Given that an Epson 9900 costs $14k in Australia and only around $5k in the US, and that second-hand is a good option given that Epson service in Australia (especially on printers running custom inksets) is poor to non-existent anyway, I'm looking at buying in the US and having it shipped to Australia.
I'm getting the seller to install a cleaning cartridge set and run a fill operation to fill the lines/head with cleaning fluid, so clogging in transit shouldn't be a problem.
The more difficult issue is how to get it to Melbourne, Australia, at the lowest possible price. DHL air freight (over $10k) and UPS air freight ($2k) are obviously out. But other sellers (and not just large-scale sellers) on eBay and Amazon are able to ship the same printer, or other equally-large printers, for only a few hundred dollars. I'm not familiar with US shipping companies - does anyone have any idea where I could get the best deal for door-to-door delivery for such a large package?
I'm in no hurry and the printer will be filled with cleaning fluid, so surface transport by ship is an option.