Starting with Mackie MR8s?

Hey guys, i'm looking to pick up some new monitors, I've never really owned good ones so im pretty new to the scene although i've been love'n my 500 for sometime now.

I've been making some decent coin recently and am thinking of going for the Mackie MR8 monitors (http://www.mackie.com/products/mrseries/)

I want to start decent so i've got good monitors that will last, are these any good?, any suggestions?

Also I live in Australia its always heaps cheaper if you buy it from the US, how do you think monitors would go shipping that far? Is it worth the risk or should i just pay the extra and buy local? thanks.....

I would recommend the M-Audio BX8a Deluxe over the Mackie MR8. They sound way better than the mackies to me and they are actually a little cheaper. But really I would recommend you take your 500 and some of your beats (as well as some industry music you are familiar with) to the nearest music store that has several monitors set up that you can try them side by side. Monitors are such a personal choice.