> I find it strange that a seller would
> do that just because you are of a different 
> nationality.

What you're discounting is that when working with 
people, you need to expect the strange. There ARE 
some people (I'm sure they exist in all countires)
who would do that when they found out they were 
dealing with a foreigner. Or someone of another 
race. Or someone of another religion. Or someone 
of another sex even. To me, it's bizarre since if 
someone treats me and others well, for me that 
makes them a basically "good person".

On the other hand, you're VERY right. . . If you 
can't communicate with the other person, right 
there you've crippled yourself in relations with 
that person. Some people are patient and don't 
mind working through a translation program. Some 
people don't want to bother with it. To give a 
simpler example, my mother won't bother with any 
movie that has subtitles. Doesn't matter what 
movie it is, or how good it is, if it's got 
subtitles then that's too much work for her. To 
me, that's her loss - although she doesn't see it 
as one. A seller who doesn't want to be bothered 
to work through a translation program may not 
consider it a loss to tell someone trying to use 
one to "go screw".

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who try 
to ignore the language barrier.

> I think 
> topics such as whether you like the Japanese(or
> vice versa) shouldn't be brought up here. This 
> is, I believe, an international cels forum. 

I don't think people are commenting on how much 
they like the Japanese. They're commenting on 
difficulties (or the lack thereof!) that they've 
had with Japanese sellers on Yahoo Japan. It 
might look like a discussion of just the Japanese,
but the reason for that is simple - the items 
that are the topic of this list originate in Japan
and Japan only. (Yes, I know there are some 
collectors of American cels on this Forum, but 
face it - most of the cels discussed here are 
Japanese in origin.)  If there were a popular 
online auction site in Spain or Isreal (just to 
pull out the names of two countries I can't 
remember ever hearing about here) we could just 
as easily be talking about the Spanish or the 
Isrealis.

Personally, I don't see Americans treating the 
Forum as if they own it. The *ORIGINAL* question 
was to ask why more Japanese sellers don't online 
auction their cels in America. Specifically. 
Which inevitably leads to a discussion of why a 
Japanese seller might not want to deal with 
specifically an American.

To be honest, with the exception of people who 
I've personally dealt with in some way that 
required me to have their address, I have no idea 
where anyone here is from! I make no assumptions 
because I know "what happens when you assume". ^_^
(Non-native English speakers who don't understand 
that reference are welcome to *privately* ask for 
an explaination. ^_~)

Myself, this conversation has given me a 
wonderful idea for my own auctions. . . All along 
I have accepted international bids, but I'm now 
considering putting a notation at the bottom of 
my auctions, in the different languages I speak 
and/or can translate, encouraging non-English 
speakers to participate in my auctions.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac