I buy tattoo supplies and equipment from the US and many other places all the time. Here's what I do that seems to work for me.
Allways use USPS because they are not only the shipping company, but more importantly they are also their own broker. UPS makes a killing on the brokerage fees.
If you can get the seller to send the item as a "gift" or a "promotional sample"....... the item will be duty exempt.
If a US seller refuses to ship an item to me through USPS, I won't deal with that seller no matter how badly I want the item.
I hope this helps someone.
