Returning purchases to Japan/China

I've been pretty lucky about the stuff that I've bought off eBay from Japan/China, but have been very apprehensive about the possibility of having occasionally to return something. It always needs to be quite reasonable in price before I bid on it. (Got a beautiful 9" Verito in brand-new(?) Copal 3, which didn't have any aperture markings concerns me a bit.)
The stuff comes over to Florida very quickly, usually in a week or two, and the shipping charges are reasonable (apparently stuff is shipped in something called a pack), but I can envision BIG charges to return anything.
Is there a way to do it without breaking the bank?

No. Not really. It ha to be an item you really want.

Bill, if it's only the markings on the aperture scale that bother you, and you're happy with the lens and shutter combination otherwise, it may be easier/cheaper/better to get a scale made. S.K.Grimes will do it, or you may be able to find someone locally. If you have a Minolta Booster or something similar, you could first make a paper scale yourself, and then give it to a local laser engraving shop.

But in general, shipping from the US is pretty expensive, compared to shipping from Japan.

Kumar

I had S. K. Grimes make an aperture scale the lens on a shutter. They removed and returned the original plate and made the custom plate. As I recall the cost was not that high. [Around $60US IIRC]