Besides amazon.com, there are the big box stores like Best Buy, Fry's and telco shops where locals go check out the latest gadgets or smartphones. Prices are the same or better online than in-store. Like many countries, cheap handsets are tied to contracts/plans and some are further customized to be only functional with a specific carrier. In the US, some lawmakers are trying to make it illegal to UNlock your smartphone. Do an Internet search on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for more details.Fans of Apple products and accessories will know that there are hardly any price difference globally for arbitrage opportunities given their pricing strategies. For those who love to shop on amazon, AmazonGlobal has made international shipping easy.
Having said that, I have shipped a couple of Google phones, and this and that. So for all other electronic gadgets, there's life's lil' indulgence. ;-)