There was a story that when Australia first started to tighten up and tax stuff purchased overseas, that someone who was buying very expensive billet parts was actually posting scrap like scabby old 250 calipers and yokes to the seller so he could throw them in the bin.
Apparently he never actually purchased anything, the parts were getting refurbished according to the paperwork.
I used to buy stuff from the UK and get it posted to Australia. At the time the UK didn’t charge me their sales tax as it was being exported, and I wasn’t paying any AU import or sales tax. Even with the postage I was buying stuff cheaper than walking into a store in England or Australia.