Nigel writes: And did nobody ever wonder why they were able to buy direct from US at a cheaper rate than buying from UK dealers who were able to buy in bulk?

Don't know what people do in Britain, but when I've bought things direct from the US it's because they're not available here.

But it is a rather interesting question - why would goods bought in bulk at cost price be very much more expensive than the same goods bought at full price from abroad? Do British retailers charge a huge mark-up? They certainly do when they sell their goods in Ireland - there are regularly outraged articles in Irish papers where people have peeled off a euro price on goods in British chain stores in Ireland and discovered a far cheaper pound price underneath, far, far less than would be justified by the exchange rate plus extra Irish VAT.