OP here. The main issue is that eBay's International selling policy, Item #3 describes how to prevent international buyers from purchasing your items. In fact, the title of that item is "How to prevent international buyers from purchasing your items." I intended my item to be available for buyers within the continental US only, so to do so I obeyed that eBay policy item. Then my item was sold to a buyer in Italy (sniped 3 seconds before the auction ended) and I was charged a fee for an international sale. As a matter of policy, would you disagree with my issue in this case?
Obviously you cannot prevent international buyers from participating in and winning your auction. However in this case, eBay at minimum had constructive knowledge of my desire to NOT sell internationally, and despite that knowledge, not only permitted the international sale, but charged international fee on top. That's on eBay, not me - and to eBay's credit, they refunded me immediately. Excerpted from eBay's International selling policy (not what it should be, but what it actually is😞
Final word on this matter.. I intended this post to be a COMPLIMENT to eBay, rare to find on these boards. Put cynicism aside for a moment and understand that eBay DID THE RIGHT THING and deserves the positive recognition.
Furthermore, from the communication I've had with this particular buyer, she seems great - this experience will make me consider international sales in the future. Here's her last reply to me:
The wrong verbiage has been highlighted in the above-posted snip:
According to the original post, the buyer discussed in this thread had "an address within the continental US." You ship to the United States, their shipping address was in the United States.
The entire snip posted is in regard to buyers who use a non-US shipping address. It is in regard to sellers who do or do not want to ship through the GSP/EISD.
The above snip/post in Message #21 does not apply to the situation presented in the original post.
