h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here is something that has vexed me for a while: maybe somebody here can give me some answers as to why?

Occasionally I'm seized by a desire to purchase something from abroad. Three times now I've discovered that it is next to impossible to purchase something from within the U.S and have it sent abroad to the UK.

What I want to know is why?

Three examples:
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Itunes.
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Occasionally I'll try and download a track or an album from itunes - the UK store. and I'll find that said CD or track is unavailable (for instance the soundtrack from Hitchhiker's Movie - just search for Joby Talbot you'll find it's not listed) However, switch over to the US site and the album *is* available. Why the disparity is beyond me , if it's in one catalogue it ought to be in another, but anyway, try to download a song from the US store, and you're told to register, and you will be rejected on the grounds that your payment method is not registered in the U.S.
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Now I've in the past assumed that this is down to some sort of tax law. i.e the cost of downloading a CD from the US site would negate some sort of tax/duty or VAT that we pay on purchasing music on a CD format from a shop or that's built in to the payment on the UK iTunes.


So frustrating but not enough to make get me thinking yet.


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Cracker Barell.
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Crackerbarell are a chain of restaurants in the US who as a side-industry sell amongst other things, games and rocking chairs.

Now I like rocking chairs - but does their website ship overseas? no - it is restricted to the US and Canada only.

I had assumed when I was there that the weight of posting a rocking chair back home would make it too exorbitantly expensive so didn't bother. However a $3 peg game caught my eye and I bought that in store and bought it home with me in my suitcase. After showing it to some relatives back home, who each expressed a desire to have one, we checked the crackerbarell website and even this game was not permitted to be sold abroad - only within the US and Canada.
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So weight it seems is not the issue.

Which brings me to the last example...


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Linen N Things
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On this same holiday I bought some rather fine bedding sheets from a chain retail store called Linen n Things.

But I didn't afford all that I wanted so was interested in the idea of buying online and having the stuff sent to me.

I sent a query off to LnT Customer Services asking if they shipped abroad a la Amazon.com.

and this is the reply I got - tell me what you make of it, becuase it's confusing the hell out of me:

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Dear Sir,

Unfortunately due to restrictions set by the manufacturers of the products we sell, we are not permitted to ship merchandise to addresses out of the United States. In addition, we cannot accept payment with an international credit card, or from credit cards with billing addresses outside of the United states.

We do not have information on retailers outside of the United States.

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I had rather naively assumed that with globalisation, and enough money, one could buy pretty much anything from anywhere.

I wasn't aware that American markets were so guarded.

and what then makes Amazon.com so special?

Is a special licence that they hold or something? If so, why don't other business who want to grow their market get said licence? I would have thought it would be in their interest.


Clive.

P.S - I've crossposted this in Ask. I believe in diversity of replies.

Funny you should mention Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Enlight-Baseball-Mogul-2008/dp/B000OU69NS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2353644-9272122?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1176653888&sr=8-1

"Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues."

I've come across the version with needing a US based drecit card before - strangely enough at a store that did not mention a limitation on ship-to addresses For a software download (something entirely safe in relation to the limitations teh US places on exports due to safety), it's a turn down - as you say, globalisation seems not to have hit US companies enough to make them realise that it might mean more customers for the products...

Consensus thus far across the two threads seems to be that US companies just aren't interested (I'm not wholly convinced of that but we'll see...) - but that reply from LNT makes it appear that there is some rule at work "were not allowed" they say.

Well says who? I mean if i want to buy something why on Earth can't I provided I'm willing to pay?

Clive, without knowing the specifics, one possible reason could be that the manufacturers have distribution deals with various distributors. For example Company A is licensed to sell Widget X within the USA, but only Company B is licensed to sell it in the UK.

and if there's no company B, then no one outside the US can buy the widget.

Hmmm...seems something over an oversight if you ask me.

I'm only guessing but I'm willing to bet it has something to do with a Trade Agreement. Having butted my head repeatedly against the leviathon NAFTA (I'm in Canuckistan) and witnessed first hand the joke that is the Softwood Lumber Deal, I would guess that some bureaucrat somewhere made such transactions difficult.

It reminds me of the first year or two after 9/11 on eBay where many USAians proudly exclaimed they would sell and buy exclusively in the US, that is until they realised that no where near as much money was changing hands. I've now seen listings that list countries they will sell to as something along the lines of *USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia* I guess Africans and South Americans have to shop elsewhere?

By the way, was the linen their 1000 count sheets? (They have a store here.)

not sure what that means..but not Damask in merlot. very nice. and waaay cheaper than to buy comparable over here (if you subvtract the cost of the air fare that got me there in the first palce )

My latest secret addiction is 1,000 thread count linen or cotton sheets (when I can find them on sale).

http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2541968&cp=1331605.1331625.1385346&parentPage=family

Veddy noice.

You can't count the air fare! That was just to allow you to experience new food and alcoholic bevereages!

I do feel your pain in a round about way, though. BBC will not sell many of it's DVDs to us Colonials.

They don't? How bizarre. Again you'd think they'd want to? Then again I've actually suffered through the tepid dribble of BBC America, so perhaps the same geniuses pull double-shifts on international dvd sales too?

>>I guess Africans and South Americans have to shop elsewhere?<<

Apparently.

Of course, being a colonial country that separated peacefully, we do have a few advantages over the sleeping giant to the south..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2005/10/18/26079.shtml

I sometimes buy shirts from the USAsian branch of Lands End because they do big sizes. However because of import duties the carrier has to collect the import tax. I would hazard a guess that the US vendors cannot be arsed to complete the paper work to comply with export / import regulations.

I was also involved a few ago with a big project that entailed exporting large lumps of Oilfield equipment from the US. What a nightmare compared to dealing with European countries, geared up for export.

In the case of the first two it's almost certainly a copyright/licencing issue.

Some years ago there was a huge hole blown in the UK comic market because the licensees for as aseries of Japanese titles realised that the titles were being distributed throughout Europe which wasn't covered by the licencing agreement signed by the US publishers/distributors. (The indirect result of that arguemnt was the huge shelves of pocket sized manga reprints you now find in most UK bookstores.)

Any form of goods is subject to that sort of wrangle, and you'd be suprised how often it crops up.

It doesn't seem to arise when buying software etc on the internet. The Americans have it sorted so that your credit/debit card will achieve immediate download.

Some years ago ( which might be invalid now due to legal changes ) I could easily pay for motorcycle gear, and fishing reels , through US catalogues. The goods were shipped into the UK and I was billed by HM Customs and Excise for any duty due.

So it must come down to licencing agreements as Blues says, or lack of awareness about global trading on behalf of some US firms.

Novo
2

Don't think its just the US.

There was an incident a while back where Sony sued a Hong-Kong based company called Lik-Sang, which sold Asian goods to overseas customers. Sony accused them of breaching their copyrights by selling games and consoles in countries where they hadn't been released. Targetted by lawsuits in multiple companies, Lik-Sang closed down due to legal costs.

Although of course its a little bit different - I'm pretty sure you can't copyright linen, unless you have a poem written on it or something.

But basically, import taxes are fiddly outside the EU, international manufacturers are jealous of the large profit margins they can make in some regions, and have enough influence to make things different for you right now.