I have no comment's to the Buyer or Seller. If you have been a member of these forum's and have read any GB&U thread's, there is alway's a common trend in any deal that goes bad. Remember, the Buyer has no power, the Seller is in control of everything. The buyer should never be allowed to dictate any term's of any sale IMO. To allow the Buyer any power, implies in my mind, a precursor to wrong doing, or desperation on the part of the Seller to make the sale for whatever reason. The trend's for a deal to go bad are alway's the same from what I have read over and over on GB&U.
PayPal Gift Option/ Trying to defraud PayPal of Fee's/ Losing any protection you might have had/ Paypal is a convienent way to get paid/ The fee is for the convenince/ IE; 711 or Circle K, you know your paying more, but it is convenient, hence the name "Convenience Store"
Shipping without Tracking or Insurance/ Not protecting yourself or the Buyer/ ( Red Flag ) if either party is willing to do this/ It's a deal not worth doing IMO although, a normal practice on the exchange/
Being asked to lie on Custom's form's/ A deal that start's in fraud can just as easily end in fraud/ Unlawful/ Asking seller to commit a crime ( Red Flag) You pay the duty fee/ Or don't order the item in the first place/Move to USA to avoid Duty Fee's/ Looking at it that way, the Duty Fee is probably cheap compared to moving/
Packaging/ Never ship in Envelopes or thin cardboard mailer's/ Use good Boxes and Secure the knife/ Since it is a Knife and has the ability to CUT, Keep that in mind when packaging/
Keep the power, I get into this all the time on Ebay and will simply cancel the bid if my instruction's cannot be followed. I don't care how many packages the buyer has received without any problem's doing it his way. It's my way or NO WAY! I normally alway's state in my add's for International Buyer's to contact me prior to bidding as shipping rates are usually triple compared to CONUS with Tracking & Insurance.
Had this been my deal, I would have worked with the buyer to a point. The Tracking and Insurance would have been mandatory. I might have offered to split the cost with him if I had no other Buyer's interested and really wanted to move the item. Other than that, I would have just re-listed. Most of the time, the buyer's understand in the end and will either pay the extra money or cancel the bid without any hard feeling's because you are protecting yourself and the buyer. It's your reputation and property, it's makes good sense to protect it.
I have noticed these trend's and post only to benefit someone and save themselves some grief, both buyer's and seller's. Being a little paranoid and cautious can save you a lot of grief later. If I was a Millionaire, I would not worry about it however, since I am not, I have to concern myself with these detail's as I can't afford to take a hit like this and feel bad for both of you and hope it work's out!