Responsibility on Duties and Taxes
This document is part of the terms of service (linked here) that the customer enters into when purchasing items on this website where this document is available, including the Online Contract and other legal documents forming part of the website.
Notice on Import Duties
Ovials Marketplace hereinafter referred to as, “Ovials”, available at https://marketplace.ovials.com, https://market.ovials.com and/ or at https://ovm.ovials.com is a marketplace of third-party items listed directly by Ovials website administrators or by third parties. Therefore, to the full extent of the applicable law and legality permissible, the ultimate responsibility for duties and taxes on items purchased at Ovials Marketplace is that of the final consumer/ buyer of the item. This responsibility includes that of import of items carried out by Ovials (Pty) Ltd or any of it’s authorized agents in person or corporate as merchandise Consignee on Commercial Invoices on behalf of the final customer/ buyer and for the purposes of convenience to the customer or otherwise, and as may be expressly granted/ confirmed and verified by Ovials Marketplace through documents and information supplied by the customer to Ovials Marketplace at all its payments, sales and branded marketing channels regarding any item in question and to any customs authorities when so requested.
By making a purchase through this website or through any official Ovials Marketplace sales channels online/ offline branded as Ovials Marketplace on leaflets, brochures and/ catalogs etc., the customer unreservedly authorizes customs authorities and their agents to request and impose duties and related penalties on the customer/ buyer based on transaction information supplied to Ovials Marketplace and further unreservedly agrees to be bound by this Notice and hereby gives ultimate consent to comply with customs authorities and pledges that this statement may be used as evidence of knowledge of responsibility and liability on duties and taxes on any item listed and purchased on the website with or without implied duties for the purposes of clearing items in customs process and warehouses and related surcharges and penalties involved/ imposed.
General Responsibility on Duties and Taxes
Importers, (buyers) on marketplace.ovials.com operated by Ovials (Pty) Ltd, and hereafter referred to as, “Ovials” are responsible for payment of duties and taxes wherever applicable during the transaction period, (transaction period covers from buying to delivery and applicable warranty and returns period). Buyers are responsible for understanding the applicable duties and taxes on any merchandise imported into the destination country where the item is purchased outside the country of the buyer. Where a buyer has selected DDP delivery whenever offered, or any other shipping term on Incoterms 2020 that requires Ovials to clear items through customs, the price quoted may include an estimate of the duties and taxes for the item destination. However, final duties paid/payable shall be borne by the buyer and any penalties and fees shall also be the sole responsibility of the buyer including penalties in relation to contraband on limited or prohibited items exchanged between marketplace seller and the buyer. Failure to comply with payment of duties may result in forfeiture or withholding of goods, while contraband items may be seized by customs officials perpetually, and Ovials will not be held responsible, nor will it be obliged to refund the transaction where the buyer (importer) has omitted required responsibilities relating to the importation of such goods.
Duties vary greatly across destinations and per product being imported. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries, where majority of the customers on marketplace.ovials.com come from can benefit from a harmonized customs system. However, buyers are still encouraged to inquire about applicable duties and taxes with their relative national customs departments. Duties vary greatly from 0-100% across different items. For more information you may refer to this document. Ovials does not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in the external links attached here.
Duties on Secondhand/ Refurbished Items
Different rules apply per country and per product. Customers and buyers (importers) are encouraged to inquire about applicable duties on goods purchased for personal use (all items posted on marketplace.ovials.com are intended for personal use only) and may be marked so as secondhand/ pre-owned or refurbished. Majority of items sold on Ovials marketplaces will be personal sales items from one individual seller, (personal) or organized reseller to the buyer (importer). The website available at the subdomain marketplace.ovials.com is in principle, a marketplace to ensure safe transactions and assurance of receipt of goods by the buyer, while earning a commission on each sale embedded either in the price or charged separately to the seller. In some instances, Ovials also acts as a promoter of items that may be secondhand in nature or refurbished items by either resellers or manufacturers. Nonetheless, for all items sold on marketplace.ovials.com and for the purposes of taxes and duties applicable, Ovials is not the principal product owner. Ovials acts as a promoter, marketplace provider and/ or a transaction facilitator for all items sold on the subdomain marketplace.ovials.com. Buyers are solely responsible for ensuring that all taxes and duties are paid in full for all items purchased on marketplace.ovials.com whether shipped by ovials (Pty) Ltd, ovials Inc or third parties. This requirement applies as long as the product was bought on marketplace.ovials.com or any of it’s sales channels online/ offline clearly branded as such and acknowledged by Ovials (Pty) Ltd as official sales channels. For reference on tariffs, and without any warrantees on accuracy and veracity of the information contained therein, the buyer may see the following link for South African tariff schedules, and follow this link for Lesotho tariff schedules.
