Look into the different courier companies and ways of shipping. Some shipping companies charge a very hefty (I'm not talking 10 bucks here) brokerage fee just to move the item through customs. That is apart from the customs fees and GST.
Some shipping companies and methods have that fee built in at a much lower rate so you wouldn't have to pay it.
I once had a cell phone shipped to me by USPS from the US to Toronto, and had to pay over $80 in brokerage and customs fees. It made it almost not worth it to buy from ebay- I could have bought the phone at the Sony Store for $50 more.
I believe that if it is shipped by air by certain companies, the brokerage fees are included, so that would save some $$$. I think that if it is ground shipping, you will have to pay the brokerage fee COD.
Before you buy, find out the shipping options and then call those shippers to see what the deal is with brokerage fees and customs.
If the package is marked as a gift, then you shouldn't have to pay the taxes. However, when the origin address of the package has a company's name on it instead of, let's say, " from your Grandma Hazel", then customs gets suspicious. They may look into it, it may delay the shipping, and you may get charged anyway. I think that companies end up getting flagged if they do the gift thing too often, and they are warned not to do it anymore.
