Restrictive Sales Practices on the Web?

Ed Almos asks: "I don't know about other Slashdot readers, who happen to live outside the US, but I'm in Hungary, and am finding it more and more difficult to purchase goods and services over the web. The sites are there, the money is in my account, but the sites won't sell me anything! Can someone come up with a logical reason for these policies? Last time I checked I was using the WORLD Wide Web, and there seems little point wasting bandwidth to post your website to the world when only those living in the USA can buy and/or use the product. Then again, is this yet another example of the Internet and the rest of the world becoming more and more centered on the continental USA? The final irony? I'm originally from Maine. These folk won't even sell to one of their own!"

"Here are a few examples:

IBM, Apple and Dell operate web stores that sell almost their entire range of kit, they only ship to the USA. Power Notebooks have the same policy but cite different reasons (see below). Some manufacturers have local country websites but these offer a restricted range compared to the main site.

Apple has their new iTunes system. As I am outside the USA they will not let me logon to the system.

Amazon.com are willing to sell me books but nothing else.

The reasons for this policy range from the (almost) reasonable to the downright silly. Amazon cite difficulties with warranty returns as their reason and while most of the rest won't tell me why they don't want my business Power Notebooks told me that recent anti-terrorist legislation stops them from exporting equipment. Quite why they cannot export a notebook originally manufactured in the Far East is beyond me.

Getting the kit to me in Hungary is no problem either. FedEx and UPS have local offices and if that fails there is always the Hungarian Postal Service. Shipping time from the USA can be as short as two working days, I know this because my company obtains spares from the USA for our products."

Comments

Hungary is a beautiful country

[ObviousGuy]

Get off the web and learn how to paint. The countryside is beckoning.

Re:"Can't be bothered..."

[JamMasterJGorilla]

Uh, check the postal success in countries outside the US and you'll get a good understanding of why they won't ship to you. It took 3 months for me to ship a package the size of a standard brick from Turkey, and it wasn't even heroin packed inside of camel dung.....

From Maine, you say?

[Hercynium]

Well, theyah's yah prahblem... The site sez yah cahn't get theyah frahm heah...

</voice>

On second thought, I'm from Massachusetts... Ever since you became your own state, we just regard Maine as another country... or worse yet, part of Canadah. j/k ;-) (if you can't be intellegent, at least try to be funny, that's what they say, right?)

The real reason

[waikerie]

No one in the US can find Hungary on a map.

Re:The real reason

[Niadh]

Do you know where Indiana is? Can you find it on a map without googling? What is its capital? What about imports and exports? Crops? Climate? Terrain? Population?

No you say? Why is this relevant?

Indiana is bigger then Hungary. It's GSP(Gross State Product) is $190 billion compared to Hungary's $134.7 billion. And Indiana has 4 million less people. (just to name 3 reasons)

And it is just a State.

Why is it so important to you for Americans to know where every 2nd and 3rd world country is? I'm sure you couldn't name every country out there, much less point them all out.

*sources*
http://www.in.gov/doc/compare/
http: //www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/prin t/hu.html

Re:The real reason

[corbettw]

"Most get 45 or so and can't think of the rest (there are 50, if you need a hint)."

What?!? 50 states? I thought there were three: California, New York, and Flyover.

Re:tarrifs, trade restrictions, VAT, etc

[daviddennis]

In a beautiful irony, I work for a company called International Laser Group, which remanufacturers laser toner cartridges.

We once dabbled in international commerce (thus the name) but haven't done so in years due to the shipping charges and hassle.

D

Don't Worry, Be Happy

[PingXao]

Department of Homeland Security Chief Patriot Tom Ridge just announced a new push aimed at thwarting economic aid to you-know-who. This glorious new program will result in all financial transactions being monitored and recorded and archived forever. In this way credit card fraud will be stopped. In fact, it's going to be called the War On Credit Card Fraud And Money Laundering. Once appropriate policies are in place in the U.S., other nations of the world will also adopt the same standards. Or else. Recent action by the OECD and the FATF in blacklisting offshore tax havens was just the opening salvo in the War.

So, be Happy! Soon, thanks to the efforts of the patriots at the Department of Homeland Security, the entire WORLD-Wide-Web will be safe for you to reliably conduct credit card transactions. More importantly, it will be safe for merchants to collect their payments and banks to earn their interest. (You didn't really think anyone cared about you, did you?)

And the other one is...

[lpret]

And the other one is Nigeria?

I spoke with Dell regarding this

[egg troll]

A Dell representative explained to me why they don't ship to Hungary. They're answer: "My hovercraft is full of eels."

Hope this helps!

Re:A friend in Romaina advised me NOT to send....

[valkraider]

I send it by US Mail. About 7 to 12 weeks later he recieves them.

We had that same problem in New Mexico.