[Andaho]

The true reason isn't because of extra shipping costs to bring them to europe, it's due to economy and the market. In the USA there is more market, especially for internet sold merchandise. Because there is more market, there is more competition which drives the prices down - shops like newegg for example in the states will have far far more customers than scan for example in the UK. Also different countries have a different ecconomy - e.g. for example, on an average hourly wage in the UK you could buy 10 loafes of bread. However, on an average hourly wage in Romania, you might not even be able to afford one loaf of bread. I know that's an extreme example, the it's to do with the market and the economy. Perhaps IT retail and distribution people in the USA get paid a lot less than IT retail and distribution people get paid in the UK.

EDIT-----

Looking back on the original post; It's also to do with culture... in the UK we are prepared to pay more for the latest and greatest technology, and our technology market thrives on that. Also, if the distributor is buying higher priced items, they want to get a higher % profit for their greater investment. It seems obvious to me really; We have a stronger economy compared to the USA... we get paid more, but the cost of living and buying products is higher.