It actually only costs about 10$ more than shipping from America. Usually works. Fish don't die in shipping normally. Basically what you do is order the bettas from overseas, pay the betta breeder the money the betta costs plus about 6-12 dollars for shipping to transhipper, it doesn't cost much to ship because they do bulk shipments once a month - once a week. Arrives at transhipper, you pay local shipping costs from them to you, and voila, you have your fish.