It may have something to do with regional distribution rights for intellectual property. One company may hold the distribution rights for a particular book, video game or movie in one country or region but another company may hold the distribution rights elsewhere so importing a video game or film from outside the country or region may violate copyright laws. In the case of older, used items where the copyright holder may be unknown, ebay is erring on the side of caution so they won't be held liable later.

Ebay may also be under pressure to collect taxes such as VAT or local sales taxes as buyers are not paying them and sellers are not collecting them. We have legislation pending here in the US that would force online sellers to collect the taxes due and submit them to the state the buyer is located in. Can you imagine how much it would impact ebay's business if they were suddenly forced offline in Europe or anywhere else for failure to enforce the taxes collected for sale of goods?

Bro, I just did a check on ebay. As you said, I can't see what I want from the ebay main page.

However, I have a "saved search" bookmark of ebay. I actually saved my preferences for searching the ' "socket 7" motherboard '. When I search again what I want from this page, I was able to get more hits of what I actually want.

But otherwise, yes, F-ebay. F-paypal. They and their arrogant capitalistic attitude.

Edit : searched at www.ebay.co.uk's saved search bookmark.
(Shown under "international sellers")

sliderider wrote:

Ebay may also be under pressure to collect taxes such as VAT or local sales taxes as buyers are not paying them and sellers are not collecting them. We have legislation pending here in the US that would force online sellers to collect the taxes due and submit them to the state the buyer is located in. Can you imagine how much it would impact ebay's business if they were suddenly forced offline in Europe or anywhere else for failure to enforce the taxes collected for sale of goods?

That will never happen unless a majority of the countries agree on it. You cannot change how international trade functions by simply making a US law. The legislation you are talking about could only happen within the 50 states of the US.

Malik wrote:

Bro, I just did a check on ebay. As you said, I can't see what I want from the ebay main page. […]
Show full quote

Bro, I just did a check on ebay. As you said, I can't see what I want from the ebay main page.

However, I have a "saved search" bookmark of ebay. I actually saved my preferences for searching the ' "socket 7" motherboard '. When I search again what I want from this page, I was able to get more hits of what I actually want.

But otherwise, yes, F-ebay. F-paypal. They and their arrogant capitalistic attitude.

Edit : searched at www.ebay.co.uk's saved search bookmark.
(Shown under "international sellers")

Yes, I was also able to circumvent the search blocking by logging out and/or using ebay UK.

However, here's more bad news. Search blocking is another thing, but shipment blocking (like what I experienced when trying to buy D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight Games) will prevent you to buy the game, even though you can find the game by circumventing search blocking. The seller cannot do anything either, since shipment blocking prevents any transaction to be made, even though you and the seller agree to do business with each other.

The only thing to circumvent shipment blocking is to buy the game outside ebay, like what I did by buying D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight's online store instead of through ebay.

Did http://www.cdaccess.com finally run out of boxed copies of Terra Nova..?

sliderider wrote:

It may have something to do with regional distribution rights for intellectual property. One company may hold the distribution rights for a particular book, video game or movie in one country or region but another company may hold the distribution rights elsewhere so importing a video game or film from outside the country or region may violate copyright laws. In the case of older, used items where the copyright holder may be unknown, ebay is erring on the side of caution so they won't be held liable later.

Wasn't there a lot of fuss recently about "first sale doctrine" in regards to a fellow who imported cheap Asian editions of textbooks for sale in the US? Once you buy a (legitimate) copy of a book, video game, or movie, I'm pretty sure you're allowed to sell it to whoever you want, barring some really obscure restrictions.

sliderider wrote:

It may have something to do with regional distribution rights for intellectual property. One company may hold the distribution rights for a particular book, video game or movie in one country or region but another company may hold the distribution rights elsewhere so importing a video game or film from outside the country or region may violate copyright laws. In the case of older, used items where the copyright holder may be unknown, ebay is erring on the side of caution so they won't be held liable later.

That doesn't explain the part where ebay sellers can still sell copyrighted materials internationally when they're using ebay's costly GSP program.

sliderider wrote:

Ebay may also be under pressure to collect taxes such as VAT or local sales taxes as buyers are not paying them and sellers are not collecting them. We have legislation pending here in the US that would force online sellers to collect the taxes due and submit them to the state the buyer is located in. Can you imagine how much it would impact ebay's business if they were suddenly forced offline in Europe or anywhere else for failure to enforce the taxes collected for sale of goods?

VAT does not exclusively belong to international sales. VAT also applies to local sales. Yet, ebay blocking only applies to internatoinal sales.

As destination country's import tax, it happens between the item's recipient and her/his coountry's local custom. There is no reason why ebay should add import tax to the item's price, because ebay does not pay the said tax to the destination country's custom office either.

I wasn't aware eBay paid any taxes or fees at all.

...Except, that is, when one prints a shipping label via Paypal, in which case one can get a substantial discount off the normal shipping price. Perhaps the restrictions are lifted if one is not obligated to use USPS?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

As destination country's import tax, it happens between the item's recipient and her/his coountry's local custom. There is no reason why ebay should add import tax to the item's price, because ebay does not pay the said tax to the destination country's custom office either.

