Living in Norway, I can strongly relate to this. Prices on basically anything are insane here. So, sometimes I go abroad to do some gift shopping, for example for Christmas or birthdays. If I combine it with a visit to a hair dresser in for example Germany or Holland, I usually save much more than my ticket costs (even with the current crappy Norwegian kroner course). And I get a nice trip in addition.

A serious trade in anything isn't profitable here. The market is just too small and a lot of Norwegians are scared to death of touching anything foreign. So as long as I don't tell where it's bought, it's all ok.