Why many sellers are scared to sell internationally

Update:

Thanks for your replies / advice. Called ebay and they were able to combine the four cases into one, which seems fair to me.

The lesson: don't ship to South America.


Still unresolved:
Sellers with 400 or more transactions over the past 3 months are evaluated on their transactions with US buyers from the last 3 calendar months. For all other sellers, the rate is calculated from transactions with US buyers over the last 12 calendar months

Link

Reported 9 June 2011

I sold four items to someone in South America. I combined shipping to save on cost for the buyer, but the package was somehow lost (by the postal service, I should say).

Before the buyer had told me it hadn't arrived (30 days later) they opened a case with eBay. I refunded them instantly, and contacted them to apologize. The case was eventually closed and because the buyer was understanding my 100% positive feedback remained intact.

However, because the one package included four items, it registered as four separate cases against me and I have now lost my Top Rated Seller status (you're not allowed more than 3). Also my performance is now "below standard".

Is there anything I can do to get my Top Rated Seller status back, or do i have to wait 12 months for my next evaluation - and hope nothing like this happens again between now and then? It was really only one package that went missing, and there was nothing i could have done to prevent it.

Much obliged