Any tax/duty is the responsibility of the buyer of the item. The only burden of the seller is to truthfully fill out the declaration form. Customs contacts the buyer when it arrives in the destination company if they owe any money. If they don't pay, they don't get the item.

What exactly is the Global Shipping Program and its advantages? All I see is it somehow involves a 3rd party and ebay likely gets a cut somehow. Individual sellers shouldn't need any help shipping single items overseas and the big companies usually handle the logistics internally. If someone needs a tracking number, they can opt for the more expensive traceable EMS services from their local post office or use a private courier like UPS or FedEX.

NJRoadfan wrote:

Any tax/duty is the responsibility of the buyer of the item.

Precisely, and the duty is paid by the item's recipient directly to her/his local custom office, not through ebay.

NJRoadfan wrote:

What exactly is the Global Shipping Program and its advantages?

Making more money for ebay?

Is eBay restricting shipping to local only or prohibited to developing country?

Oh yeah, why you not trying with GOG.com? Online retro games distributor, many old games sell in here online

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Precisely, and the duty is paid by the item's recipient directly to her/his local custom office, not through ebay. […]
Show full quote

NJRoadfan wrote:

Any tax/duty is the responsibility of the buyer of the item.

Precisely, and the duty is paid by the item's recipient directly to her/his local custom office, not through ebay.

NJRoadfan wrote:

What exactly is the Global Shipping Program and its advantages?

Making more money for ebay?

In some countries the courier can take care of the duties on behalf of the buyer. It's another extra service for the customers. If the calculation is worth it all depends on how much your local customs office take as a surcharge. In Norway that surcharge is around 20 dollars + local VAT! If a courier service can do it for me for 10 dollars + local VAT, then I'll rather do that.

My personal experience is that DHL, USPS and Fedex charge even more than doing it the "normal" way. EMS on the other hand have this fee included in their shipping price. To me it appears the Global Shipping Program have the customs handling fee included and that you only pay local VAT extra. It is not available in all countries (mine is not included atm), so I guess they only ship to countries were they have a deal with the customs.

northernosprey02 wrote:

Is eBay restricting shipping to local only or prohibited to developing country?

Oh yeah, why you not trying with GOG.com? Online retro games distributor, many old games sell in here online

If only all the games I want is being sold on GOG. I'd be very happy to see them selling F-16 Combat Pilot, Jane's Longbow 2, and Air Combat Classics, to name a few.

NJRoadfan wrote:

What exactly is the Global Shipping Program and its advantages? All I see is it somehow involves a 3rd party and ebay likely gets a cut somehow. Individual sellers shouldn't need any help shipping single items overseas and the big companies usually handle the logistics internally. If someone needs a tracking number, they can opt for the more expensive traceable EMS services from their local post office or use a private courier like UPS or FedEX.

Like I said, eBay (or rather Paypal) offers a substantial discount if you buy your shipping label from them instead of going directly to USPS.

It makes sense to require tracking numbers – except tracked packages are a LOT more expensive than regular shipping (particularly here in Canada). Folding the cost of a tracking number into the shipping fee can make an item unattractive to potential buyers, so a seller may be disinclined to offer such a shipping service, even though that opens the seller and the buyer to I-never-received-the-item, you-never-shipped-the-item disputes that are likely to drive people away from eBay in general. Providing an incentive for people to use tracked packages means less headaches and increased harmony – in theory.

northernosprey02 wrote:

Oh yeah, why you not trying with GOG.com? Online retro games distributor, many old games sell in here online

GOG doesn't have everything, and some people still like getting physical media.

Update: the_pcgamer, one of my favorite sellers, has become the next victim of ebay's blocking, and the blocked country is Germany, would you believe that?

Hey Thepc_gamer here. Kreshna mentioned this link to me and I just noticed this problem myself a few weeks ago when someone from Germany tried to buy something and asked how much shipping was. I offer worldwide shipping so was surprised to see it missing from the drop down box. I read somewhere that it's a glitch but I'm sure it's intentional. These countries not allowing imported software is BS though. Germany does have tight restrictions about violent games or anything Hitler/wolfenstein related. But they definatly do not restrict all games.

Ebay is just continuing to shoot themselves in the foot with higher and higher fees and restrictions. I've been selling used PC games for a living on ebay since 2005 but it's just not paying anymore. With ebay taking about 15% now there is not much room for profit. I just moved back to TX on May 2nd and downsized because I can't pay my bills by selling on ebay anymore. I used to work about 40hrs a week now I work about 65 a week and I'm making about 30% less. Now the U.S. Is trying to pass an online sales tax. If that passes I think a large number of ebay sellers will be done. I will be for sure.

Anyhow getting around this I'm not sure but I'm willing to try there is nothing wrong with selling to the countries listed. I think you could create a U.S. ebay account then just email the buyer beforehand and ask if they will ship overseas.

Also if you're in one of these blocked countries when you look at my store does it show any items at all or zero? http://www.ebay.com/sch/thepc_gamer/m.html?it … =p2047675.l2562

Would love to know.

