Ugh, that doesn't sound good ... my import duty was initially also wrongly calculated by DHL Netherlands. They were saying that the import duty is calculated over both, the value of the good and the cost of the shipping, and since the Commercial Invoice lacked the latter, they were using some default value. Provided them with my email invoice, after which they gave me another figure, which was ca 10 Euros less than before...
Super happy with the steady supply of dirty PCBs coming my way!
I hit one snag recently though: DHL in Holland seems to charge me tax plus a € 12 fee for every good over the value of € 22 that I receive, which is not a problem with the 5x5 boards, but hits when you have to do larger sizes.
Wondering whether it would be feasible to have the option of sending only half of the boards for half-ing the declared value of the shipment? For me, 2 or 3 boards per design revision would often do just as well. I understand the economic necessity for 10pcs at the board house - but I'd just love to have a way to avoid the surcharge (all in all: just shy of 50% of the total cost for 12x12cm boards).
