I have bought rolls from the USA on many occasions and never had
a problem.  I have also bought restoration materials and items as
large as an orchestrion, again without any problems.  The one proviso
is that I have never bought anything from an unknown private seller
through eBay.  All my purchases have been direct from reputable
dealers and manufacturers.

The sender need not concern themselves about import duty paid at
this end.  That's my responsibility, and the Royal Mail charge
a handling fee for allowing me the privilege of paying import duty.
Some years ago there was a very cheap way of sending bulk quantities
of rolls, the 'M Bag' [U.S. Postal Service].  This appears to have
been discontinued, thus increasing the postage costs.

The other change, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, is that it
appears to be impossible to send large and heavy items by surface
mail any more, thus increasing the costs significantly.

Overall, if you trust the seller, and he is a reasonable man and
willing to check out the various methods, there should be no problem.

I have seen eBay listings which refuse to send to Great Britain.
Is this simply laziness?  Why not refuse to deal with these people
as they do not deserve your custom.

Nicholas Simons, GB