via eBay, where VAT has already been paid through IOSS, but the seller is demanding $15 for import fees via DDP. In addition, the shipment is being held by German customs, even though no further payments were expected. shiunee is seeking clarification on whether the $15 is justified and why customs is demanding additional charges. meinehexe11 tags an eBay employee, and nina@ebay offers help, but confirms that customer service has so far been unable to provide a clear solution.

Hello,

I had already created a post about this issue recently, but the matter still hasn’t been resolved and another problem has now come up.

I bought an item from South Korea and, at the time of purchase, already paid VAT via IOSS on eBay. The seller then told me that he/she had additionally paid 15 US dollars in “import duties and taxes” as part of DDP and that I should reimburse him/her for this amount.

The seller also contacted eBay about this. According to the reply he/she received from eBay, I did pay the VAT, but the import duties paid by the seller as part of DDP are a separate cost item that is generally borne by the buyer.

This is what I actually paid at the time of purchase:

Net amount: US $35.00
Shipping costs: US $25.00
Sales tax/VAT: US $11.40
Total amount: US $71.40

However, there is now another problem: both the seller and eBay apparently assume that the 15 US dollars paid by the seller already cover the import charges for my shipment.

But my shipment is now officially with German customs anyway, and I have been asked to pick it up there and pay the remaining charges.

What I don’t understand is this:

At customs, import sales tax and customs duty are generally charged. But I already paid the import sales tax, i.e. VAT, when I bought it via eBay/IOSS. My item value is also clearly below 150 €, and the shipment contains only one type of goods.

As I understand it, for a shipment like this, since 01/07/2026, in addition to import sales tax, only the flat customs duty of 3 € for this one type of goods applies.

Since I already paid the VAT of US $11.40 via eBay/IOSS, I therefore don’t understand why the seller is said to have paid 15 US dollars in “import duties and taxes” for my shipment.

I am certainly willing to pay the customs duties or other import charges that are actually still outstanding. But I definitely do not want to pay the same charges twice.

In addition, I do not understand why my shipment is at customs at all now. The seller had originally explicitly told me:

“there is no additional customs payment required from you upon delivery”

But that is apparently not the case now, since I have to go to customs in person.

So my questions are:

What exactly could the 15 US dollars be that the seller paid as part of DDP?
If the VAT of US $11.40 was already paid via eBay/IOSS and my shipment contains only one type of goods with a value under 150 €, would there then actually only still be 3 € in customs duty outstanding?
Why is the shipment still with German customs if the seller was supposedly already paid the import charges as part of DDP?
Should I even pay the 15 US dollars to the seller, or should I first clarify the actual charges with German customs?

I really am willing to cover the costs that actually arise for my import. I just want to avoid paying the same import charges three times — once via eBay, once via the DDP payment allegedly made by the seller, and then again at customs.

If my item number is needed: 187610103462

Thanks in advance for your help!

shiunee

18 View listings

Posted 1 month ago · Edited 1 month ago·Last reply 1 month ago

4 comments

nina@ebay

·1 month ago

Ehemalige eBay Mitarbeiter*innenView listings

@shiunee Hey. 🙂 I could see that you already had written contact with our customer service about this.
If you still have any open questions, feel free to get in touch here again.

@meinehexe11 Thanks a lot for the tag. 💖

Best regards,

Nina