We probably pay less because we usually bulk purchase. I don't use the 16F876A part, but the straight 16F876 is between $4 and $4.50 in volume. About 99% of all our PIC's are imported bulk from the far east. The remaining 1% or so are sourced locally in the UK. You should try Crownhill, they're really not too bad with their PIC pricing for small quantities and as a bonus you end up supporting this web site...

www.crownhill.co.uk