Let’s say if I were to import a game console that’s close to ¥63,000 ($401) instead of paying $581 including sales tax if purchased in US, however would that alone save me approximately $180 after paying shipping costs? There’s no sales tax as the item is sold abroad as you are the one importing it, but the real question remains: is there a guarantee that the package will arrive tax free or not?
There’s no guarantee it will arrive tax-free. There are really no guarantees about anything when importing anything. You get a border agent in a bad mood and they might pick on your shipment. Or, depending on what country you’re in, you might get a bribe request. But you can probably find out what the import duties/tariffs should be on the consoles and figure that is the most you would pay importing it yourself, then add that up with your shipping cost and see which would cost you more.
Usually if something is being imported in bulk by a retailer it will be cheaper than importing a single copy yourself. They’re probably getting a wholesale discount, their duties would be paid on the discounted price, and their shipping costs would be lower divided across the units they’re importing. If you can avoid the duties you might come out ahead, or if the retailer is marking up the price too high.