Quote Originally Posted by buddha_bellies View Post
Grog: You might want your packages shipped via US Postal. For whatever reasons, Custom usually let pacels go w/o much hassel if it's shipped by regular post. But couriers such as FedEx has a custom brokage firm that does nothing but calulate duty. It's sad but true.
Not always, unfortunately. I've paid duty on USPS packages, FedEx packages, and the horrendous $60 fee for brokering on a UPS package (never again). I'd say it's about 50/50 for USPS packages.

I know it's weird, but I'm not opposed to paying the duty anyway. Of course, I'm happy if I don't have to, but if I do, that's life. I only buy online what I cannot find in a store, and I happily hope that those few bucks I pay as duty and tax will add up to fund public services like health and education. (My thinking is a bit less naively simple than that, but it boils down to that.) It's not like I'm buying groceries or something that responds to a very basic need. If I can't afford to pay duty/tax on an item, maybe I don't need it that much, and I should have less "stuff" anyway...