Clarification: you can either have custom charges or VAT. Normally, they are about the same figures. FOr instance, in Italy you have 20% for custom charges and the same for VAT. You can not pay both. If you buy abroad, you pay custom charges and the shipping which is usually expensive. If you buy from the local reseller, you pay VAT, shipping (much less usually than from abroad) AND the reseller share. It is easy to understand that the reason why it is usually cheaper to buy from abroad than from a local reseller is because local resellers often apply vampirizing recharge of price on the products they distribute. This is also why many resellers try to cover their backs with exclusivity contracts. Especially when it comes to software, they know that people buys a lot form the Internet nowadays, and if they want to keep speculating on the products prices, they need exclusivity, else people would buy abroad from Amazon etc. Exclusivity is the reason why Poser 4 and ProPack almost costed double on most EU countries. As you said, let's hope that things change with Poser 5.