Need help with buying sensory things from US only sellers

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Hi all, Apologies for the long post, but need to explain a unique situation.

I'm starting this topic in hoping to get some ideas for a US contact that could help people like me purchase things from shops, and ebay sellers that ship within US only. This is because I live in Australia, and it was a situation such as this that caused me to have a major meltdown last weekend.

With all of us having different needs for the kind of Autism or Asperger's one may be diagnosed with, in my case it is the things I use for my stress release and relief. For others it may be squeeze balls / kits, exercising on gym balls, yoga, and etc. For me, it is the touch and feel of PVC plastic.

So you're thinking, right, this should be very simple. Just buy some PVC blow up toys, and I should be right. In fact for me, it is not that easy, as it's not just any old PVC. It has to be of a thin guage, so it feels light and thin. It also has to be certain shapes, and above all fully shiny like a mirror kind of gloss.

Last Friday on Ebay, I saw a seller who had eight large six foot tall (life size) inflatable batmans. The picture below is from that auction.



Upon seeing the picture, my body immediately went through a reaction, "Yes, that's what I would love to have, and something I would love to touch all over". My sensory hunger moved into sensory starvation, and it was these huge inflatable batmans that would fit the sensory appetite.

I went ahead, and hit the buy it now button, and saw to my horror that ebay was not going to process my purchase and transaction. As these are hard to find, I started stressing about the fact that I couldn't buy them. The chance of somebody else beating me to them was now a very possible reality.

I pleaded with ebay customer support to see if they could change the options on the sellers listing. With in the space of eight hours, I went through four "live chat" discussions with ebay customer support to no avail.

I also asked a number of people on a Hi Fi forum that I've been with for over two years, if they could buy them, and forward them onto Australia. Many of them were very weary, as they were concerned about the risk. This was in relation to them worrying that the person they help, may not follow through.

Doing all this in US timezone mode, meant I've had no sleep two nights running. As my attempts were not getting any replies, my stress levels went through the roof, to the point of having a painful gut. This meant many trips to the toilet, and not being able to eat meals properly.

Monday morning I was a wreck, and then finally, someone on the hi-fi forum had volunteered. They had purchased them, and I paypaled my funds to them immediately. Buy the time they got to them, five had sold, and they were only three left. I was grately relieved that the whole scenario was over, but somewhat disappointed that I missed the other five.

SO:

This begs the question, is there anything that could be done to establish a contact, either here on this forum, or most probably with one of the Asperger / Autism associations in America.

I should imagine that I would not be the only person with Asperger's with unique needs. I would think that they are others across the world, and who have also come into a similar situation to mine.

I guess what is needed here, is someone that could assist in the purchasing of items or products that are available in the US only. This is because the practice of blocking international customers is becoming more widespread in the US.

I guess a few things would have to be considered here, as the most important issue that we don't want to put anyone out in time or money. Admitfully, ordering and purchasing things for a total stranger, or someone that you only know through a forum can be rather risky.

I've also looked into US parcel forwarding places, that will give a US address, and then forward parcels onto the relevant country. When trying to enter the address I got, into my ebay account, I was still unable to purchase the item. For me to do so, I would of had to make major changes to my ebay account, hense why US parcel forward places are not conducive.

So in the end, is it possible that one of the Autism Associations in America can assist. Any other thoughts?

Bumpidy bump, Anyone?