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Posted By: warshawlaw

It is just so much easier that way even though it costs me over $10 to ship a $500 item with insurance via priority mail. I just factor it into the price. If someone wants a specific type of shipping and/or insurance and asks for it, I will give them a price on the extra service. I don't bother marking up items for "handling" though; again, too much hassle for too little reward. If someone wants to send me an SASE and have me throw it into the mailbox, that's fine too. Besides, we are all colleagues here; I treat people the way I hope to be treated when I buy.

The only time I react like your buyer did is when the seller specifically charges me for a service like priority mail or insurance then doesn't come through. Someone did that to me last week on ebay (demanded insurance money then didn't insure the package) and I raised a stink and got a refund of the extra shipping costs. That sort of stuff ticks me off. Otherwise, the price is the price and if it gets to me in good shape, I have no complaints.

One other shipping "standard" does come to mind, as long as we are on the subject: recycle your shipping materials when possible. I don't mind and I don't think many others would either, especially if all we are talking about is added padding inside a USPS priority envelope. It is a great way to keep your costs down to nothing on shipping and at the same time save some landfill space.