FJTorres, I hate to sound like I'm picking on you, but....
We simply don't have a single unified culture based on shared languages. You could ship Vegemite for free to the US and you'd be lucky to sell more than a handful of crates.
Local expertise is sill required, and in many (but not all) cases the best current compensation system involves working with local retailers and local publishers.
As to the Amazon UK/Australia connection: I don't know the full deal, but my guess is Amazon is leveraging their business in the Commonwealth to reduce their tax liabilities and operating costs. The "free shipping" is a promo deal that expires on May 15th. It's almost certainly a loss leader; they take a short-term loss on the orders to build customer loyalty and thus gain future sales. It's a common retailer tactic.
I'm fairly confident this is not an example of the kind of "Flat Earth" e-commerce you're looking for.
