in case you're interested as to why shipping rates are so high, the global downturn has seen the airlines and ocean carriers mothball their aircraft/container vessels as inter-continental sourcing fell off a cliff and retailers and manufacturers chose to cancel orders and run down stock positions. the reduction, after 15 years of continuous growth, in capacity has created artificial inflation in logistics costs as the carriers manage space leading into the traditional xmas peak season. having said that, current international logistics costs are roughly equal to the 10 year mean over the last decade.
if you're still awake, congratulations
