What are your experiences with customs charges for internal shipments to the US?

I live in the US and want to place an order of 10 records or so with a German online retailer, probably jpc.de because I remember JPC from my days as a young lad roaming the streets of Münster. First off, would they deduct the VAT (Mehrwertssteuer) from my order? And second, how does the whole customs process work? Do they always charge you? Is it hit or miss? Does it depend on the size/value of the order? If they do charge you, do they collect the charges at the door or do you have to trek down to the post office? Do you know in advance what the charges will be?

 

Some retailers will deduct the VAT portion, some retailers do not and say it's just a higher price they are charging those outside the EU and therefore there is no VAT

I'm not sure what the exact limit is for the US, before they levy duties or taxes but I've sent a $450 record to the US and they were not hit with any sort of extra charges.