Hmm. I imported a water ski slalom course a couple years ago. Some guy "helped" me. He was hanging out at the warehouse. We walked a ways over to a dingy office where he threw out all my paperwork, and I paid a small fee (I think RD$200) and he typed up all new papers that did not include the real cost, the cost to ship, insurance, or anything. It did not even properly list the contents.
Customs opened up the boxes, charged me for raw parts (rope, PVC tubes, inflatable balls, etc.
Including the US$100 my "broker" got, I came out slightly ahead of what I had estimated. It took all day. From window to window. I was charged all the things PIB mentioned but my shipment ended up being "valued" a lot less than I paid. This surprised me since I believe customs had a copy of all my original paperwork. The helper was somewho in cahoots with the cashier. The customs guys valued it from a big big book that looked like an ancient all-the-words-in-the-language dictionary and it had to be reviewed by 4 guys independently sitting around a small table. Each had to sign off. I am not a legal resident, but I did import. There is a long post way back in the archives somewhere about the entire experence. The shipping company UPS did all the outbound paperwork. I did nothing in preparation.
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