U.S. EBay Seller Refuses Canucks (France, Mexico, Germany too)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- On eBay, the highest bid wins -- unless the item on sale is a laser printer from CompAtlanta and the bidder happens to be Canadian.

That's what a tax consultant discovered last week when he tried to buy a printer on eBay, but was refused by the vendor when it was discovered he lived in Vancouver.

David Ingram received notification that his winning bid of $24.50 had been canceled, along with this message: "At the present time, we do not ship to, or accept bids from, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany or any other country that does not support the United States in our efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. If you are not with us, you are against us."

Ingram's .ca address sparked the notice from CompAtlanta, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Canada is one of a number of countries that said it would not support an American invasion of Iraq without United Nations' approval.

"I've made a winning bid,'' Ingram said. "To discriminate against me because I'm a Canadian is ridiculous."

Sid Mitchell, CompAtlanta's president, could not be reached for comment. However, an e-mail exchange between Ingram and Mitchell clearly laid out the company's policy: "What part of this listing do you not understand?" Mitchell wrote Ingram. "This item will not be shipped outside the USA, and we do not accept bids from Canadians. Both are plainly stated."

That didn't stop Ingram from trying again over the weekend. He bid for the laser printer a second time, offering $107.50 to avoid being outbid and specifying delivery to an American address. In a separate message, he informed Mitchell that he wanted the printer shipped stateside.

Judging by Mitchell's reply, however, Ingram isn't likely to get his printer from CompAtlanta: "You are obviously trying to get around the fact that you are Canadian," Mitchell wrote to Ingram, "and we will not honor your bid or ship to any location for you."

Ingram said Mitchell lacks a good business reason for not shipping to a Canadian who uses an American address. "If they're going to do that,'' Ingram said, "then they shouldn't sell to the 50 percent of Democrats and the 20 percent of Republicans that aren't supporting the war, either."

CompAtlanta is one of a small number of companies boycotting countries opposed to the war. The German newspaper Deutsche Welle reported late last week that a German shoe-supply manufacturer lost a contract with an American firm over Germany's stance on the war. There have also been reports of American consumers boycotting French wine and cheese.

But the boycotts aren't widespread yet. JoAnn Dupont, a customer service representative with eBay vendor IkeSound.com of Florida, said her company's policy of shipping to Canada and other countries has not changed as a result of the war.

And some eBay vendors selling such items as Saddam Hussein "terrorist hunting licenses" and dart boards will ship them anywhere in the world.

Andre Lemay, a spokesman for the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa, said he wasn't aware of any reverse boycott. Nor did he believe such a boycott would be an issue, since Canada and the United States remain each others' two largest trading partners. "We still believe our relationship with the U.S. is good -- in fact, enviable,'' he said.

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said CompAtlanta was the only eBay merchant he knew of that is boycotting buyers for reasons related to the war. He said sellers can decide with whom they want to do business, but eBay frowns on posting overtly political messages. Pursglove said eBay ordered CompAtlanta to remove the auction item and to modify its message to bidders from Canada, Mexico, France and Germany.

But CompAtlanta's message is still more or less intact, which incenses Ingram. He says he plans to pursue the matter with eBay.

He may also take it up in person with CompAtlanta. If he doesn't receive his printer before a scheduled trip south of the border later in the fall, Ingram says he'll pay the computer vendor a visit.

"If they don't send it,'' he said, "sometime in September or October I will park outside their store with a sign saying they discriminate against Canadians."

"i agree that the canadian constitution lacks any restraints on prime ministerial power. but this isn't limited to any particular regime and wasn't corrected by any election."

That hits the nail right on the head.

Although simply electing another party to power will not by itself change that, there is hope that we can elect a party that has the will to change that. I don't see the Liberals or PC's ever having that will, they are part of the old system and love and protect it as it serves them so well.

The only other options to changing that are rather messy to put it mildly.

seems some of the american posters actually know a thing or two about canadian politics.... let's not all start blushing eh... fair enough it's nice to read posts from people who actually have a grasp of reality in canada.

kudos to ralph klein (premier of alberta) for speaking up about how the liberal government has handled the iraq situation. it's certainly not the place of the canadian government to criticize a foreign government.

and the american ambassador was right to remind us of this fact. voicing the bush regime's displeasure personally towards the canadian business community was a polite way of returning the favour... i doubt canadians will suffer much really... rather the bush regime is sending a message that they are just as capable of delivering a low blow and sending a shudder of doubt thru the business community... definitely more fodder for the opposition to embarass the government

but let's not forget canada is already supporting the war on terrorism actions in afghanistan. and we're already stretched pretty thin. not to mention the fact canada barely recieved mention for our support of america during your time of trouble 9/11 and supporting the invasion of afghanistan.

maybe we're waiting for the bush regime to recognize canadian rights under our joint free trade agreement, and lift the sanctions on canadian lumber before we support yet another unilateral illegal action by the bush regime out of brotherly love.

it's not that canadians are hiding from their responsibilities behind a facade of morality... only as far as we are concerned... we have yet to get any signal from the bush regime that his unilateral behaviour is reserved for terrorists, thugs and dictators, and they will come to respect existing agreements with peace loving, democratic neighbours

Unfortunately, checking that option (to restrict sales to US only) does NOT keep people registered in other countries from bidding. You'd think eBay would offer better (or any) filters to keep certain bidders from bidding, but they don't. You can block some bidders by name, but since you can get a new account in minutes, that's not all that helpful.

So in this case the seller has to refuse the bidder and deal with offering it to the second bidder, or relisting, or whatever--it's all a big PITA compared to a simple transaction with someone who can follow the rules. Meanwhile the loser can stick the seller with negative feedback.

Sorry, I guess this turned into more of an anti-ebay rant than anything truly relevant...

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