I'd say US$1500 is a pretty good price for air shipment. Might as well get used to it. This has nothing to do with the value of the bike (listen to Javier!)--it's all about supply and demand. Airlines are not, as a rule, lining up eager to ship your bike. They figure they've got more profitable ways to spend their time. You need to pay handsomely to attract their interest.
You can always try to save a few bucks by doing without an agent. I've done this a couple of times, and although it can be frustrating it's not (usually) the end of the world. Just don't try this on any sort of tight schedule.
You can also save a few bucks more by surface shipping, but there doesn't seem to be any good way to control what happens after you turn over your bike. Stephen Knopf seems to be fairly predictable, somehow, but people are always hanging around in places they don't want to be, waiting for sea shipments which got re-directed elsewhere for weeks on end.
Hope that's helpful.
Mark
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