Bill, maybe it is the high cost of gas they are trying to recapture now. Usually they can come up with all sorts of reasons to rationalize a high shipping charge. Generally they are trying to recapture all their eBay fees and PayPal fees in their shipping charges. I still charge $1 flat fee for combined shipping.. even to the UK. Bubble mailers are not all that expensive and postage is not all that expensive. Occasionally I will come out a little behind on a combined shipment to Europe, but it is close enough, and I have built up a good group of repeat customers that appreciate reasonable shipping. I know I tend to bid regularly on auctions of folks that have treated me right on shipping in the past.