Hello there, and welcome to swap-bot!

Packages can vary, and breaking the bank varies by person...but to give you an excellent plan for cost (as accurate as your device for weighting your packages...) click the USPS postage calculator! Under the Destination heading is where it lets you pick the country, so do that first, as it will reset the whole form when you choose (so don't go typing in all the other stuff before picking the destination!)

For declaration forms, you don't have to describe in detail what's inside...so it won't totally ruin the surprise...think more general, like pre-packaged sweets or snacks/handmade plush/stationary supplies/etc. I also try to not wrap my international goodies in individual packages within the parcel to avoid it getting hung up if it gets checked by customs. Hope that helps! :)

Woah. Awesome. Thank you very very much!

Hullo from Australia! When I send out, I write VERY general things on the customs form. "Handmade toy" "stationery" etc. You don't have to be nearly so detailed as they say you should.

Sending IN to Australia is the same, but also you need to be aware that you can't send any plant items (including tea, dried flowers etc). They MIGHT get through, but they probably won't and will be destroyed.

Our quaratine is very strict here in Australia but for good reason ~ to protect our unique flora & fauna. Even between states here, there are various quaratine restriction but it is all worth it.

On the customs form make sure you cross gift and a general description should suffice.

Any foodstuffs must have clearly visible contents descriptions inside the package so if quarantine wishes to open the outer packaging they can read the food labels.

I eBay and send to Australia a lot. Have for years and you don't have to itemize package materials that's just silly unless you're using circus peanuts instead of packing peanuts LOL

Postage to Australia from the US is CRAZY expensive for sure.

Its cheaper for me to send to USA than Australia by miles, when sending to Australia i just send something lighter.

Sending out is a kick in the ribs too sometimes. The scale reads 0.057? Oh, that's going to be $14. OW OW OW MY RIBS!

also, for the value write NCV (no commercial value).

write homemade instead of handmade, secondhand instead of vintage etc.

but don't write "used" becuase that could get flagged by customs as things like used bedding and toys are a prohibited import.

What really gets my goat is that it costs so much more for me to send from Autralia than it does for people in the US to send here! Surely the mail goes through the same process either end so why the price difference? When our dollar is in a good mood it costs me about 90c more to send a normal letter than it costs someone in the US. The difference only increases with weight.

When I send dotees I always label the customs form 'fabric, beads'. I've never had a problem. I also always put the value at AU$5-10 depending on the size of the package.

Our postal system doesn't even come close to paying for itself. If it was funded by postage alone, I'm sure it would cost so much that they would loose business to UPS, FedEx, and DHL(?) instead.

Oh postage! I hate to think how much I've spent lately, I would keep the receipts from Australia Post, but I would probably have a heart attack if I added them up! Hehe. I got a parcel from Customs today and they took half of it away to be destroryed and opened all the coffee sachets (to make sure they weren't drugs I guess!) Hope I see my package on Border Security (Bad reality TV about people at airports and packages in Quarantine!), it's the least they could do after nicking half of it! LOL.

Ps. I do have a good sense of humour about this, as it is keeping our country safe!

Update: The package weighed less than a pound (thank goodness) and was only $11.00 to send. Woo! It was mostly paper items, a tote bag, highlighters (which I said were 'office materials') and a chipboard animal thingy that was really strange (in a good way). So everything went okay. I don't know if she's received it yet but, it was pretty awesome.

Thank all of you so much for all your help!!! I really appreciate it.