wow! and an update on the DMC cost - I went to the local shop and it was up at $1.85. Wholesale they pay $1. Huge mark-up and they wonder why people import?
What a lovely present! In the UK we also pay quite a bit for our imported threads as most of the thread, materials and charts come from the USA. DMC would be about $1.25 roughly for about one of the cheapest prices, fabric costs all kinds of prices depending on what you're buying and US charts could cost about $15 roughly. It's actually cheaper to buy things online from the US and have it shipped here than it is to buy it here and of course there's a lot more to choose from which isn't necessarily a good thing for the bank balance :D