Itʼs getting past the point. Really. For quite a while itʼs been cheaper, often, to buy things from Germany or the Netherlands, even France, and sometimes Spain, than from most businesses in the South of Scotland or England; and why? Because of the increasingly insane deregulated UK postage and courier ‘industry’. (Donʼt you loathe it when services get called ‘industries’ to make them sound like theyʼre real jobs?)
Itʼs also been increasingly an issue that eBay in particular now allows sellers to easily exclude areas without thinking about why – which almost always means everywhere North of Perth, West of ooooh Alexandria maybe, sometimes Galloway or Dundee but not Aberdeen, sometimes Paisley but not Greenock; and always means anywhere you need to get on a ferry, a plane, or cross a saltwater bridge to get to.
You kind of expect this from English sellers; and yes I know it includes English Islands too – Isle of Wight notably. But thatʼs what I mean – England gives the impression of being so hugely divided you expect them to behave in an exclusionary manner towards each other.
But this time, I looked for one specific product on eBay, and itʼs a seller, in fact multiple sellers apparently (but I have reservations) in GLASGOW who a) wonʼt post to the Highlands and Islands, or any ‘offshore’ (whose shore?) part of the UK or associated territories – but, b) will post to the rest of the world, including specifically, Iceland.
