I don't think there's any way around the VAT issue. It's pretty watertight if you are importing with correct paperwork. Importer will pay VAT and customs to the shipper at point of entry, if you havea VAT number you can claim it back. However if you then want to resell inside the EU you have to charge VAT yourself (unless the end buyer has a EU VAT number).
So in short, if you have an employer or friend who is VAT registered ask them to get if for you.
Custom duties, everyone pays. No refunds!
I was not talking about evading VAT, but a BULK direct import to Europe of maybe 2-3 hundreds of µCurrent units and a reshipping from inside EU will save lots of importing duties/shipping costs/...
Even VAT is not equal in every EU state: here in Italy is 22%, instead in UK is 20% (I payed less my Flir E4 buying it from Omega because they were shipping from the UK: 800€+15€shipping+20%VAT=978€ total!). So several times here in Italy it can be cheaper buying abroad even if the shipping expenses are higher.
Those savings can be used to cover the costs an individual will occur: just as an example here in Italy I pay taxes and duties on the TOTAL amount (s/h included) I paid, not only on the simple value of the goods.
Taxes and duties also depend on how the inspector has awakened in the morning: once for the same two parcels (different addressee) shipped to the same city (Udine) and arrived the same day at customs, the difference of duties was of 10€ on the total amount to be paid (unfortunately it was me the unlucky one!).
I raised an official complain regarding this different treatment but the answer I got was of typical Italian bureaucracy: incomprehensible and no explanation at all on why they have done so.
So, I really do not want to evade VAT, but I'd like to pay the right amount of duties.