[adam_u]

I'd say some of the additional postage costs (when buying from the USA for example) will cover their additional time to have to fill out customs declarations etc. - it's not just a case of sticking it in the mail

Also I think sometimes you may be up against an automatically calculated postage rate for your country/region when buying from some overseas sellers - perhaps if you contacted them and asked them they may be able to reduce it, maybe not, as they may not be too bothered going through the additional effort for you to buy a cheap pack of wheel nuts etc.

They may also be trying to make their products look more attractive price-wise before you factor in the postage.

I have bought stuff from the US, but usually have to club a few things together to make it worth paying the additional postage costs.

Ebay is just a huge money making machine really, I don't think they are too bothered as long as the money keeps on rolling in in their favour.