Your points about buying from China and China domestic warehouse are completely valid.
But do you really think running a large scale UGL with 50+ SKUs like SYN is someone's side hustle? I assure you, the larger labs, employ multiple people. A side hustle would be something like Jet's Labs. The guy selling $40 vials at retail is a one man operation that operates out of his basement with little to no overhead. Sure, you get the $40 vials, but you also end up with lots of people suddenly getting scammed out of the blue, because the one man just one day decided to disappear into the abyss.
Same story with Apexa and any other "lab" aka one man operation that sold $40 vials. Whoever starts that way, either ends that way with poor longevity or they eventually expand, and expansion requires hiring personnel and added security, which obviously means higher prices for the end consumer.
So unless people go with your suggestions of China/China domestic, they either keep buying from one man operations and switching sources when the one man operation falls apart or they pay the premium and stick with the larger more reputable labs.
I am not suggesting one or the other. It's just the way it is.