I live in Denmark. Even though I have bought used LP's and used photo gear from the U.S. via eBay, I am blocked from bidding on used watches from eBay and get this message:


I have been in contact with eBay customer service, to no avail. They state:

"Dear ...
Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Service. I understand that you would like to know why you are prevented to bid on this Omega watch (323853824275). I know that this can really be confusing in your part. So rest assured that I will help you in resolving this matter.
After a careful investigation, I trust that you got this error message “We are sorry, but the item you selected may not be purchased due to seller shipping restrictions or due to country-specific import/export or other relevant restrictions.”
The reason why you were getting this error message when you tried to bid on the item is because we have detected that the item can’t be shipped to your country and could possibly just be placed on hold or could be returned back to the seller when it arrives in your local Customs.
And because of this, we have placed the prompt right before you complete your bid to avoid you from winning the item because we don’t want you to go through such a hassle of waiting for the item when in the end, it will just be stuck in customs and you won’t just successfully receive it. We don’t want to give you false expectations.
Please understand that when we identify a certain transaction that may cause problems in international shipping policies, we automatically prompt this message right before you complete your transaction or bid.
As much as we would like to have this item shipped to you, for fair international trading we must follow each and every import and customs rules laid out by different countries and your country is included. This is part of our effort to improve the global buying experience on eBay. At the same time, to ensure that buyer’s like you won’t have false expectation that you’ll get the item."

Do any other non-US citizens get this message from eBay? I am at loss to explain why eBay regards danish customs this way. It is really a shame, as the U.S. market is so extensive.

 

My first thought was the seller had chosen not to ship outside the US. They can do this if they choose. But the statement from EBay suggests it was their decision based on problems with importing watches into Denmark. That’s a new one to me. Perhaps Danish customs have started to charge more duty on imported watches and buyers have been refusing to accept, leading to more returns to sellers in the U.S. and claims for refunds? If EBay were getting a lot of complaints about this from sellers, I could see them imposing a policy like this.

 

It applies to all watches shipped via the Global Shipping Program. I have been test bidding the last week, and consistently got rejected.
The danish duty rates are unchanged, but the actual procedure may have been tightened. I don't have any knowledge of this. But it is depressing..

 

Also the same for uk bidders bidding on watches from the USA, it must cost US sellers millions in lost bids every year.

 

The internet marketplaces are no longer the “Wild West” they once were. Was just a matter of time for various government and regulatory entities to catch up.

 

Two biddings tested, one came through the other one don´t.

The only difference i could see is that seller N°1 had "europe" as possible destination.
Seller N°2 had all countrys single listed with "germany" for example but without "europe" and i live in germany.

From seller N° 2 i received the same message as you.

 

This just happened to me with UK and Italian bidders. Ebay Global shipping indicated that these countries were ok to ship to.

 

This is ebay's new "Americans first" strategy. Since many US collectors have been outbid by Europeans, ebay has chosen to protect the US collectors. As a result, European customers are only able to bid if they have a legit adress in the US.

 

Really? I find this very hard to believe. eBay benefits from higher sales prices, as do the sellers.

 

So, does Ebay UK have a UK first policy? Ebay France, Ebay Canada, Ebay AU so on and so on....???
I agree, I am not buying it. Pardon the pun.

 

I am sure this all has to do with the pending US acquisition of Greenland which is currently an autonomous Danish territory:
https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...s-about-possibility-of-us-acquiring-greenland

 

It must be the sellers shipping setting. I'm Scandinavian and can bid on U.S. auctions. A lot of "fake news" in this thread...

 

I live in Switzerland and have had the same "problem" on occasions and I am quite sure it is because of the *** Global Shipping Program and the **** sellers who use it.
The sellers who use it are too dumb and/or too lazy to put a foreign address on a parcel or enveloppe themselves and don't care about the higher cost and restricted bidding the program causes to the buyer.
There are some companies in the US that offer a send on service so you seem have a US address like usa2me or reship, but I've never tried them and don't really want to either.

 

The real news is that the Global Shipping Program prevents me - and others - from bidding. Where do you live?

 

This is an interesting thread. It’s the first time I even heard of the EBay Global Shipping Program. I do my own shipping overseas — it’s not that onerous. Don’t think I’ll use it after hearing about these issues.

 

This sounds like crap to me. Since when did ebay protect anyone except eBay.

 

The seller can and must do his preferred settings when using the program. Just read the enclosed file...

 

Gimme a break.
The average hillbilly that can't be bothered to execute the immense task of getting a postage stamp other than the standard one is not going to try and change the preferences.

 

Two reasons to not sell overseas.
Bid increment: ie why bother shipping to Denmark when the buyer only outbid the American buyer by $1.

Return: Ebay makes the seller pay for return shipping if the buyer says the item is not as described. Does not matter whether true or not, the seller gets screwed, and has to pay for the return.

 

Denmark, Swiss and other European entities have not been bought by the US yet.
So to force their hand US Erbayers are cutting them off.