...plus 171 USD shipping to the UK - I couldn't stop myself, I wanted one.

Is that shipping cost due to customs/VAT/not-really-shipping?

171 seems a bit...unexpected to me ;)

The shipping fee just stopped me.

USD 171 = GBP 116

£116 to ship something from the USA to central London is an extremely bad deal. Next day before 9am UPS or Fedex would cost significantly less.

When I feel I'm being ripped off and taken for a mug, I get off the ride.

You can get one way passenger flights for close to that price. Shipping typically doesn't include and customs fees.

Dunno - there is just one option to ship via UPS.. was surprised also; bit like using those cashpoints and then getting prompted for an extra 2 quid at the end only..err..quite a bit more.