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Hack 15 Search Internationally

Use different eBay localizations to look for
things outside your home town.

When you search, you''re not searching all of eBay;
you''re searching a subset of auctions
made available to your localized version of eBay. Depending on where
in the world you live, you may be using any one of the following
sites:

Although all these sites share the same global auction database, each
one uses the native language and currency of the region it
represents. What is dramatically different, however, is the selection
of categories, and thus the search indexes.

This means that a search for decorative dog collars at www.ebay.ch may yield different results than
the same search at www.ebay.co.uk.

2.8.1 Expanding Your Search

This limitation on international searches is nothing more than a
matter of scope, and the scope can be customized. There are
effectively three different levels of scope in
eBay
searches:

The default scope when you search is to look only in the categories
that are native to your localization. Some categories are linked to
categories on other eBay localized sites, so when searching for dog
collars on the U.S. eBay site (www.ebay.com), for example, you will most
likely see a few auctions priced in euros or Pounds Sterling, as
shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4. International searches show a greater percentage of foreign auctions

All items available to your country

Go to Search Advanced Search, and choose your country from
the "Items available to . . . "
listbox. When you search, you''ll see more
international items, but only those where the seller has
intentionally stated that he or she will ship to your country (or,
more likely, that the seller will ship
"worldwide").

All items, everywhere

Go to Search Advanced Search, and choose
"Any country" from the
"Items available to . . . "
listbox. This will show the greatest number of search results, but
it''s important to realize that your searches may
include auctions by sellers who are not willing to ship to your
country.

There are several ways to tell if a particular auction is from a
different localized eBay than your own, such as the language and
currency used throughout the auction page. But there are two auction
details to which you should pay particular attention. One is the
Shipping section, which lists the parts of the world the seller is
willing to ship to (or "worldwide"
if the seller has chosen no such restrictions), and the other is the
category in which the item has been placed.

2.8.2 Making Sure the Seller Will Ship to You

When performing
international
searches, you''ll inevitably run into sellers who are
willing to ship only to bidders in their own
country or continent. Since international shipping can often be a
royal pain in the neck, this is understandable. The problem is that
many sellers
simply don''t bother to change the Shipping option
from its default (domestic shipping only) even though they may be
happy to ship anywhere.

Note to sellers: those who are willing to ship to more parts of the world will get more bids. See [Hack #69] for details.

So the first thing to do is check the description. Sellers who are
adamant about not shipping internationally usually say so in big
letters, with stern warnings to anyone in another country who dares
to bid on their items. But if there''s no mention of
it, and you really want the item, then all you have to do is ask.

Since some sellers are intimidated by shipping internationally or may have had bad experiences with bidders from other countries, you should take special care when writing the seller.

Just use the Ask Seller a Question link in the auction
page and write something like:

"Hello! I''m interested in this
item; would you be willing to ship to the United
States?" Keep it short and sweet, but also make it
clear that you''re a serious bidder and have every
intention of paying quickly.

"Pourriez-vous possiblement envoyer cet achat chez
moi, aux États-Unis? Merci!" If
you''re writing to a seller who speaks a different
language, don''t be afraid to write so that they will
actually understand you.

With any luck, and assuming you''ve left plenty of
time before the auction closes, the seller should send you a
favorable reply. Et voilà!

2.8.3 Viewing Foreign Categories

Each
global eBay site has its own selection of
categories. Although you can include foreign items in your searches,
you can''t browse foreign categories from your local
eBay site. Naturally, you could switch to any of the foreign sites
listed at the beginning of this hack and browse from there, but this
can be exceedingly difficult if you don''t understand
the language.

When viewing any auction native to your local eBay site, you can jump
into the auction''s category by clicking the category
link at the top of the page. But you won''t be able
to do this for most foreign auctions: the category will still be
there, but the link will not. In order to browse a foreign
auction''s category, you need to view the auction
from its native eBay site.

The URL of the auction will look something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3128013702

Simply change the domain name to match the native site of the
auction. If you''re not sure which site to use,
simply look at the country specified in the auction details. For
instance, to view this from within the French eBay, just change the
domain to ebay.fr, like this:

http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3128013702

The currency and language of the site are automatically changed to
reflect the localization you choose. More importantly, the category
line will become a link, which you can then click to view other items
in the same category.