I'll tell you about my experiences on buying from abroad. I've lost only one parcel from US during the years. I've bought tens of items, mainly some liteweight things like plastic pants etc. I've also bought items from China and Taiwan without any problems. Not to talk about even heavy items like Zodiak hazmat suits from Germany. But - touch the wood - maybe I've just had good luck.
One of the most embarrasing incident happened a few years ago, when a parcel from ACMS from Canada was stopped at the customs. I went to pick it up and the lady opened the box and took the lovely pink plastic pants out from the box and asked what they were..
That happened in front of the other customers waiting to be served. Well, that's life... 