I work for a shipping business, and I do a lot of oversees shipping as well as recieving packages sent form various countries to the US. I have foun d that a good rule of thumb is to expect a 30% customs and duties fee, see Cyndi's post ($900 on $3000 of merchandise. Of course that can vary depending on country of origin and type of comodity, as well as on who is processing the shipment. There is just really no way of calculating the cost before hand. I never try to estimate duty costs, I just tell my customes to expect a 30% hit.