Thanks for posting this. These are a few of the items that have made their way down here from the States. Honourable mentions to Damn the Man, Busse Collector, Progunner and others.
For what it is worth I will put a few thoughts here on this issue.
At first I did not understand why people would say "Conus only" but now I have realised some different things.
One of these is that a seller may be prepared to ship to several countries but not several others. To post these inclusions and exclusions in a sales thread can appear to be discriminatory and may cause offence. Unfortunately there are several countries I would rather not ship to but I would not like to single them out with mention. (or by omission, do the same).
Shipping to Australia is probably most safely done by using the USPS Global Express system. This is trackable and insurance can be increased as is necessary.
Without going into to many details (and I read a lot about people preferring not to lie on Customs forms); As charges do not come in under about $800USD, it is unlikely you would be asked to do this.
With all shipping, and especially if people want to use a cheaper shipping option, eg. the very reasonable pre-paid Global envelopes, I would make sure that they fully understand that all responsibility is theirs. This is the only fair option and is what I put to Ebay buyers. Once I post, I can't be responsible. If they want insurance, tracking etc, then it is their responsibility to ask and to pay for it.
The USPS website is quite good and has very useful calculators for all services.
Finally and briefly, Australian Customs. For a start, (and assuming someone asked you to send an illegal import), unless it is a major smuggling operation, they are not interested in the origin of the item: only the person recieving it.
Most items, by far and away, are okay.Especially in the Busse, SRKW, SY line.
Some items which are not available to the general public, are available under two different "permission to import" and "collector exemption" schemes.
Many Australian buyers, including myself, hold these exemptions.
Once again, I would state clearly that all responsiblity for import is on the buyer. I for one, am always quite glad to accept this.
I know the system quite well, having imported knives, and other items for many years now. If anyone would like any further information they can feel free to email me.
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