Tips/Help on having a Bass Shipped Internationally

[flexo]

I live in Australia and I'm looking to buy a Warwick Corvette Standard either from the forum or through the US Ebay and having it shipped to me in Australia.

Can anyone give me any tips on how I could keep the cost of shipping to a minimum? Has anyone got any idea as to what sort of shipping cost I could expect to be charged (based on my postal code of 6018)?
Thus far in other international ebay transactions USPS has been easily the cheapest to ship with, is this the same case for larger items such as a bass guitar?

[Davo-London]

I had a bass shipped from states to uk. The bass was shipped in a non-polycarbonate case ie Protec and inside a cardboard box. This arrived in great condition via UPS. USPS doesn't have the reputation of the courier companies. But that's what I picked up talking to various companies in the states.
I think it cost around 150USD.
Davo

[Vin_MM_Sabre_79]

You can also get it shipped USPS with the neck removed for about $90-$100 and set it up on your end.

[folklore2]

I had a question like this last year when I bought a bass from a Talkbass member, it may help you.
http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315091

Edit: I probably should have told you a bit more about it. It was a Fender MM Sig, I had it shipped in seperate boxes, neck off, with USPS.

The boxes arrived at my local post office pretty damaged, as in holes in the box. I guess Customs would have had to look inside of the box, but they sure didn't bother to tape anything up. Luckily the bass wasn't damaged and arrived safely.

I couldn't tell you the exact price of shipping because it was halved with the seller, but it cost me about $40- $50 if I can remember, which is probably less than half, now that I come to think of it.