the supplier (globalhobby) has their own chain of hobby stores... their reluctant to sell it at a price to others that'd make it as cheap as the hobby people price, and that translates into the shop charging the same price for an X-C RTR as an AE GT, Mammoth-Revo
on the racing note, it would likely be better to stick with the single speed, the 2-speed gets rid of the center diff, without that diff that makes for more stress on the rest of the drivetrain