Outrageous shipping- what's a guy to do?

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Posted By: J Levine

It is illegal (although done constantly by many large companies) to make a profit on shipping and handling. The lawyers in the group can tell you more but I was recently involved in a transaction (non-ebay, non cards) over christmas where I was charged nearly $35 in shipping and handling for an item shipped parcel post in a plain box and no packing material that the post office said cost $3.10 to ship. I ended up going to small claims (I have had it with shipping overcharges as many of you know)...the company representative stood in court and tried to justify that the box was expensive and the time it took to pack it cost the company money and the printing of the packing slip (done on a computer printer) cost money, etc. The judge actually laughed at him and told him that he was forwarding the case to the postal inspector. I won my $35 back...very satisfying. The judge said that it is illegal to profit off shipping charges although handling fees are often inflated.

Joshua