How can I contact a Canadian seller who blocks Oz?

[five_eyes]

I would like to ask a Canadian seller if I can bid on one of his Auctions.

His listing says he only posts to Canada & the USA.

When I have tried to send an ebay message to ask if he will post to Oz, all I get is an ebay message telling me he does not accept questions.

The stupid part is that I have bought from him a year ago, when he did ship to Oz.

I tried to bid but it would not accept my bid.

I have a saved search set up and this is the first time in over 2 years that this item has been listed anywhere worldwide on ebay.

It is so frustrating because I am sure he would be happy for me to bid, if only I could get a message through to him!

Any bright ideas from the wizards here would be appreciated.

Ta,

[digital*ghost]

OK - great work around.

But I have to say that I hate when buyers contact me with 'an offer' when I do not have it in my listing. I find it embarrassing to have to reply in the negative, and I should not be made to feel that way.

By the same token - if any seller has 'blocked' overseas or various countries to sell (for what ever reason they choose) why should they be put in the position of having to explain they do not want to do it. Or worse, feel they should oblige and then have to go to all the effort of working out postage, times etc.

Sorry, I think it is rude. eBay has these options in place for sellers to use, why do some think it is acceptable so long as you can 'work around it'X-(

I am making a lot of friends today 😐

I agree with you as well, and it's the one thing stopping me from contacting a US seller to effectively beg them to let me buy an item they have listed (it's a seasonal thing released several years ago and I bought it for a relative - unfortunately it was lost and due to it's sentimental value, I'd really like to replace it).

This seller is the only one online that still has one, and I'd be prepared to pay for any postage service they felt comfortable with if it was an issue of seller protection etc, but at the end of the day, I feel sending a message to that effect would be intrusive and rude, so if I end up buying it at all, I will probably go with a forwarding service. 

[arnl7178]

5 minutes before the auction ended* it should have read.

[coast_golf]

There are eBay buying services which cater for this very situation. I doubt if I'm allowed to name names on here but a Google search should reveal all. It will come at some cost of course but if the item really is that rare I doubt you'll mind parting with a few bucks 🙂

[thesoulyearns]

Might be worth a try logging into eBay.ca (if there is one, or eBay.com) and trying to send him a message from there.

Or if you know any other Canadian sellers that you're on good terms with, you can ask them to forward your message on.

[thecatspjs]

I have my blocks in place too:- but if someone wants to make me an offer I can't refuse from other lands go for it ..... 😛

As another poster said, you can contact them by using contact a member anyway.

[thecatspjs]

The OP has indicated too, that they have purchased from this seller before. 

Gosh I get offers all the time ~ sometimes I take up and sometimes I don't ~I post to a small number of countries on request.  More generally many times if the offer relates to price, the buyer buys it anyway. 

[five_eyes]

Thanks to all for your input.

I have tried all the various methods above (except the iphone one which is a no go as my phone is only a phone).  

I have politely asked to bid on maybe a dozen items where I have been blocked in all the years I have been on ebay.  All bar one were happy to have me bid and I won the majority of those auctions.

I do accept that possible problems arising from the abysmal postage service from Canada to most everywhere else may be the reason for the seller to block all but Canadians & Americans from bidding.

I just have the feeling that he would really be most happy for me to bid, if only I could let him know I want to and I would be happy to pay for express air mail as the item is a watch par.t

I will try messaging another Canadian seller that I have bought from and see if they could get my seller to message me.

Only thing is, whether ebay will let that message go through as I will need to put my email address in it and they now seem to stop anybody having an email addy in a message.

Thanks to all for taking the time to respond.

[digital*ghost]

I have all the blocks I want to have in place, too; but I don't prevent blocked bidders from being able to message me via listings etc. If a seller does, it's a safe bet it's because they don't want to be contacted by bidders they have already indicated they don't want to sell to.

[thecatspjs]

No - its not - my post 15 outlines a couple of reasons why, there are a range of others too.

[thesoulyearns]

If it's really rare and you might not see it again, you could always order it from a forwarding company in Canada or the US.