I have just found out from eBay today, after 3 email queries, why I can't see cars for sale. Turns out Americans must be protected from us foreigners! Here's the latest response.....

Dear Grant,
Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Service about not getting results for vehicles on eBay. I certainly see how disappointing this can be. My name is Catrina and I’m happy to assist you with this today.

Grant, at this time, the vehicles listed on eBay are primarily sold by sellers in the United States and Canada. Due to the nature of purchasing a vehicle, most of these sellers do not have the means to transport vehicles internationally. This is because transporting a vehicle can be very expensive, and we may not have very many eBay vehicle sellers in your country. In addition, we have special protection policies that cover vehicle sales, called eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection. This protection policy is only able to cover transactions that occur in the United States and Canada. You can view this in our Vehicle Purchase Protection policy here: http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/buy...ndex.html#elig

Because of these factors, we've decided to exclude vehicles from eBay search results for our international buyers in order to prevent any bad buying experiences. We wouldn't want our buyers and sellers to enter into a transaction that may be difficult, or may expose them to unnecessary risks.

Like I said, I know this can be disappointing, however, please be assured that we only have the best interest of our members in mind when we made this decision to no longer make available the vehicles listed on the site to our international buyers.
I appreciate your understanding Grant.
Thank you for choosing eBay! We value your business.


Sincerely,
Catrina Ro.
eBay Customer Service

I guess buying two cars, nearly 150 positive feedback, no negative, and 12 years of membership count for nothing if you're a Kiwi. It would have been nice to have some warning as well.
And you guys should know your available market when selling has now shrunk considerably.

 

use a VPN to a city in the US

 

That's disappointing.
I've sold several cars overseas hassle free.

eBay seems to create more policies to turn away users, not what it once was in it's hay day.

 

To easy to fix that problem, just go straight to eBay.com. I do it all the time and your normal log in works on any of the eBay sites.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've gone with a proxy server with an American IP address. Now I can see Cars and Trucks. It seems Australia is unaffected, but New Zealand is treated the same as any other country. Probably because we don't have an eBay New Zealand. Our equivalent is www.trademe.co.nz . eBay are a bunch of arrogant jerks in my opinion.

 

Wow, I would not have expected Ebay to do that. That just looses them money. It doesn't really make sense as all people choose whether they buy a car or not.

 

Worse than that, it could mean lower prices for our C3's and no foreign money coming in to the US.

 

Here's my latest tirade to Fleabay........

I'm a New Zealander.
In New Zealand, we speak English. We watch American TV shows. We listen to American music. The No1 song on the Billboard Top 100 ids by a 16 year old New Zealander. Up until WW2, there were more American cars sold here than any other nationality. Speaking of wars, we've been there with the US in all of them. We're allies. So, how is it fair that we get treated so unjustly by eBay when it comes to being able to look at, let alone buy cars? We aren't a middle east country. We don't have a reputation as scammers. Why discriminate against us?
Then there's the economic impact.
While America struggles with debt, you're busy turning away cashed up Kiwis wanting their dream car, and believe me, there's plenty of us. Not to mention driving prices down for your members because of reduced competition. Essentially, you're unAmerican. And why is this policy change nowhere to be seen? Is it even lawful? I have received no notification at all from eBay, other than being told after my THIRD attempt at finding out why from you. Please show me the exact wording in the agreement I have with eBay that says you have the right to do what you have done.
Regards
Grant Magrath

 

Ebay is in it to make money. You can bet there is a legal reason for that policy. Make no mistake they will take your money if AT ALL possible.

yep there's lots of ways to skin the cat. keep using the proxie. I use a VPN all the time.

 

Actually it saves them money.

Bingo. The eBay bean counters have told the big wigs they actually save legal hassles (.i.e., fees and costs) by not selling to certain areas.