At least when we made things here, there were somewhat fewer middle men - now we have the original company, the importer, the wholesaler, etc down to the end shop. Add to that freight and it is just being priced out of the market.
It is when you see thing like line trimmer primer bulbs - buy 10 for $4 on ebay, but this is only slightly over the price GA apparently charge suppliers for 1 bulb. They then sell for $9 in most cases.
I needed a few of the rubber grommets for the trimmer tanks - I had a few choice:
Spend $12 and get one down the road
Spend $5 and get one from over east
or spend $5.80 and get 5 grommets, 5 fuel filters and 10 fuel lines (long inlet and short return) from china direct.
As much as I like to support local business, there is just no way I can justify it - I needed 5 grommets and spending $55 on cheapie ryobis and homelites plus fuel line, filters, diaphragms and plugs is not going to happen
