Douanne kosten P*SS ME OFF... If the governments agreed on no import tax for private transactions, there would be no recession, imagine the orders that non european companies would receive if we did not have to pay import tax. It is a pure rip off, especially here in the Netherlands, not only do you have to pay customs, but also admin costs and if it was handled by 2 or more couriers, that is a lot of import costs.. Sending as a gift sometimes works but no every time. Best advice - On future orders, ask the sender to write 'sample' on the outside of the package, this means that the package contains a free product that 'your company' may order in the future. It's worth a try.