Why did my GSP item get rejected, and what happens to such items?

[gurlcat]

So, I've been doing GSP for several months now, LOVE the sales boost and how easy it is, but I've finally had my first snag with it.  Well, it didn't result in anything really bad for me or the buyer, but it's confusing.  I received an email from ebay stating that the item was restricted and therefore undeliverable. It said THEY (ebay) were refunding the buyer and I would not receive the item back.  I'll give more details, but please keep in mind I'm asking two questions:
What made this order undeliverable?
What do they do with undeliverable items, if they don't return them to the seller?
Details: This was a mixed, used, costume jewelry lot.  The buyer was Russian (for some reason Russians LOVE my stuff), but I just (now) noticed, her profile says she just made the account the SAME DAY she bought this item, July 20th, and has no feedbacks as of today.  So....yeah.  Also, I didn't include item weight in the listing, just knowing I would ship it in a padded flat rate envelope, so weight doesn't usually matter, since most my buyers are in the USPS delivery area. I've also (now) seen that "Wholesale lots, collections" are the last item on the list of restricted for GSP, so that seems the most likely reason.  But I'm pretty sure this isn't the first mixed lot I've sold like this through the GSP, and without the weight stated.  For all I know, this lot could have included just one piece that had some kind of content specifically prohibited to enter Russia or something. 
I just don't get why ebay wouldn't want to be more specific when they inform a seller that this has happened, so that he/she can avoid it happening repeatedly.  I mean, if THEY'RE paying the refunds, isn't it in their interest to correct seller cluelessness?   Heck, why even send this message to the seller, since it prompts no immediate actions, and no future changes in behavior? 
And I guess I technically have no reason to care what they did with the jewelry, since as far as I'm concerned this was a successful SALE, period.  But I can't help but be intensely curious, especially imagining much more valuable items that get rejected.  Do they just throw them away?  Let facility employees claim them?  Donate them?  --Man, if they donate to some Goodwill or Salvation Army or whatever in Erlanger Kentucky, just imagine being a reseller with THAT source, ha! 

[chapeau-noir]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

They have the authority because you gave it to them, it's all part of the GSP agreement that you agreed to abide by when you offered GSP.

eBay is not "selling it for themselves", Pitney-Bowes who operates the GSP program has to do something with the items that they cannot ship, they need the ability to recoup the money they refunded to the buyer on your behalf.

Would you prefer they return the item to you (you would have to pay the return shipping) and make you refund the buyer for the total amount they paid?

As far as reselling an underpriced item for a "profit", no different than if the buyer you sold to thought it was a bargain and resold it because they could  get more money for it.

Remember that once you have paid the item no longer is yours, it belongs to the buyer who paid for it.

If anyone would be upset it would be the buyer who while they got a refund didn't get the item they wanted and this happened because the seller (you) didn't comply with the GSP restrictions.

As for blocking these sales, that would only work if all sellers were 100% accurate when they picked the Categories to list in. Sellers don't, they list in the wrong Category all the time and if one Category was blocked they would just list in a different Category that wasn't blocked.

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Not to mention the myriad importation laws countries have - matching categories to stipulations would be a nightmare.  Particularly since laws also vary between types of importation.

[chapeau-noir]

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@gurlcat wrote:

So, maybe I'm overthinking, wouldn't be the first time, but is there not something inherently wrong with a platform having the authority to intervene in the transport of goods AND sell those goods themselves?  Like what would stop them from rejecting an item just because it sold for a really underpriced amount, and then sell it for its' higher, 'gettable' amount, and make a profit?  

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That kind of nickle and dime operation would cost more to administrate than any profits realised.  This is an operation run on a huge scale, and skimming $20 here, $10 there is pretty meaningless, so I think it is overthinking.

That lot would probably just be liquidated with a lot of other stuff.  I know the USPS also auctions off unclaimed mail online. 

[dbfolks166mt]

      Most of your answers can be found in what others have already mentioned. As a final note even if GSP had sent this item forward to the buyer in Russia there is a HIGH probability that Russian customs would have confiscated the item since the contents of the lot are on the list of restricted items that can be imported into Russia. 

     Russia and China, among others, are two of the foreign countries that I refuse to sell to. Odds are that your one day, first time buyer is/was a scammer which is nothing new for these two countries. 

[gurlcat]

So you think sellers should know all the items that are restricted for all the countries on the GSP list?  LOL, how about buyers just be aware of what's restricted in their own (one) country?  

[downunder-61]

It is actually up to the buyer to know the laws of thier own country, however, neither you nor the buyer have lost out, so I don't see your point in this post at all, unless you wanted your items back as well as the refund you received.

[this*old*attic]

Yes.

Its your business.

[chapeau-noir]

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@gurlcat wrote:

So you think sellers should know all the items that are restricted for all the countries on the GSP list?  LOL, how about buyers just be aware of what's restricted in their own (one) country?  

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In a word, yes.  

[gurlcat]

You mean the second thing I said?  Good, glad we agree, because the first one would be absurd and literally impossible for any human brain.