i've had a similar problem,
i've got a bike finally on its way from Utah which is the other side of the US, it originally got sent for $120 air mail, but returned
usps then wanted $400 to do it by air, as it was repackaged into 1 big box,
trick is to split in into 2 boxs which actually make it much cheaper, rather than the 1 box
mine was so much hassle , have paid for it to be shipped to one of my works US offices, for it to be forwarded onto me, hopefully for less than the $400,
i'm nearly done with oversea's shipping as had so much hassle and keep losing stuff, gonna stick to the UK, and thats even taking the great exchange rate into consideration.