v1nce,
The frame was a raleigh twenty. crazy huh? it was totally a "never gonna happen again" scenario. the seller listed the item, asked people not to bid until he had a proper description, then he edited his post with a description and a $49.99 BIN! some lucky bastard jumped faster than i could.
as for shipping UK ebay auctions, i actually contacted both of those sellers, and about 4 more about doing exactly that. i got positive responses from all of them as well. this just may work if i can get the details straightened out. BTW that purple one is absolutely gorgeous. something about that makes me want to get pink anodized hutch BMX hubs for it.
now i'm just talkin crazy!!!