
No sh*t sherlock...
Stuff is expensive here. Buying it in from the US or Asia is often cheaper by far more than 10%
Which is weird, because you would have thought that getting stuff in bulk would reduce shipping and unit costs. Either the stores are ripping off the public, or the suppliers are ripping off the stores. I suspect it's a bit of both.
I hear that it's common practice to have a legally enforced "sole importer/distributor" agreement here, which would explain quite a lot. That people use the internet to buy from abroad is not a surprise. What is a surprise is that it's not illegal yet, because the history of globalisation has shown us that it's fine to pick and choose where your raw materials and workforce are if you're a manufacturer, but try it as a consumer or retailer and you'll get the smackdown.
Steve Jobs Icon because I just checked the iPad2 prices and they're withing the bounds of reason compared to the US. In fact the 32Gb Wifi model is actually cheaper here!