The mileage that it takes to drive to the post office (at $0.375 a mile that the IRS figures to include the cost of wear and tear, depreciation, insurance, and gas), your shipping fees would similarly skyrocket.

Then figure in your time to broker the whole transaction, process the payment, set up the auction, scan the chips, etc. At $50 an hour, any eBayer would be lucky to get off with less shipping than $15 per chip!

Not intending to be overly facetious, but you can see how easy it is to justify any price for the chip or for shipping if you take the 'logic' far enough.

That's the beauty of the capitalist system: prices from the seller's point of view are not set at a cost + markup level, but are rather set at what the market will bear. From a buyer's point of view if I think that the total price (end price plus shipping) is fair to pay for the chip I bid. If I don't, I don't bid. It's not like we are talking utilities or necessities of life here (though some chippers may disagree with me ).

As a seller, I'm free to charge whatever I feel the market will bear for shipping, and for the chip. As a buyer, I'm free to either participate or not participate in the transaction. If as a seller I know that certain individuals are morally opposed to paying what I'm asking for shipping, I have to weigh the benefits of charging less per transaction and perhaps gaining more customers, against the additional costs I may have to absorb in gaining that market share.

Logically as a buyer I shouldn't care if I pay less for the chip and more for shipping, as long as the total price is acceptable to me. However, on a personal level, I choose not to participate in some such auctions, because in my mind I think that exorbitant shipping charges reflect directly on the seller. It may not be a fair question for me to ask, but ultimately this is what goes through my mind: "Wow, if s/he is willing to screw me on shipping, what else might they be trying to pull over on me?".

Illogical? Yes. Have I lost out on some potentially good chip deals that way? Probably. Of course, I also tend to avoid auctions in general where the seller's feedback is too high (say, over 500 or more), because odds are they are doing this as a business, which means in general you are going to get less customer service, and will be lucky to get feedback-- regardless of whether or not you have left it first (in my experience). Nonetheless, if it is an item that I really want or the price is right, I have been known to waive any or all of the above rules .

What is exorbitant, or even too high for shipping? I don't think you can say definitively-- ultimately it is for each buyer to decide. However, if a seller notices that they aren't selling many chips, they may want to evaluate it for themselves. Ultimately no-one else can tell them. As you can see, there are lots of 'logical' arguments to support just about any shipping charge you want.

Whew? Have I rambled on enough now? My head is spinning . Yeah, Will, I think you're right: we should just list all of our chips through you, and avoid the whole messy headache!

Brent J. Jensen
R-6335
orbis non sufficit