I live in a small much to crouded country.. But all that stuff needs to be imported this reflects in the idiotic prices they ask for a piece of wood. The nicer it looks the more expensive they make it.. For example that spiderwood, which originates from your region from rododendrom nurseries i guess? If it occasionaly is to be found, a piece in dimensions 25 cm x 30cm will cost + € 30,-
Mangrove is even more expensive.. Over here bog wood from the peats is common, but they stock it in small batches maybe 20 pieces, so need to wait for a year sometimes before something realy intresting is to be found. I have one LFS, he probably found a bargain somewhere and bought a cubic metre crate with Mopani. He sells it per Kilo for a reasonable price. But he has it standing out door and 50% in it is already soft and rotting. 🙁
That's a point as well, we do not have the climate to store it long term.. To little demand for the storage space it occupies.. So we are lucky to find 20 little ugly pieces of wood in an LFS and occasionaly get lucky with a nice one.. 🙂