Craig,
I used to import and export goods fom Oz and have dealt with the customs and duty folks extensively and I will share a few valuable secrets.
First of all, keep the total of each package under $1000 in value as you already know. The lower the better, send several boxes if needed. And if at all possible, take it apart whatever it is!!! I sold Fender guitars (took necks off, sent two bodies in one box, and the two necks in another) and sent them over as "guitar parts" where my partner would reassemble them and paid only 3% import tax on parts vs whole units. We would declare the value as about $250 each, what I was actually paying, and he would only have to pay about $10 each for duty. He also goes to England, buys Jaguars, takes the motors and trannies out, ships in seperate containers and also pays tons less taxes and tariffs this way on "Auto parts". The deal is that you pay more import duty on a product made in your homeland, like autos, bikes, etc. If you import something that is not made in your country, the duty is substantially lower. This is all done to protect your own country's local workforce.
There, my useless info for the day.
