Rick, yes it would be nice if Ebay would let a potential buyer know. Surely they should be able to display "blanket" blocked bidders, such as all non-US etc.
Chatter - I like your thinking, might try that. Originally I had a US account but when they started Ebay Australia we were all automatically moved across. I know I can't have a US Paypal account, will check if the same applies to Ebay.
Thanks everyone for all your suggestions/advice, greatly appreeciated.