eBay "liquidated" my antique blade!

[adamb]

Hi all, it turns out I made a rookie error by allowing an item (antique keris) I purchased on eBay from the US to be sent to me in Australia using the ebay international shipping service. It didn't even make it out of the US; it was en route to me via DHL when it got to the Melrose Park facility in Illinois, after which the "Item [was] liquidated".

The seller was very helpful and did their best to liaise with eBay customer service, but to no avail; in the end we were both fully refunded, but from what I can gather, the whereabouts of the keris itself remain unknown to eBay.

According to eBay, the item may have been "liquidated" because US customs authority deemed it illegal to import weapons into Australia.

Does anyone have any advice/insight they can share?

What would have happened to the keris? Is there any chance of ever getting it? It is horrifying to think US customs would have actually destroyed it, as the term "liquidated" seems to imply.

Much appreciated