Thepc_gamer
Dan's Classic PC Games

thepc_gamer wrote:

Hey Thepc_gamer here. Kreshna mentioned this link to me and I just noticed this problem myself a few weeks ago when someone from Germany tried to buy something and asked how much shipping was. I offer worldwide shipping so was surprised to see it missing from the drop down box. I read somewhere that it's a glitch but I'm sure it's intentional. These countries not allowing imported software is BS though. Germany does have tight restrictions about violent games or anything Hitler/wolfenstein related. But they definatly do not restrict all games.

Hi Dan, it's nice to see you here. 😀

Folks, this is Danno aka the_pcgamer, one of my favorite ebay sellers. I bought quite a lot of games from him in the past, using Banker's Draft and Western Union (those MCTN stuff) because Indonesians were not allowed to join PayPal during that time. 🤣

Maybe some of you have bought games from his store too. 😀

thepc_gamer wrote:

Ebay is just continuing to shoot themselves in the foot with higher and higher fees and restrictions. I've been selling used PC games for a living on ebay since 2005 but it's just not paying anymore. With ebay taking about 15% now there is not much room for profit. I just moved back to TX on May 2nd and downsized because I can't pay my bills by selling on ebay anymore. I used to work about 40hrs a week now I work about 65 a week and I'm making about 30% less. Now the U.S. Is trying to pass an online sales tax. If that passes I think a large number of ebay sellers will be done. I will be for sure.

That's too bad. Despite the hardship, I hope you'll be able to open your own game web store soon, so you don't have to deal with ebay anymore.

thepc_gamer wrote:

Anyhow getting around this I'm not sure but I'm willing to try there is nothing wrong with selling to the countries listed. I th […]
Show full quote

Anyhow getting around this I'm not sure but I'm willing to try there is nothing wrong with selling to the countries listed. I think you could create a U.S. ebay account then just email the buyer beforehand and ask if they will ship overseas.

Also if you're in one of these blocked countries when you look at my store does it show any items at all or zero? http://www.ebay.com/sch/thepc_gamer/m.html?it … =p2047675.l2562

Would love to know.

Thepc_gamer
Dan's Classic PC Games

I'll let you know if I find any of your games that cannot ship to Indonesia. Apparently, ebay hasn't got the chance to block every single game out there.

vetz wrote:

sliderider wrote:

Ebay may also be under pressure to collect taxes such as VAT or local sales taxes as buyers are not paying them and sellers are not collecting them. We have legislation pending here in the US that would force online sellers to collect the taxes due and submit them to the state the buyer is located in. Can you imagine how much it would impact ebay's business if they were suddenly forced offline in Europe or anywhere else for failure to enforce the taxes collected for sale of goods?

That will never happen unless a majority of the countries agree on it. You cannot change how international trade functions by simply making a US law. The legislation you are talking about could only happen within the 50 states of the US.

That's not what I'm saying. Ebay may also be under pressure from the EU and other countries to see to it that taxes are being collected and submitted to the relevant authorities, not only the US. I was just citing the US as an example. I do not know what other countries are doing to combat the evasion of taxes through online sales.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

However, here's more bad news. Search blocking is another thing, but shipment blocking (like what I experienced when trying to buy D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight Games) will prevent you to buy the game, even though you can find the game by circumventing search blocking. The seller cannot do anything either, since shipment blocking prevents any transaction to be made, even though you and the seller agree to do business with each other.

The only thing to circumvent shipment blocking is to buy the game outside ebay, like what I did by buying D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight's online store instead of through ebay.

OR you can do what i did. Tired of losing stuff that way i set a UK shipping address. When i want something that is UK only i contact the seller. If he agrees to send, i change my primary address and bid. If i'm the winner it's just a matter of ask him for an updated invoice for my real address (Portugal). Works like a charm.

If eBay restricting music CD, games, and books shipping, I think eBay don't want irresponsible buyers buying this to avoid piracy. Is it true?

sprcorreia wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

However, here's more bad news. Search blocking is another thing, but shipment blocking (like what I experienced when trying to buy D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight Games) will prevent you to buy the game, even though you can find the game by circumventing search blocking. The seller cannot do anything either, since shipment blocking prevents any transaction to be made, even though you and the seller agree to do business with each other.

The only thing to circumvent shipment blocking is to buy the game outside ebay, like what I did by buying D.R.A.G.O.N Force from Noble Knight's online store instead of through ebay.

OR you can do what i did. Tired of losing stuff that way i set a UK shipping address. When i want something that is UK only i contact the seller. If he agrees to send, i change my primary address and bid. If i'm the winner it's just a matter of ask him for an updated invoice for my real address (Portugal). Works like a charm.

Huh? Is it possible do that? I thought S/H address should match Credit Card billing address. Whose address are you using in the UK, by the way?

Nonetheless, a very interesting tip, thanks. 😁

northernosprey02 wrote:

If eBay restricting music CD, games, and books shipping, I think eBay don't want irresponsible buyers buying this to avoid piracy. Is it true?

Except the block does not apply to sellers who opt-in for the GSP program, which is hideously expensive from what I heard.