Ebay to block Australians from global purchases

[Modzy]

Ebay to block Australians from global purchases.

This really really sucks if it goes through... I am a vintage/retro hardware collector and almost all of my collection has come from international Ebay sellers. This means it will be almost impossible to continue collecting beyond this point. I think for the first time ever I'm happy to pay our 10% GST tax just to keep the door open to international sales.

Apart from that, This will be a major blow so so many Aussie who shop on ebay for many thing. Least of all the large import mobile phone market we have on ebay. My last 4 mobiles have been ebay imports and that's going back to my Motorola V3 Razr.

https://www.cnet.com/au/news/ebay-says-it-may-block-aussies-from-shopping-overseas-over-online-gst/

Multiple sources, google the title.

[Teddy07]

7 minutes ago, Modzy said:

https://www.cnet.com/au/news/ebay-says-it-may-block-aussies-from-shopping-overseas-over-online-gst/

 

Very interesting article.

Germany uses the from ebay and other proposed tax collection method. Tax offices calculate the amount of GST and you can pick up your packet in the nearest tax office. If the international seller made everything right, then the post will collect the tax and you don't have to walk to the tax office.

 

It works well but the downside is that you might have to wait a long time in big cities where many people want to pick up their packet from the tax office.

[2FA]

Care to explain why? So you know, it fits the guidelines?

 

[Sniperfox47]

Why isn't it just done like it is here in Canada where it's collected by customs completely independent of the seller? Like if I buy a product from the states, customs will charge me the GST when I recieve the item.

 

Forcing international sellers to deal with it seems like a good way to isolate your country from the international market.

[JAKEBAB]

Just now, Sniperfox47 said:

Why isn't it just done like it is here in Canada where it's collected by customs completely independent of the seller? Like if I buy a product from the states, customs will charge me the GST when I recieve the item.

 

Forcing international sellers to deal with it seems like a good way to isolate your country from the international market.

Welcome to Australia the land of backwards!

[Misanthrope]

Australia seems to be very conflicting. They rank fairly high in standard of living and such from what I've seen but then they have a pathological fear of all things tech: I don't think I could deal with crap internet, censored gaming libraries and now no ability to easily import shit.

[Technous285]

This is the result of BS being pushed through the govo in an attempt to "protect" the incumbent businesses such as Harvey Norman who don't want to get with the times and be COMPETITIVE with online services and site like eBay or Amazon.

 

Yeah, the US isn't alone when it comes to the govo bending over backwards of Big Business; the US just bends over for Media, Australia bends over for Media & Merchandise.

[Ertman]

I think I am a little confused why this will force eBay to stop international sales to Australia. I don't really see why they wouldn't just implement a tax collection on top of the purchase price automatically on every purchase being shipped to an Australian address and then eBay remits this to the government.

[Andreas Lilja]

Cheap.

 

As a seller I hated selling to Australians, tho. Takes like 2 months to get there. 

[HelplmChoking]

In NZ, we are about to start charging tax on all international purchases (dubbed the "Amazon Tax", no idea why, we can't use Amazon), since the government doesn't get to make 15% on our online shopping. But even before that, if an item is valued over a certain point ($400 I think), it will get stopped by customs and they'll charge the buyer GST.

 

There's no reason to do this on Ebay since it's being sold by and independent user and they don't need to charge sales tax.

[Technous285]

8 minutes ago, Ertman said:

I think I am a little confused why this will force eBay to stop international sales to Australia. I don't really see why they wouldn't just implement a tax collection on top of the purchase price automatically on every purchase being shipped to an Australian address and then eBay remits this to the government.

Aus Govo wants to FORCE online international companies like eBay, Amazon, NewEgg and such that provide services to Australian customers to; record, apply, collect then pay to the ATO (Aus Tax Office) the GST on goods sold to Australian customers, with the 'bonus' of probably wiping out the $1000 AUD minimum threshold before GST could be considered (items worth <$1000 AUD are/were exempt).

 

This means prices for games on places like Steam, uPlay, PSN, XBLive and all other digital fronts would need to go up by 10% if they don't already have GST baked into them.

Buying PC parts from NewEgg, NCIX or similar would need to be bumped up by 10% for Australian customers that'll need to be collected and paid to the ATO. Same goes for buying watercooling parts from EKWB or Alphacool, if the prices don't already have GST baked into them.

 

Only way those price will NOT go up is if the companies as a sign of protest to the governments demands, refuse to do business with Australians and implement geoblocking to force away their Australian customer base and take the hit in profits as a statement to the government.

