I've shipped heavy Deruta pottery from Italy to the US from the shops and paid no where near what you were quoted. Basically, the store was able to take off the VAT, and this covered shipping costs. In '03 a large, heavy ceramic wine vat cost 315 euros inclusive of shipping. In '07, I don't recall the shipping cost but it was reasonable for a huge ceramic plate and really large wine pitcher (matching the vat) and a smaller wine pitcher, from the store in San Gimingiano. In Venice I had several really large unique carnival masks shipped from the store for a reasonable cost. Shipping was provided by USPS. Now all USPS employees can make use Liteblue portal(https://liteblue.onl/). I imagine that the stores had a deal with the shipping company. I would not have purchased the items if it required such a huge fee for shipping. I suppose I would ask the relative to ask the store if they would still be willing to ship it for you. Good luck!
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I've shipped heavy Deruta pottery from Italy to the US from the shops and paid no where near what you were quoted. Basically, the store was able to take off the VAT, and this covered shipping costs. In '03 a large, heavy ceramic wine vat cost 315 euros inclusive of shipping. In '07, I don't recall the shipping cost but it was reasonable for a huge ceramic plate and really large wine pitcher (matching the vat) and a smaller wine pitcher, from the store in San Gimingiano. In Venice I had several really large unique carnival masks shipped from the store for a reasonable cost. Shipping was provided by USPS. Now all USPS employees can make use Liteblue portal(https://liteblue.onl/). I imagine that the stores had a deal with the shipping company. I would not have purchased the items if it required such a huge fee for shipping. I suppose I would ask the relative to ask the store if they would still be willing to ship it for you. Good luck!