Jeff-

I can honestly say that I've faced similar situations, and I would treat them both equally. If there are two of the same chip up for auction, I judge the current bid price on each as the total of price and shipping. It's amazing to me that everyone doesn't do the same. Don't get me wrong -- if someone wants to pay more because they are offended my a seller's s&h policy, that's their perrogative. THere are a lot of others who ignore s&h and just concentrate on the bid price. What amuses me is that some people here seem to view it as an ethical issue. Low opening bids with raised s&h are a gimmick to attract customers. At the same time, advertising "I pay the shipping" but charging more for the chip is also a seller's gimmick to attract customers. Six of one, a half dozen of the other. I don't see a lot of people putting a chip for auction at face value with free shipping. Yes -- Andy says he's done it, but then admits he hasn't sold anything on eBay for a while.

The whole thing seems like much ado about nothing. But I guess if people can't be bothered to read the fine print and do the math, they're going to end up annoyed with someone.