I don't think it's arrogance, Richard - it's just a major hassle to deal with shipping and money transfer outside the U.S. I have the same trouble buying from outside the U.S. I think the problem is that the U.S. economy has always been somewhat insulated from the rest of the world, and we're just not set up to deal with internationalism. We have our own system of weights and measures, and the cost of money exchange and shipping is horrendous for us.
And yes, some of us have had bad experiences with international money transactions, and we don't know what to do to protect ourselves. I hate having to pay five dollars or more to get a hundred from an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) in Europe. I'm still wondering what those $30 charges on my credit card were a couple of years ago - some company in the EU billed me, and I think it may have been connected with European book purchases I made on eBay or Bookfinder.
So, I think it's not arrogance at all - we Americans just find it scary to do international transactions. I've traveled a lot and get along in a number of languages, and I find it daunting - most Americans would find it even more difficult.
-Joe Offer-