Yes.  Don't sell internationally unless you know and trust the person.

4-12 weeks!  Geeze, the shipping service must put the box in a plastic bag and toss it in the ocean.  Depending on the weather, the current would do all the work .

And after a few days of radio silence, this morning I received a nice note in response to my messages and he withdrew the dispute.

Takeaway # 1, I'll continue to trust folks and enjoy all the good people in this hobby,

Takeaway # 2, Acaeum posting gives good karma

Thanks for the advice guys!

I prefer to use Fedex insured with a tracking number. Very expensive for the buyer, but much less expensive for me, ...as if the item doesn't reach it's destination, then the buyer is reimbursed by Fedex.

I had a problem about a decade back, where my artwork was confiscated by Her Majesties Customs Service. This was a cartography commission where I designed some highly detailed sci-fi maps which were printed here in the U.S. in poster form. Because Her Majesties Customs Service, and their loser fish cronies at SIS/MI6 couldn't figure out what the maps were for, or what they actually represented (They actually represented nothing except a fictional place, because it was a sci-fi map of a colony station...)  Naturally I received no notification from HMCS that the delivery had been held up. My inquiries with the U.S Postal Service (especially the second time, when I had the posters tracked with a postal tracking number) revealed they had been put on a jet bound for the U.K., and my inquiries with Her Majesties Postal Service showed they had never received said poster tube. The only in-between? A short stop at HM Customs & Excise, where said posters vanished. Not one, but two printed lots, shipped in tubes, disappeared in his manner, and I ended up losing money on that commission, instead of earning money.

I finally delivered the artwork by having the client directly download the print ready art from one of my web servers here in the U.S. (One of my preferred methods of delivery these days), and then reimbursing the client for printing costs in the U.K. However the lesson was well learned, and to circumvent retards that are trying to limit or control free trade, I go with the guaranteed and insured Fedex delivery, or a direct digital download.

GameDaddy wrote in PayPal dispute: ...and their loser fish cronies at SIS/MI6 couldn't figure out what the maps were for, or what they actually represented (They actually represented nothing except a fictional place, because it was a sci-fi map of a colony station...)  

Of course, it may not have been the UK secret service who intervened with your deal. I mean once we are talking government spy agencies, anything is possible. Perhaps it was  the CIA who identified your maps as a threat to national intelligence and simply told the USPS to mark them as shipped. Or worse, perhaps [ he whispers ] … Russian Intelligence! … Does this mean you are now a "person of interest" … and now I am too, as I have responded to your post (!!) Who knew this collecting game was so dangerous; and so exciting!