Bill Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I live in Canada and sometimes UK Ebay listings will exclude Canadian buyers. If such listings have something I want to bid on, then 3 times out of four after contacting the seller they will contact Ebay and make it possible for me to bid. However I have recently come across a lsiting of something I am interested in and the listing will not even allow me to contact the seller. So I find myself stuck. Using a UK proxy server does not work (tried it!). So I was wondering if there was such a thing as a UK bidding service? A company that would provide a UK front, let you bid using their identity, and then send on the merchandise if successful. (Or some other solution I am as yet missing?) If anyone can help with this I would be most grateful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I have a similar problem with eBay Australia. As a non-Aus resident, I cannot bid on "R"-class 4-6-4 kits :-( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 There's a free product you can install called ExpatShield, I don't kow if it helps: http://www.expatshield.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 28, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2012 When I've wanted to look at overseas listings I look for the appropriate country's listing. For instance if I Google 'ebay.de' I can view the German listings. You can then save any items of interest on your watch list and then contact the vendor to see if they will be willing to send items overseas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The contact setting is seperate from the country setting. If the seller has contact turned off you cannot contact them no matter where you are or which local eBay site you use Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart-AU Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Hi.. I just ask someone in the forum to bid for me, set the price and pay all the cost. Have done this a few times with no problems. If you never ask you will never know. Stuart-AU Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Using a UK proxy server does not work (tried it!). Find this odd. It should work as there is no other way that eBay can tell who or where you are. That is assuming you have set up an account and have the correct set of member cookies for the ebay.co.uk - Of course they may have hidden your personal details in one of the many tracker cookies but they can be cleared, or they may go searching for other domain member cookies (clearing them on a regular basis might be a pain). But there is no way eBay can determine where you are from unless you let them know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Thanks Kenton - but they have you over a barrel - in order to bid you need to log in and the moment you do they know where you are domiciled. The alternative would be for me to manufacture a British I.D. but having no longer having an address across the pond makes it impossible! I think I shall have to take Stuart-AU's advice and offer someone modest recompense to someone to bid for me. The recompense would be important as there is a lot of "going out of one's way" should you successfully bid on behalf of another - bidding, receiving parcel, sending it on etc... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler Fan Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 It is a pity sellers will not go to the trouble of completing the little green label. They could all be doing their part in the Recovery by Exporting. I think the bar code on the Customs label can be used for tracking. There are a lot of UK model railway enthusiasts elsewhere in the World who pay good prices even for common items, because they are difficult to obtain otherwise. eBay catch where you are with your initial server when you log on. It is not possible to open an account out of your own country. At some point you have to sign on and disclose the cookie on your PC, to buy and sell. I PM to ask to bid, and it generally works with those who know the ropes of eBay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lofty1966 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I ran into this time and time again. Even if you could bypass the system the seller is still apt to cancel your bid as they have stated "No overseas bidding" and the moment they see your home address you're screwed. To combat this , I now move my primary address back and forth between my home Canadian address and my Mum's place back in the UK. Stuff gets shipped to my Mum , then she sends it onto me and I paypal her the cash for the shipping. Keeps the "old girl" on her toes.....bless her !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Ava_Hay Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I ran into this time and time again. Even if you could bypass the system the seller is still apt to cancel your bid as they have stated "No overseas bidding" and the moment they see your home address you're screwed. If you list with 'no overseas bidding' it disables the post option so you can't check out and the seller can charge more or less what they like for postage. EBay recommend 'signed for' for overseas listings and in some places that can delay delivery for a month. Although it is true that overseas bids can be greater than home bidders for obvious reasons, it is also true that postage costs are close to astronomic now for heavy or awkward parcels. This can waste a great deal of time. Most UK sellers don't bother to list International these days as the extra bid is rarely worth the extra effort. it seems that sometimes one can short circuit the ban by actually logging on to the E Bay country site and bidding away. I have recently had two bids of less than two pounds on an item, one from Italy that bombed when the postage was quoted and the second bid was from the USA. The item was listed as 'no international' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted December 5, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2012 The easiest way around these situations is to locate a friend within a country to which the seller will mail the item. How you cover the costs is then between you and said friend. Remember that all feedback will also be posted to or from the friend's account and not yours, Many sellers prefer not to deal with the vagaries of international post while others may not wish to become involved in any potential tax liability disputes. I can understand auctions being closed to international bidders frustrsating though it is. Australian buyers for example have a right to return goods which may be over and above the provisions in other countries under which sellers might not be keen on taking back goods. I believe eBay can locate your computer (or at least the location of your web server) via your IP address and can therefore apply a block even if, for example, you live in Australia and register with the UK site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lofty1966 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I believe eBay can locate your computer (or at least the location of your web server) via your IP address and can therefore apply a block even if, for example, you live in Australia and register with the UK site. The only way to "cheat" is to have a mailing address in the country it is advertised on your ebay addresses book and to switch it to that before you bid. Been there ,seen it, done it ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted December 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2012 I often switch between UK and Ireland because of this. I use either my own address in Cork, or my Mum's in Lisburn, Co. Antrim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.