Ken,

Always make sure you know the shipping charge before you bid.. especially if the item is not in the US and the seller does not wish to fill out all that paperwork and ship to the US. Failure to state a shipping charge in the auction by a seller is always a red flag to me.

Now that you have won the auction you are expected to pay for it. You have a couple of other options on the shipping. Since the seller will ship within Australia for $2 AU have it shipped to someone in Australia. There are several nice collectors in Austalia that frequent this board and this would make a nice gift for one of them. Or if you have a trading buddy in Australia you can have it shipped to him and he can forward it to you with your next trade.