This is one way to mitigate knock off products from China. If the shipping costs come up to the norm, they won't always (if ever) be the cheapest product so the real one will win out more often.

Various products will have different tipping points where it just doesn't make sense to ship and/or they aren't getting enough sales to justify it.

Personally, I like it and it seems like everyone wins.. except people who undercut the real product with cheap, inferior knockoffs.