crijon1950, it has nothing to do with import duty or tax, these are based on a percentage of purchase price. I don't know the percentages, but I do know they add up to well under 50%. We pay these high prices because the people selling the goods (cars in particular) charge excessive markups. This has been argued about for years in the UK and no-one seems to know what to do about it. Having said all that Poser is Curious lab's product and they obviously have a right to charge whatever they like, but it is ultimately them that controls the price not the British or American governments. Baz