The 'Gift' thing definately does not work. I have ordered rims from the states marked as gift, I even had them sent in four separate boxes and I got hammered for £490 customs duty. Did the same thing when ordering on various occaisions from ProLex performance and again got charged customs. Just accept you are going to have to pay it, and if it manages to sneak through take it as a bonus.
It is a bit of a shock when the postie knocks on your door and asks for £490 before you can have your packages