eBay confiscating packages.

Discussions about rations from other countries - IMPs, EPAs, RCIRs, etc.
Robin heum
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eBay confiscating packages.

Post by Robin heum » Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:23 pm

So i have been buying rations from eBay throughout the years and occasionally i get my package taken by eBay for some reason.
It goes like this, sellers use the global shipping program and send the package just fine. But sometimes i get a message saying they are confiscating the item and refunding me my money, problem is i don't want it refunded. I want my item...
But there is no way to get it back, they always refuse any solution
Like for example shipping it back to the seller to use another shipping option. Can they legally do this?
Anyone else run into this issue?
Also i know they resell the items somehow to get back their loss of refunding me the money.

Some of the items i have personally lost, are alot more but i cant exactly remember what they were.
11 1950s B units.
1950s Food packet survival.
Lot of around 30 Spanish rations.
And these are the more recent ones
Screenshot_20230306-001917-096.png
Screenshot_20230306-000934.png
Little edit down here.
This has been happening for a long time and for most of these items there are no import restrictions. Only thing that can't be shipped are cigarettes and alcohol really, and those items got through their shipping area fine without any problems.
Also im shipping to Norway so the USDA isn't the issue either as meat and similar stuff is allowed to be shipped from the United States to Norway. But this also happens when shipping from Germany or France as an example.

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steve1989
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by steve1989 » Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:41 am

Shame about your losses, Robin.

I've lost a 1944 British Special Ration Type B and a 1914 broad arrow marked survival ration of some kind.

Lost a case of British ORPs from 2015 as well. All were from UK.

Stay away from global ship. Not sure of the "how".. or "why" of it all. Just to do your best to work around it by hooking up a fellow ration hobbyist to be your middleman. Then cross your fingers it doesn't go south anyway.

Sure makes it exciting.

NorwegianboyEE
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by NorwegianboyEE » Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:28 am

Who's confiscating it?
Norwegian customs?

NorwegianboyEE
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by NorwegianboyEE » Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:31 am

Robin heum wrote:
Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:23 pm
Also im shipping to Norway so the USDA isn't the issue either as meat and similar stuff is allowed to be shipped from the United States to Norway.
I don't know where you learnt this but it's wrong. Any meat products is not allowed if it's from outside of the EU or EEA (EØS). So importing meat from the United States to Norway is in fact illegal and if it's caught by the customs they will confiscate it. This only concerns meat products though, if it's fish or vegetable dishes it's no problem at all.

Robin heum
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by Robin heum » Tue Mar 07, 2023 8:40 am

NorwegianboyEE wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:28 am
Who's confiscating it?
Norwegian customs?
No never had any issue with Norwegian customs, everything i have bought gets through them including meat items.
It's eBay themselves who confiscates it. They have had several reasons but most recent one is "Restricted item" and that has to do with the items "Military" status. But that's not true because they ship tons of other military items, and it's just eBay who has this reason.
No other shipping company has any issue with shipping military stuff. And if it was illegal why do they allow people to sell it on their website?

Didn't actually know we didn't allow meat products from outside the EØS agreement. I probably just imagined it was legal because i have had no issue with them about it.

Robin heum
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by Robin heum » Tue Mar 07, 2023 8:46 am

steve1989 wrote:
Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:41 am
Shame about your losses, Robin.

I've lost a 1944 British Special Ration Type B and a 1914 broad arrow marked survival ration of some kind.

Lost a case of British ORPs from 2015 as well. All were from UK.

Stay away from global ship. Not sure of the "how".. or "why" of it all. Just to do your best to work around it by hooking up a fellow ration hobbyist to be your middleman. Then cross your fingers it doesn't go south anyway.

Sure makes it exciting.
Loosing an item from 1914 has got to hurt.
Also lost two unmarked tins from 44, think i asked you what they were but you didn't know either.
They probably also destroyed the item not knowing what it was and it's historical value. Like our customs did with that Faust coffe tin i had. Probably even worse in the Us considering the USDA.

But yeah gonna start being more careful and communicate with the seller's better and tell them to not use eBay shipping.
And if they refuse then get a middleman like you said.

texrdnec
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by texrdnec » Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:31 am

i don't pretend to know who confiscated them but i had to buy 3 US aid dried egg cans before one finally made it to me

imagine confiscating 80 year old dried eggs FROM the US coming back INTO the US. beyond frustrating.

i once debated so long on buying a pristine sealed CARE box from overseas that i missed out on it completely so i just tell myself that customs would have ruined or confiscated it anyway...

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housil
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by housil » Tue Mar 07, 2023 10:51 am

Robin heum wrote:
Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:23 pm
But this also happens when shipping from Germany or France as an example.
I don´t know where you are located and from/to where you buy/sale/ship but I´m located in Germany, have sold/bought "tons" of rations etc. and NEVER had any (shipping) issue inside EU countries as there are no customs limitations except for cigarettes, any illegale items (as weapons, drugs etc) at all.

But keep in mind, the box of rations say:" Commercial resale is unlawful". Ebay USA used to have a "MRE" section but that section got removed for some reason. See main page here:
https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/us-govt-vs-ebay-auctions/

norge
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by norge » Sun Mar 12, 2023 3:48 pm

if you dont want parcels to be confiscated stayway from global shipping program and pitney bowes
lost a load of parcels from the UK and US when buying on ebay...
i did file a claim on pitney bowes a few year back for a refond on my items confiscated by them and got my refond after a year.

cheers ken

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MrFahrenheit
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Re: eBay confiscating packages.

Post by MrFahrenheit » Thu Mar 23, 2023 11:32 am

Oddly enough, and I dont want to jinx myself here but of late I've been using the eBay global shipping to buy in freeze dried meals from the US to the UK, namely Peak refuel and Mountain House meals, all without problem.....as we can't get them here in the UK and the companies won't send them direct......so far and mainly due to the shipping costs being quite low, a dozen meals weighing just over 1.4Kg is only around £12 shipped and takes around 10 days.

Don't know if it's due to pure luck, the shipping label (although 2 boxes were MH retail boxes with the meals written on the side and seemed to come direct from Oregon freeze dried according to the invoice and reciept) or maybe customs are looking elsewhere just now?
So far I've been able to purchase a full set of both manufacturers current range at pretty much US retail prices.

I've never had a problem with EU to UK shipping other than a large double case of MREs a couple years back which was opened and inspected by UK Borderforce but everything made it to me albeit slightly damaged, they were from Poland.
Again the main problem for most EU to UK imports at the moment is the fact a lot of companies won't send to the UK since Brexit.

I've tried buying Mountain House meals from Amazon Global store but they were confiscated on the US side of customs and was luckily refunded due to it being on the US side.
I came, I saw, I ate some rations then fell asleep amongst the clover.

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