Resinguy, since the money part has gone well the shipping part comes in.
OK, some some pros and cons of international shipping but mostly what I have experienced first hand or from friends.
The best way to ship is by a trackable method like UPS, Fedex DHL or other international courier services - they are fast and reliable and they got insurance for up to $100 for free, but they cost a lot like in the region of $60 for 3lbs to Malaysia ( my home ). There is a USPS equivalent service Global Express Mail
http://www.usps.com/global/globalexpressmail.htm . The USPS has tracking and am handled by DHL or Fedex in the US and destination local express mail service. This service cost about 1/2 of the other couriers and am the 1 that my blade dealer uses to send my stuffs to me.
Underdeclaring is a 2 way sword. I request my dealer to under declare all my stuffs. This is so extra attention are not put on my packages from them handlers, if you get my drift.....
It also gets thru the customs faster which otherwise would be held for for customs clearance, at which time you can pay the courier to clear on your behalf or goto the customs to clear yourself. The courier charges you a clearance fee and also puts an interest on the money paid to customs. They also sometimes charges extra for delivering to your doorstep.
My preferred choice is to clear the packages held by customs myself but that is because the customs is only 1 hours drive.
Of course I have an understanding with my knife dealer that I will be liable for the loss if the package goes misiing, but I have not had a MIA since year 2000 using trackable methods.
