I don't understand the issue as long as you're paying for the shipping.
"Video not available in your country". "Google Nexus is not available for your country, check back soon". google.com -> google.ro (or whatever).
I guess most Americans haven't noticed it because they haven't needed stuff from abroad...
Cell phones and videos have service and licensing problems that physical goods don't run into, so geographic limits on those is less surprising.
$59.50 (£44.75) for Levi.com Jeans in US £85.50 from the "Levi.com UK" branded store.
In the early days, when we had double the exchange on the dollar, I used to buy everything from the US, and the shipping prices were pennies. It used to be exciting to have different markets to browse.
If Amazon, or anyone else for that matter, wants access to the Australian market then they need to abide by the tax regulations as dictated by Australia. If it's the tax itself that considered off putting, that's up to Australians to decide (i.e. local protectionism / profit capture v.s. lower prices and higher global imports).
Didn't noticed the same thing with shops in UK or France tho.
Edit: grammar
Already happened with Valve. Buying from the store has 10% in the price, but not all prices changed.
There may also be some organizational lines being crossed; I can imagine the American site team doesn't really want to deal with Australian tax issues.
We still have your exact system in the UK (and rest of EU?) it kills my desire to import unless the price is vastly different. Anything from non-EU countries above £15 gets hit with 20% VAT & an admin fee (£8 I think!).
Its that there's a geo-blocked/redirected domain which australians will be shown which adjusts prices and collect sales tax.
As an Australian, being geoblocked and having prices dynamically changed/adjusted based upon my IP address is extremely old-hat since half the internet already does it...GST or not...
Edit: although, as an australian, there ARE a whole host of services/content we're not supposed to be able to see because we're australian due to blocking in our country. Its why so many of us use VPN's and dropship services and the like...
My personal favorite is when there is geo-restricted licensing on some content, and the content isn't available in my region so I effectively can't buy something even though I want to. That I frequently have to find an obscure media seller in a foreign country, without enforced geo-restrictions to pay is asinine.
I've been told that, for something as simple as an attached room for an RV/caravan awning. Fiamma product, can't find it in the U. S. "Shipping costs be damned, send me one of those!" And they flat out said they wouldn't. Prolly customs paperwork or something, that they didn't want to do (or didn't know how).