FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

Dear all Sellers,

Recently, we had lot of problems associated with the withdrawal of the funds and fortunately, it is now resolved. On 9th March 2010, we had a Seller Meeting at
Ahmedabad which covered all the important aspects of selling internationally on eBay.

The meeting was conducted by Mr. Sainath Pai and Mr. Jinesh Joshi. They clarified everything that we need to know regarding international selling on eBay. I would
like to thank both of them for a great presentation and clearing all the doubts related to cross border selling.

Here are the clarifications of our long awaited questions:

How to ship the item?
From now onwards, in order to ship an item, it is advisable that we include an invoice along with the shipment. It should be a commercial shipment and not a
"gift" or a "free sample for promotion".

What if we still label it as gift or sample?
In that case, there may be an inquiry and at that time it would be difficult for us to prove that we are doing a legal business. So there should be a judicious use of "gift" or "samples". The government has restricted the use to INR15000.00 per year.

The item should be accompanied by a commercial invoice in which the true value of the shipment should be declared.

Is this export?
Yes, as per RBI, the single item cross border sale is a legal export if it is sold via proper channel. For this the seller must ship the item as a commercial item and not as a sample and they should include an invoice.

Is this legal?
Yes. RBI has accepted the single item export as a legal business and it is encouraging it. Like every new thing has some teething problems, we all (sellers, RBI and eBay) are passing through this stage and eventually this will evolve.

What to mention in the Custom Declaration Form?
Invoice Value. Commercial shipment.

What all records are required to be maintained by the seller now?
1. Purchase invoice
2. eBay Invoice copy given to the buyer
3. PayPal transaction details pertaining to the sale.
4. Proof of shipment.
Therefore, we need to keep a filed record of the above 4 things for each and every transaction that we do on eBay.

Is IEC mandatory for International Sellers?
Yes. Without IEC, our sales cannot be considered as a legal export.

Do we require separate FICRs?
No. We need 1 FICR per remittance from PayPal and not as per the transaction. For example, if I sell 100 items worth 2 Dollars and withdraw an amount of 200 from my PayPal account, then I will required 1 FICR for USD 200.00 and not 100 FICRs for $2.00 each.

Can we sell old coins, stamps, documents on eBay that are more than 100 year old to international buyers?
No. It is illegal to sell any collectible older than 100 years. This is punishable by law.

Wis you good luck for the new innings.

Kind Regards,
Mustufa
problems are opportunities
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

jaipur_mart
Community Member
Thanks for theinfo mustafa.......
but what about the funds which r already in our paypal account which we have recd before this system ...
and from now we cannot ship the goods through regd air mail of India post?????????????????
regards
ram krishan
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

jaipur_mart
Community Member
However the new system seems good as from now we can use paypal as our legal payment gateway for even big volume transaction.............
More peace of mind .......
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

Mustufabhai, Great info. for others.

but still have some following questions.

1.like as you said,it is advisable that we include an invoice along with the shipment. "include" you means that invoice should be inside a package. and when we sending at post department we just have to fill that declaration form with actual price. am i right ?

2. see our ebay invoice are in $, GBP etc. how can we declare at post with this amount. should we have to declare in INR cause if do with foreign currency than, definatly our packages are open at customs and may be theft of our goods and other problems.

3. if i send my package with any reputed courier company and when you send as commercial they suggest to make custom clearance when they delivered a goods to our buyers. and courier will charge around 1500 Rs. for each transaction for custom clearance from here. I think than nobody will going to send as commercial shipment in private courier.

so, sill some not clear point for commercial shipments.

Regards - ๐Ÿ™‚
Vimal
yes, problems are opportunities
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

Vimal,

I will consult my lawyer for the questions that you have as I also have the same questions. In a commercial invoice, you have to mention the currency in the country of destination or the USD currency which is universaly accepted.

I agree, even my shipping costs have gone up in last 2 transactions and I have still not started listing the items as I am waiting for the clarification.

Ram Kishan,

During our interaction with eBay, it was clarified that the current PayPal balances will be withdrawn as proceeds from exports. If the amount is not exceeding USD 10K, then there may not be any inquiry. Else, you may need to receive it in small packets of 2 to 3 thousand each.

Yes, the commercial packets cannot be sent via Registered Airmail. I will visit the Postal Customs office on Saturday and get back to you.

Regards,
Mustufa
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

Mustufa

okay, let me ask here at post office also, and will call you as i got some solution, till now i have also stop some listings.

should we use export format invoice or ebay invoice as it is ? I think that format only use in bulk huge export, we hav to use only ebay invoice.

I think, we should write a mail to jinesh once for all our query and what they suggest for it.
what you say ?

vimal
Message 6 of 16
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

cosycom
Community Member
Dear All , I request eBay pinks to issue the clear guidelines at the earliest which can be followed by all sellers using paypal. This is responsibility of eBay & we can not arrive at any final decision by mutual discussions among some sellers.

eBay India should issue us clear guidelines in this regard about how to issue invoices against funds received from paypal & what are our obligations towards RBI & eBay .

Regards

Narinder
Message 7 of 16
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

9domainsforsale
Community Member
Now paypal is asking for PAN Card!!! Log in to your PP account and check it out yourself.
Message 8 of 16
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

victoria_edward
Community Member
3 blind people went to an elephant.
One caught his tail and said:Elephant is like a rope.
2nd person felt its leg and said:Elephant is like a pillar.
3rd fellow caught its nose trunk and said:Elephant is like a hose pipe.
Message 9 of 16
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FAQs for International Selling - Clarification to all your questions

Hi Mustafa,Is there any update that we can send parcels via Registered Airmail.I have still not listed my items.
I think someone from eBay should address our concerns about shipping,payment,IEC & firc.
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