Finished Lap steel and Case

[WineRider]

Good morning all,

I have finished completely my home made Lap Steel and Case. The furniture for the case were ordered from the StewMac in the States and from Thomann in Germany. The rest I bought here in France i.e: Vinyl, Velour, 24kg Foam and the 3 ply wood. I still don't understand why it is cheaper to buy the exact same parts from the USA including shipping costs to buying from UK or France, anyone got any ideas? Germany is a tad dearer but this is out-weighed by the speed of delivery...usually within 48hrs. France has always run a protectionist mentality to retail and a very poor after sales service, so I can understand why things tend to be more expensive. But UK! I find it hard to understand. Maybe it's the same as the cycling market, it's niche market position means we can charge what we like. Or am I missing something?

WineRider (AKA Maurice) http://www.winerider.com/guitars.html