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Posted By: davidcycleback

One thing a seller can do who worries about people complaing about shipping price is to give the seller the option of selling of sending an SASE. Most buyers will consider the SASE too much work, especially if paying with PayPal and knowing they taking shipping damage loss responsibility, and will choose the shipping charge. And if someone complains afterwards that the shipping charge was too high, the seller can reiterate that he had the option of sending an SASE ... If a buyer turns down 37 cents + 5 cents for envelope, he is hardly in a position to complain that a $4 shipping charge was too high.

This also illustrates to bidders who think that shipping should be exact cost (stamp + envelope) that most bidders will pay more than cost for the convenience and security of the seller doing the packaging/shipping/addressing. Not unlike a labratory test, when offered the option of taking the time and responsibility to do the shipping themseles, most buyers will pay extra $$ to have the seller to the shipping.

Many bidders pooh pooh a seller's claims that a shipping charge should include the time to package, stand in line at the Post Office, etc. What is humorous about this is that most bidders in part chose not to write out SASEs because the feel that writing SASEs, foreward envelope, bank check and order note takes too much work. Despite their seeming disdain of the idea that work time should be included in the shipping charge, these non-SASE buyers instead illustrate that they do feel that the shipping/packaging time has monetary value as they pay extra money in order shift their work load to the seller.