Easy.
Most paintball gear has to be imported to the UK from the US. There lies your first and biggest problem.
First thing you need to do is get the stuff here. Now while paintball is a multi million dollar/pound/euro/beads and mirrors business, it is a small business compared to "real world" businesses. Meaning that the size and bulk of paintball shipments are comparatively small. And in transportation there is a simple rule: The more product you transport, the cheaper it gets per product. Sure, shipping a container across the Atlantic ain't cheap, but it's cheaper than mailing 3000 guns individually.
Okay, now you have the stuff sitting in a customs warehouse, this is where the real problem starts. The UK is part of the EC, so your rules on import tax are about the same as the ones in my country. We pay some 14% import tax on paintball equipment, you may pay a little more, or slightly less.
Now the wholesaler has his product and is ready to sell it on. He adds up the base cost of the product with the cost of transport per product, the import taxes and adds a little bit of profit. After all, he has to eat and pay for his overheads too.
Then it gets sold on to the retailer, who also has to pay transport to get the stuff, which will be higher per product compared to the wholesaler, as he doesn't order in the same large numbers.
The retailer also works out his base cost per product, adds the cost of transport and adds a little profit as well for the same reasons as the wholesaler.
Finally, the end price goes up by 17,5% (19% in most of the rest of Europe) because of that lovely VAT.
So yes, prices are higher than in the US, but the retailers ain't ripping you off mate.
And while you may bitch and moan about the crazy amount of taxes that we pay in Europe, look at the bright side. You won't be refused admittance to hospital because of a lack of insurance, which does happen in the US. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess...
