Published: March 16, 2009 in articles » management by Thomas Baekdal
One of the most disturbing trends on the internet are ‘geo-targeting'. It is a way for you to identify where people are from. It can improve the experience if used right, but it can also destroy your business if done wrong. Sadly, many companies don't get it and use it to add restrictions.
I made this little cartoon to put this into perspective...
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Morten, Thanks - and exactly. I wanted to buy the Flip Mino HD... but I can't because I am not allowed to buy it from the US store, and the UK store doesn't have it.
- "Purchases from www.theflip.com may only be purchased with United States billing addresses and shipped within the United States"
Why? It is a HD camera, that is connected to your computer via USB. What reason could they possibly have for not selling them?
Hi Thomas
Have you tried to see if they will ship it to Canada, and then I can send it to you from here? Just a thought:-)
Thomas, it's not because they don't want Danish people to have the camera, it's because they only ship to the US. Many companies and people choose to only ship to certain countries due to economic and practical reasons. To use your cartoon to explain the situation:
*ring* *ring*
"Hello, I'm calling because I want a burger. Could you please bring it to me on the other side of the town?"
"Sorry we don't do delivery."
"But why?? It's a burger, that will be inserted into my mouth and eaten, what reason could you possibly have for not selling me a burger?"
"Sir, we don't do delivery! If you want a burger you will have to come over here."
*hangs up*
"Wow, these people have lost their commons sense, why won't they give me a burger?? I have the same right as the people inside the restaurant, don't I??"
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Lise, thanks ... But they are not shipping to Canada either :(
Snookerman, I disagree. These companies have to ship it to everyone. It is not a case of serving only to custumers who will pick it up at the store. The only real difference between sending the product to people in the US and to people in other countries, is what address you put on the box.
All it takes is one line of code:
if country is not 'US' then add $20 for shipping internationaly.
But this is not about technology, it is about selling. And many companies have lost their common sense because they are not realizing that turning down customers is a really bad idea. It does not make sense to restrict your products based on their location in the world.
Because of the internet, everyone is being exposed to your marketing. The buzz surrounding your products (in blogs, social networks etc.) doesn't care about your location. It's universally available.
The internet and international shipping companies have changed the world (yet again)... Embrace it, don't fight it.
I have been selling stuff on eBay and I know that there is more to do than add one line of code, especially for electronics. The items must be announced because they go through customs and there are more charges for the shipping and insurance and such. There are also laws that need to be considered like you need to translate the instructions so that the customer will understand them and there are implications with the warranty as well.
I do agree with you that companies should try to offer international shipping, but what I am saying is that if they do choose to only ship withing their own country, they do this for good reasons, not out of stupidity or because they don't like French/Danish/other people like you make it sound in your comic.
On a totally unrelated side note, isn't it weird that sending something with a car is called shipping and sending something with a ship is called cargo??
Italian version here: http://www.nerdgranny.com/buon-senso-net-economy/ bye!!
Charge more for shipping to another country. Simple as that, no?
Snookerman technically shipping refers to the physical process of transporting goods via any means and cargo refers only to the goods themselves. But I agree with your points, the Internet has changed the world faster than law and policy can keep up and as a result things are never as simple as they seem, or should be.
Yes, the law has not kept up.
Many products can only be sold in the countries they have obtained certain regulatory approvals (safety, electrical etc).
Also, some of the host countries don't like you selling to certain other countries (e.g. US export regulations)
Annoying, but not so simple as you suggest.
Colm is right, companies have certain pricing policies based on the currency of the country they're selling to, the import/export taxes. So manufacturers impose certain limitations to a deal when they say for instance, we're going to sell you these hd cameras with a special discount of X% off, then you pay transportation from malasya but you can't sell them out of the US because I sell them in Europe paying taxes and transports on my own (in a higher valued currency) and I get a 40% cut on base cost for each one, so selling your 200$ cameras will ruin my 210€ operations in Europe...
I agree with Colm, far from being that simple, at least as long as we keep this artificial political borders among countries...
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I am not saying that the problem we have today is simply to fix. As you all point out, we can't because of a huge amount of complicated reasons.
The point of the comic to to illustrate how insane these reasons really is, but more so, that companies have gotten se used to ancient business models and restrictions, that they fail to see why business is bad.
But if you decide not care about all these complicated reasons, then the world is extremely simple - as a lot of small time business is showing us each and every day. This is especially true when it comes to non-physical products. Like Adobe Photoshop Elements (which I had tons of problems buying, because Adobe had enforces country specific restrictions - due to physical distribution agreements - even-though I just needed it as a download.
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One word: profit. You will note that only stuff that is much cheaper in the US cannot be sold abroad.
I have been buying gear (climbing gear & clothing), books, CD's (those round silvery things) and electronics for over a decade online.
Canon EOS5DII? $2700 or Euro 2700. Looks the same, difference is more than a ticket from Europe to the US.
I always had stuff shipped to friends, or waited until I was over there myself. Again, if you are on the market for something substantial, it is cheaper to fly over.
Save the planet, ship abroad: how is that for greenhouse emission reduction?
Shipping costs is one other weird thing, especially Amazon can be annoying. When I want o send one of my books to friends in canada, it is cheaper to order it on Amazon.com than Amazon.ca. Does not make much sense to me...
Thank you for this post. I encountered the same problem when I tried to buy an ebook in a Us online store. An ebook! It's just a download!
Ha! oddly enough this is how my mom runs biz... its sad because I'm partner.
It is not as simple as charging a higher shiping fee.
Many electronic devices are export-restricted. I went to study abroad, and shipped my used computer to myself because it was too large to fit in a suitcase. I had to get an export permit. There was tons of paperwork. When the computer arrived, I had to pay a bonded storage facility, where my computer was being held, until I could get the paperwork cleared. It was a train ride and a walk through an industrial park to the customs facility. A courier will do this kind of thing, but customs in non-western countries are unpredictable. It was cheaper than buying a new computer but now that I'm no longer a student, I wouldn't do that.
If I bought something online and found I had to go to a customs office and clear the item through customs, myself, I would cancel the order.
Visit your favourite courier's site, online, and try to get a quote for shipping something to, say, Gabon, on the African westcoast. How many hundreds of dollars does it cost to ship? One cancelled order could wipe out the profit from the sale of several items.
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Since I'm in the U.S., I don't have to worry about this too often, but I do have a question: Has the situation gotten better or worse over the past 10-15 years with increasing global markets? Wow, re-reading than number seems ridiculous...1/10th or more of a century to recognize that it isn't that large of a world any more?
It's ridiculous to ignore a market outside your own...even if as Thomas points out, charge an extra fee for international shipping. That's a normal expectation any more. When I ship eBay items internationally, the buyer knows that the extra shipping is part of the transaction.
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Mar 16
2009
Morten
Your again right. I have just tried to order a neoprene sleeve for my laptop on amazon.uk. for some reason a lot of the sleeves offered on amazon.uk are not shipped to denmark where i live.
I finally found one which they where willing to sell, but it took some time, as it is not possible in amazon system to sort the items based on where they are willing to dispatch it to. frustrating...