[HelplmChoking]

Just now, Technous285 said:

Aus Govo wants to FORCE online international companies like eBay, Amazon, NewEgg and such that provide services to Australian customers to; record, apply, collect then pay to the ATO (Aus Tax Office) the GST on goods sold to Australian customers, with the 'bonus' of probably wiping out the $1000 AUD minimum threshold before GST could be considered (items worth <$1000 AUD are/were exempt).

 

This means prices for games on places like Steam, uPlay, PSN, XBLive and all other digital fronts would need to go up by 10% if they don't already have GST baked into them.

Buying PC parts from NewEgg, NCIX or similar would need to be bumped up by 10% for Australian customers that'll need to be collected and paid to the ATO. Same goes for buying watercooling parts from EKWB or Alphacool, if the prices don't already have GST baked into them.

 

Only way those price will NOT go up is if the companies as a sign of protest to the governments demands, refuse to do business with Australians and implement geoblocking to force away their Australian customer base and take the hit in profits as a statement to the government.

 

But why Ebay? Individual sellers don't need to pay tax on Gumtree, so why should they pay tax using Ebay?

[leadeater]

3 hours ago, Rangaman42 said:

In NZ, we are about to start charging tax on all international purchases (dubbed the "Amazon Tax", no idea why, we can't use Amazon), since the government doesn't get to make 15% on our online shopping. But even before that, if an item is valued over a certain point ($400 I think), it will get stopped by customs and they'll charge the buyer GST.

 

There's no reason to do this on Ebay since it's being sold by and independent user and they don't need to charge sales tax.

Hmm I've always heard it as the Netflix tax. Also we can buy stuff on Amazon but options are very limited particularly when it comes to tech items.

 

Don't think I've had anything stopped by customs yet for my ebay purchases but both my orders from EKWB we stopped and I had to pay GST, along with actually getting a personal GST number. Both orders were way over the limit so that was expected.

[Ertman]

7 hours ago, Technous285 said:

Aus Govo wants to FORCE online international companies like eBay, Amazon, NewEgg and such that provide services to Australian customers to; record, apply, collect then pay to the ATO (Aus Tax Office) the GST on goods sold to Australian customers, with the 'bonus' of probably wiping out the $1000 AUD minimum threshold before GST could be considered (items worth <$1000 AUD are/were exempt).

 

This means prices for games on places like Steam, uPlay, PSN, XBLive and all other digital fronts would need to go up by 10% if they don't already have GST baked into them.

Buying PC parts from NewEgg, NCIX or similar would need to be bumped up by 10% for Australian customers that'll need to be collected and paid to the ATO. Same goes for buying watercooling parts from EKWB or Alphacool, if the prices don't already have GST baked into them.

 

Only way those price will NOT go up is if the companies as a sign of protest to the governments demands, refuse to do business with Australians and implement geoblocking to force away their Australian customer base and take the hit in profits as a statement to the government.

 

The following only applies to retailing type transactions and not exchanges between two parties of personal goods, I don't include classifieds type of transactions. I guess it depends on the rules of the country regarding GST.

 

I am unsure how it works in Australia, but here the GST/*ST is applied during the checkout process at any Canadian brick and mortar store and any Canadian based online store, so its never backed into the price. For example, buying from NCIX, I see a 13% (because I live in Ontario GST+Provincial ST) bump during checkout. 

 

While it may suck for the individual consumer, having to pay more always sucks, it is fair for Australian retailers, to tax transactions purchased at any business where the goods or services is ultimately received or used in the country of the consumer residence. In Canada this is done during the customs process, which is actually more miss than hit when done through the mail service, so you often get lucky. If done through UPS/FEDEX/etc. you get hit by any applicable taxes/duties and you have to also pay insane brokerage fees.

 

I don't know if in Australia you were to manually bring into the country any item, lets say purchased on a day trip, whether it would be subject to duties and taxes. If so, then it should be applied the same way. I can understand if you don't believe in paying the tax at all, and that can be changed through electing government representatives that will change the rules, but I do agree with a fair application of tax including closing loopholes.

[Ertman]

7 hours ago, Rangaman42 said:

-snip-

 

There's no reason to do this on Ebay since it's being sold by and independent user and they don't need to charge sales tax.

I do agree with this. This can be differ if they have setup eBay as part of their business sales.

[Droidbot]

16 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

Australia seems to be very conflicting. They rank fairly high in standard of living and such from what I've seen but then they have a pathological fear of all things tech: I don't think I could deal with crap internet, censored gaming libraries and now no ability to easily import shit.

""high standard of living""

 

our government is fucking incompetent and backwards, we have some of the most poorly planned cities in the asia-pacific, we have a horrible relationship between our aboriginal people and migrants, a """"""multicultural""""" society that pretty much embraces 'white = right' at this point, etc. 

