Customs duty on overseas eBay purchase?
 

Is that a concern? I was looking at a camera lens being sold by a dealer in Japan. They mentioned their price didn't include customs duty, if any. Would there be?

Also, is there any protection in using PayPal for such a transaction?

Maybe and maybe.

If you're lucky, no and no.

Make sure they send it via the post office and not FedEx/UPS or the Japanese equivalent. Makes for much less paperwork and cheaper. My personal theory is that one arm of the government (customs) cuts some slack for the customers of another arm of the government (the post office).

try this Steve
 

Pay Pal is worthless at protecting anything but their income. After they are paid they could care less.

You may have to pay duty, so plan on it. Sometimes things come through without it but not enough to bet on it. Best is to buy it while there and hand carry it back, or have a friend do it. I do that all the time and no problems.

^+1

I have had a couple of run-ins with PayPal trying to resolve issues... Once they have their commision they could care less what happens with the transaction!

-Nick

The Japanese are honest to a fault. Is it an established dealership? Do they have a web-site? If you pay by credit card you should not have a problem. Also, customs duty is not much of an issue these days. Duty rates on most stuff coming from most places is way, way down.

There have been two instances with PayPal where I got my money back for products not received. They were both under $50, and US based.

Aside from that I have purchased many items from overseas without incident; a lamp from Sweden, camera lens from Germany, countless trinkets from the UK.

Like Hat I purchase through Ebay from around the world and 99% of its without a problem. Just bought a very nice pen from a seller in the UK and bidding on another one from the same gent now.

Just be careful and it usually works out.

I won't be in Japan, so I can't pick it up there. It's a new eBay store, with 100% positive feedback on 53 transactions since 9/06. They seem to only want PayPal, and I don't see a website for them. But maybe it's in Japanese or something. I could fund the PayPal with AMEX, and AMEX would probably back me up if there was a problem. I don't think I'll have a problem, anyway. They ship with EMS (International Express Mail Service).

Thanks for the tips and link!