the story of vitra. about the Eames Lounge Chair  

they could be steelcase ...
they could be steelcase they did a nice job of copying her work , and created their own line that did real well and got lots of respect in the office market, not like Burke that got no respect cause it was a crappy imitation of great work done by Saarinen

Florence Knoll desk table knockoffs
Yes I thought it might be steelcase but have never seen an example anywhere. Some mentioned that Florence Knoll licensed her designs to others. Does anyone know who?
The base that was on ebay is item #300209129429.
Someone paid $500 for it assuming it was Knoll.

Jtudor
Technically, it's none of the dealers business, really, what you do with your purchase after it's removed from their store. You could set a match to it.
If you buy it online and arrange for the shipper of your choice to pick it up, what does it matter to the dealer. Yes, Vitra and Herman Miller might drop to the floor and chew on the carpet, but that's their problem!

Thanks
Jamie, thanks for the tip. I am in Sweden and was just about to research ways to purchase HM from here.
I think Vitra adds insult to injury by denying its customers the full range of the Eames collection. Notable exceptions include the entire plywood series in walnut, and the EDU/ESU in the natural colour scheme.

Florence Knoll desk table knockoffs
Well I found out who made the Florence Knoll look alike
table/desks----Stow, Davis.

Overpriced in Australia too...
Vitra is terribly overpriced in Australia, $385 AUD for a Herman Miller plastic eiffel base side chair. When asked, Vitra said that there was no price adjusting (ie. reduction) to compensate for the strength of the Australian dollar against the USD. If fact, they had just hiked up the price.
I'm also considering the Modernica fibreglass chairs as they are a comparable price to Vitra's (in the US) and seem to have a more tactile and attractive finish (have not seen one in the flesh yet). But I was shocked to discover that the Modernica chairs are $510AUD! Double the US price and considerably more than Vitra.
I'm looking into shipping from a US store, but postage seems to be astronomical to Australia. If anyone has any courier suggestions or can even give me idea of the cost of shipping 6 chairs out of the US, it would be much appreciated.
Getting hold of good original chairs would be my preference, but they just don't come up that often in Australia.
I have always been amazed that furniture can be quite freely reproduced. I must admit I find it fascinating and have spent many hours trawling the internet on the subject. But I think the old adage rings true, you pay for what you get - in terms of quality, authenticity and resale value. Now, how to get my hands on a whole lot of cash...