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Thread: Possibility of eBay being no longer available to Australia

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  1. #1
    FatalityPitt Guest

    Default Possibility of eBay being no longer available to Australia

    Basically, there's talk about eBay geo-blocking Australia because of proposed changes to GST to protect local retailers (Harvey Norman, etc). The articles below might explain this better than I can.

    Seibertron: https://www.seibertron.com/transform...stralia/37826/
    Yahoo!: https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/au...055331074.html

    My first thoughts; eBay is the first place I go if I want Takara Transformers (Legends, Masterpieces, etc), original G1 toys/parts, and anything else I can't find on retail. Without eBay, my options are severely limited. Also, instead of waiting for my birthday in August, I might need to buy that LG32 Chromedome I've been eyeing, before July if this geo-block is confirmed (which would be the worse case scenario)..

    Just thought I'd share, and see what others think. Cheers.

  2. #2
    FatalityPitt Guest

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    Ok, I just read into it a bit more. We'll still have access to eBay.com.au where we can buy/sell locally, but we might get blocked from buying from overseas sellers... Eh, it'd still suck.

  3. #3
    hYpNoS is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    That would suck massively, sure it'd limit the amount of ko's I might accidentally buy from ebay but there are so many things we simply cannot access in this country (from a collectors perspective), and THEN there is the cost.

    On the flip side, Australians are certainly gonna be getting more money out of us...not that I'm ever gonna step foot into Harvey Norman ever again

  4. #4
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    Harvey is a sook. I can understand about the whole "buying locally", absolutely. But you are still limiting the given right we have to purchase overseas. From that stand point, its wrong!
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    eBay is only doing this so that they don't have to pay the AU government tax for items other people sold.
    Which is fair enough, the only other option eBay would have is to charge foreign sellers a tax if they sold to Aussies, which we know would never be acceptable, most of the US eBay stores don't even like posting overseas and over charge us on postage so a seller fee imposed on those that sell to Aussies wouldn't go over well.

    Thing is this move isn't about buying locally or keeping money in Australia, it's about Gerry Harvey living in the past and thinking he can keep excessively charging. He hates the fact that we can get things cheaper elsewhere but rather then lift his game and stop ripping us off he's instead chucked a tanty and pressured the government into this draconian scheme thinking that we'll just turn around and buy from him.

    Jokes on him though because even if he stops us buying from overseas (which he cant, we'll just need to resort to shipping forwarders and VPNs like we used to) most of us STILL wouldnt buy from Hardly Normal as we can get cheaper items then his from other local retailers. Or what, will he next try to get rid of Kmart, JB Hi-Fi and other retailers that charge less for the same items?

    Also I posted about this topic HERE earlier as it's related, so if you want more info might be worthwhile checking that thread

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    How on Earth do they expect to enforce this? If you block sites at the ISP level then there's VPNs. If you have Customs enforce it, well good luck getting the already under performing Customs to do anything.

  7. #7
    FatalityPitt Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkHyren View Post

    Also I posted about this topic HERE earlier as it's related, so if you want more info might be worthwhile checking that thread
    Ah sorry, I didn't notice this was mentioned in another thread. I would have commented there instead.

    If the proposed laws go through, and eBay end up geo-blocking us; it'd wouldn't just be outrageously stupid, but it won't achieve anything for anyone.

    I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'd only buy stuff from eBay if I can't find them locally, like action figures and novelty items. Such items aren't mainstream, nor are they produced in Australia (they're rarely available here). The businesses this GST change is trying to protect, people like Harvey Norman etc, complain about overseas competitors stealing business from them - BUT there is no competition! These guys (i.e. Harvey Norman) don't sell action figures or the stuff I usually get from eBay! They're effectively throwing the baby out with the bath water. Also, Harvey Norman sells furniture and white goods'; other bricks and mortar stores sell those too. Heck, I even bought my TV from Aldi!

    I also hope eBay isn't totally serious about this geo-block. If it does happen, I might need to learn how to order from places like RobotKingdom.com.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by CHILENO20 View Post
    Harvey is a sook. I can understand about the whole "buying locally", absolutely. But you are still limiting the given right we have to purchase overseas. From that stand point, its wrong!
    Harvey doesn't like competition, and if you've ever tried ecommerce sites of local retailers, you see they have reduced product ranges. I would buy local (even pay more) if they had the stock I want
    On the lookout for MISB Headmaster Highbrow, Takara or Hasbro. I'm sure I could make you a sweet deal!

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    Quote Originally Posted by reillyd View Post
    I would buy local (even pay more) if they had the stock I want
    Yep, totally agree
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