You're right. It is not cheaper to order from Yamada direct since you have to pay DUTY plus postage. For instance, I ended up paying over $200 of duty on a repaired engine shipped to London (!). Fortunately, the UK system is efficient enough for me to have got a reimbursement, but the shipping ($50) was still expensive. It's only a matter of convenience. There are dealers in the U.S. (Richard) And the UK, but not in many other parts of the world. I do not believe Yamada has a major dealer (like Richard) in Australia, so for Australians (or others in Asia), ordering parts from Yamada (or getting engines repaired) is probably the only choice.

atul