> Herber Graf wrote:

> When I want to buy something from a bricks and mortar store down the
> road I look up the price on the Internet, go to the store, and buy it.
> Imagine my surprise if at the checkout they proclaimed I ALSO had to pay
> shipping and handling from the factory the item was produced in China to
> the store I'm standing in? At a bricks and mortar store the price for
> shipping, handling, packaging, store clerks, store leasing, etc. is all
> built in.

This is a strawman argument. It has nothing to do with your main
point.

The cost of shipping *to* the store (including an internet store) is
mostly a fixed cost. Therefore the seller can include this in the base
price.

> Why are online retailers CHARGING shipping and handling separately? Why
> do MANY of them royally rip people off? I've been charged $30+ shipping
> and handling for items barely worth $30 that arrive through regular post
> with a post mark of $5. Yes, the box costs something, and the "bring it
> to the post office" costs something, but $25 PER ITEM? Ouch...

For several reasons:

1. The costs to ship an item can differ according to destination.
2. Packing (handling) can vary according the item.
3. Sometimes handling does cost that much. I used to live far from a
	real post office. Driving in was a fairly major pain and expense.

> I personally stay away from ANY online retailer that either a) hides
> their shipping prices until I've given them my credit card (ALOT of
> companies do that) or b) have unreasonable rates for shipping and
> handling.

I will admit that with the new UPS calculators there is no excuse for
hiding this information once the order is complete.

I try to stay away from unreasonable rates for S and H, but I also try
to stay away from unreasonably expensive stores of all kind.
-- 
D. Jay Newman           ! Author of: _Linux Robotics: Building Smarter Robots_
                        !
jay@sprucegrove.com     ! "Those who would give up essential liberty to
                        ! purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither
http://enerd.ws/robots  ! liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
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