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I've occasionally run across European online retailers while looking to buy something online and sometimes the prices are even attractive before you see what th

I've occasionally run across European online retailers while looking to buy something online and sometimes the prices are even attractive before you see what the shipping costs. They've never flat out told me "You can't order from here because you're in the US." Cell phones and videos have service and licensing problems that physical goods don't run into, so geographic limits on those is less surprising.

ACow_Adonis 8y ago
Its not that you "can't order from amazon". Its that there's a geo-blocked/redirected domain which australians will be shown which adjusts prices and collect sales tax. As an Australian, being geoblocked and having prices dynamically changed/adjusted based upon my IP address is extremely old-hat since half the internet already does it...GST or not... Edit: although, as an australian, there ARE a whole host of services/content we're not supposed to be able to see because we're australian due to blocking in our country. Its why so many of us use VPN's and dropship services and the like...
- andai 8y ago
  Moving to Australia soon, what's the blocking like?
  - rosege 8y ago
    Not too bad now but after 1 July then will probably be a lot worse
mieseratte 8y ago
> Cell phones and videos have service and licensing problems that physical goods don't run into, so geographic limits on those is less surprising. My personal favorite is when there is geo-restricted licensing on some content, and the content isn't available in my region so I effectively can't buy something even though I want to. That I frequently have to find an obscure media seller in a foreign country, without enforced geo-restrictions to pay is asinine.
mikestew 8y ago
They've never flat out told me "You can't order from here because you're in the US." I've been told that, for something as simple as an attached room for an RV/caravan awning. Fiamma product, can't find it in the U. S. "Shipping costs be damned, send me one of those!" And they flat out said they wouldn't. Prolly customs paperwork or something, that they didn't want to do (or didn't know how).

ACow_Adonis 8y ago

Its not that you "can't order from amazon". Its that there's a geo-blocked/redirected domain which australians will be shown which adjusts prices and collect sales tax. As an Australian, being geoblocked and having prices dynamically changed/adjusted based upon my IP address is extremely old-hat since half the internet already does it...GST or not... Edit: although, as an australian, there ARE a whole host of services/content we're not supposed to be able to see because we're australian due to blocking in our country. Its why so many of us use VPN's and dropship services and the like...

andai 8y ago
Moving to Australia soon, what's the blocking like?
- rosege 8y ago
  Not too bad now but after 1 July then will probably be a lot worse

mieseratte 8y ago

> Cell phones and videos have service and licensing problems that physical goods don't run into, so geographic limits on those is less surprising. My personal favorite is when there is geo-restricted licensing on some content, and the content isn't available in my region so I effectively can't buy something even though I want to. That I frequently have to find an obscure media seller in a foreign country, without enforced geo-restrictions to pay is asinine.

mikestew 8y ago

They've never flat out told me "You can't order from here because you're in the US." I've been told that, for something as simple as an attached room for an RV/caravan awning. Fiamma product, can't find it in the U. S. "Shipping costs be damned, send me one of those!" And they flat out said they wouldn't. Prolly customs paperwork or something, that they didn't want to do (or didn't know how).