I already said this on your site, but will add a bit more here. My objection to the price is that Kiwaya can make a similar instrument in Japan, paying first-world wages, ship it halfway across the world, and end up charging the consumer a similar price to the Martin. Martin makes theirs in Mexico, pays low wages, trucks it north to a distribution center (essentially the same last-mile expenses as Kiwaya). As mentioned by Belle, Bonanza can make a similar uke in the United States and charge $200. Bruko can make a solid wood instrument, ship it to the United States and charge $200, too. So it seems that most of the savings for building a uke in a developing country is not passed on to the consumer, but pocketed by the manufacturer in a great shell game. I have exactly the same complaint about many of the big-name Asian imports. They should mark up their import lines using the same math as their domestic line. Either that or vastly increase the wages at their foreign factories.
