eBay Australia has taken an entirely different approach to Amazon when it comes to tackling the thorny problem of Australian GST (Goods and Services Tax) that comes into force on July 1st this year. The new tax requirements will lower the threshold to include all goods below the value of $1000 USD. We’ve written about it several times, most recently here.
Amazon has chosen to withdraw completely from permitting importers from selling to Australia and will be blocking Aussie shoppers from access to all its international sites. The local marketplace will continue to operate although selection will be significantly diminished, much to the chagrin of some consumer groups down under.
This won’t impact the moneys you receive. eBay merchants who sell to Australian buyers will continue to receive the full payment for their orders (item price and shipping and handling costs). The difference will be at the front-end where prices will be displayed 10% higher. That’s the cost to cover the GST. Basically, merchants don’t have to take any action to comply and that is good news.
If truth be told, the new GST rules do represent quite a serious, and potentially expensive and admin heavy, concern for merchants selling into Australia. Even relatively small sellers would likely have needed the assistance of a tax specialist to comply and that could likely been a barrier to many.
This is a fantastic change from eBay and a notable case of where eBay is getting ahead of Amazon. It’s clear that eBay wants to fully establish itself as the key marketplace in Australia where you can buy from international sellers and it’s also keen to root itself as the marketplace on the side of local merchants. Australian shoppers are proud and recent efforts from eBay have shown them very keen to champion local traders as well as offering increased choice on eBay Australia from importers son a level-playing field.
6 Responses
If it means all purchases will have the 10% added at the checkout, this is going way beyond what the Australian law requires as it is supposed to apply only to companies turning over more than $75000 a year…
How does this work? If eBay pay the tax are they effectively the seller. Does that mean my total sales to EU don’t include my eBay sales?? Just confused now.
How will Australians customs know if the consumer has paid the 10% GST at source via eBay? This could potentially mean that the buyer is double charged.
Commercial invoices won’t necessarily state whether it’s been purchased on eBay or not. We use a CN22 customs label. Nothing on there states where it’s been purchased from and if GST has been paid.