I’m feeling the pain. It’s so illogical. Something made out of jade isn’t likely to make a buyer think “Oh, it’s probably restricted.” It just doesn’t present logically as dangerous! Just because of the US’s history of banning ruby and jadeite extracted from Burma/Myanmar, and then in 2016 lifting the ban, which was then brought back after the Myanmar coup (in changed form), no one knows what the heck is going on with those gems. It’s entirely political, not based on a perceived hazard, and it’s not restricted by Australian Customs to the best of my knowledge.
But as we know, PB just unilaterally ban items based on their perception of what’s banned, even when it doesn’t apply to buyers here.
PB’s illogical embargoes on what they will ship are a pain. Experienced buyers that post on these boards know about those restrictions and what might fall under the list of things not to risk buying through sellers using the GSP, but we’ll see buyers coming to these boards time and again who don’t know that those arbitrary (and never seen) lists of restricted items just won’t make it to them.
The only thing we can offer those buyers is knowledge and a warning that it’s not an isolated incident, and that there’s no point in railing at PB, and telling the buyers to seek an alternative way of getting their items. Probably best to avoid ruby and jade purchases from the US if going through the GSP… entirely.
