I like to get treats imported from different places - Vietnam, Japan, Korea, etc. but it seems like the cost is double, if not triple! When I do find them at a good price, the shipping is insanely expensive. Why is this the case?
Likely down to the weight and shipping. They don't always get discounts for shipping and tend to have to pay the high shipping costs themselves. This means they pass the cost onto the consumer by upping the price.
All import foods are expensive because they are not stocked locally. We import fruits and such but do it in bulk so we often don't notice the charge being passed onto us.
Import items are expensive because of the shipping cost. Most items will travel via plane and that cost is calculated in. You either end up spending a lot of money on shipping or you buy at a mark-up price.
Even if you were to buy the items yourself in the country and ship them home, you still end up paying a lot of money. I did this when I went to Japan and ended up paying over $100 in shipping.
@freshcut Can confirm as well. I went to Korea years back and wanted to bring back a bunch of stuff with me and did not expect the cost of shipping. It was... A LOT.
