I often felt absolutely raped when I ordered from the UK, not on price so much as the dreaded "p&p" or "handling" which appeared to have no reason to it. Certainly one pays the carriage on weight, that is what it is, but the mystery handling charge always got me. I suppose one reason I found it so objectionable was that over here, unless an item is particularly oversize or unwieldy for its weight, "packing" is a part of the purchase price.
To put that in perspective, living in Canada, I find it far cheaper and generally much faster to order from the UK than from the US.
Not only will many US suppliers not ship to Canada e.g McMaster (and Enco starting May 1st), but for those that do, they either insist on shipping via UPS or US-Post (USPS) "Priority Mail International Flat Rate" which is a complete misnomer as it takes about 7 to 10 days to get here with the cheapest option being around $25.00 for a tiny box.
UPS is even more problematic, not only are we charged an overinflated shipping fee, but then we are gouged by UPS who then extort another $30 "brokerage fee" before they will deliver the item.
For example, I recently placed an order with Enco for a few small items, total value $63.00 I was quoted $35 to ship UPS or a $52 ripoff from the USPS.
Choosing the cheaper option, on receipt I had to pay $7 duty and taxes plus the UPS "brokerage fee" or a total of $65 shipping charges for a small package.
I don't just feel raped, it feels more like serial sodomy!
In contrast a larger/heaver package ordered the same day from ArcEuro in the UK, arrived here a day earlier, and only cost me $20 in shipping with no brokerage fee on delivery.
I know where my money goes in the future.
Clive