 

I could go on for about an hour on how the census was a great example of how incompetent the AUGov is when it comes to technology. 

I could go on for about three on how the new import tax could be easily done away with if our retailers didn't charge such high markups on everything. 

[leadeater]

7 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

""high standard of living""

 

our government is fucking incompetent and backwards, we have some of the most poorly planned cities in the asia-pacific, we have a horrible relationship between our aboriginal people and migrants, a """"""multicultural""""" society that pretty much embraces 'white = right' at this point, etc. 

 

I could go on for about an hour on how the census was a great example of how incompetent the AUGov is when it comes to technology. 

I could go on for about three on how the new import tax could be easily done away with if our retailers didn't charge such high markups on everything. 

Love your location btw, Soviet Australia lol.

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, leadeater said:

Love your location btw, Soviet Australia lol.

the NBN worked as well as communism

[it_dont_work]

8 minutes ago, Ertman said:

but I do agree with a fair application of tax including closing loopholes.

items purchased and imported over $1000aud for personal use are taxed, under that amount they are not (although there are restrictions on alcohol, tobacco etc).  The policy issue behind it is trying to be based on a technicality of online market places as eBay is facilitating a purchase service and is a registered Australian company for tax purposes, therefore as far as legislature is concerned your buying from an Australian company. Know given that is not how ebay works as it is an auction or payment facilitator, but we don't have the legislative frameworks in place to deal with that difference. There is not a distinction of method.

 

Personal example.

 

1- I buy a part for $230USD from a Subaru dealer in Washington and have it posted - I pay over the phone, I pay US tax on the item and nothing else

2- I buy a part for $230USD from a Subaru dealer in Washington and have it posted through their ebay store - I pay US tax, I 'should' pay Australian GST as well.

3- I buy the same part from Subaru Australia in Melbourne, I pay $560 - and get no warranty since I'll fit it myself (although this could be argued under our consumer rights)

 

Rant:

God fucking dammit, the reason I've spent close to the last two decades buying shit online is to avoid the sometimes 50% mark up on stuff. Just work out a way to apply gst, fuckers taken enough of my tax dollars to work out how (or you know just not work out how to make more tax revenue, your call Morrison god knows you need to do something right before you loose your job).

 

Blocking most online purchases will not make people buy locally, it'll make them either save the money or spend it on something else.

[it_dont_work]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

the NBN worked as well as communism

True it was awesome while I had it, then I moved to Siberia and live off potato juice.

[Bouzoo]

Seems like Australia got a ticket to destination fucked. 

[it_dont_work]

1 minute ago, Bouzoo said:

Seems like Australia got a ticket to destination fucked. 

Kinda, just a long history of protectionism benefiting those in Parliament and fucking up our economy and global market places. 

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, it_dont_work said:

-snip--

Adding to this, even in the PC scene with an actual example: 

- I can get a GTX 1080Ti Gaming OC from Gigabyte for $700USD shipped, which is $931AUD

- or I can get a worse Zotac GTX 1080Ti FE from Scorptec for $1100AUD + shipping... 

- or I can get that same Gaming OC 1080Ti for $1159AUD from Scorptec + shipping...

 

$170 difference for AIB vs FE, $229 for AIB to AIB.. 

[it_dont_work]

3 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

Adding to this, even in the PC scene with an actual example: 

- I can get a GTX 1080Ti Gaming OC from Gigabyte for $700USD shipped, which is $931AUD

- or I can get a worse Zotac GTX 1080Ti FE from Scorptec for $1100AUD + shipping... 

- or I can get that same Gaming OC 1080Ti for $1159AUD from Scorptec + shipping...

 

$170 difference for AIB vs FE, $229 for AIB to AIB.. 

This is a little different, yes international buying can avoid gst payments. Yet add gst, the extra cost of smaller purchase quantities and a slight mark up for niche products and $1159 from scorptec is about right. Also Australian consumer warranty and not waiting 4 weeks for it to be sent to me, I know where my money is going. The majority of the time Australian part pricing is actually pretty reasonable I found over the years.

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, it_dont_work said:

This is a little different, yes international buying can avoid gst payments. Yet add gst, the extra cost of smaller purchase quantities and a slight mark up for niche products and $1159 from scorptec is about right. Also Australian consumer warranty and not waiting 4 weeks for it to be sent to me, I know where my money is going. The majority of the time Australian part pricing is actually pretty reasonable I found over the years.

Amazon's support is top notch from experience

You ask for a return, state your reason, they issue a label, you stick it on a box and stick your stuff in, and they pick it up