After many years in the business, it is very obvious that Americans, Europeans probably also, place totally different values on products versus labor.  Our lights are a perfect example.  People know they will spend 100 or even 150 dollars an hour to have an electrician come out and install their lights. Yet they feel that paying $175 for a light is a lot, often too much. Yet, if we charged $100 an hour for labor, these lights would easily be triple the price or more. No question electricians have many years of experience and training to be taken into account, plus all their tools and supplies.  But again, it takes many tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, even more for inventory and tools, expensive rent for a shop and then there are the engineering skills, computer skills, mechanical skills, accounting skills, internet programming skills and sales skills needed to run the business. Far more than any electrician would ever need.  Yet we are lucky to make $20 an hour after all the overhead. But it is just the way it is, cheap goods from overseas have changed expectations and perceived values of most all products.