There has been a lot of talk about how high shipping and handling is.   Now that sellers are being rated on it, I would like to explain, at least from my perspective, the costs.
    Take for instance a 100 watt soldering iron.  I sell them for $5.99 and charge for shipping $5.95.  Let's break down the costs.  At $5.99 the ebay fee to list is $0.40 and gallery fee is $0.35.  If you're lucky enough to sell the product on the first try, the final value fee is 5.25%, which comes to about $0.31.  If you accept your payment through paypal, there is an additional cost of 2.9% of  the entire payment plus $0.30 per transaction.  For this example, the total cost is $10.94 X 2.9% or $0.32 plus the transaction fee for a total of $0.62.  So the total fees from paypal and ebay comes to $1.68.  Oops, sorry, I forgot the $0.14 fee we're charged for package tracking, bring it up to $1.82.  ***Edited---The price for package tracking is now up to $0.18.  Prices have been adjusted.***
     Let's add to that the cost of packaging, $0.60 for a sturdy box to withstand any postal handling, and we're up to $2.46.  Now, the actual cost to ship by USPS first class mail (using Priority Mail, if you're charging only $5.95 for shipping, is a deal killer) at 13 ounces is $3.17, bringing the total to $5.63.
    There is $0.32 left over to pay for paper and ink to print packing slips and labels with, packaging peanuts to protect the product in shipping, tape to seal the packages with, etc...  OK, I think you get the idea now.  Shipping and handling is as much as the product cost for a reason.
    I hope this guide in a small way helps buyers understand the sellers costs of doing business.  While there may be some sellers charging too much, most of us are not out to cheat anybody.

Thanks for reading and happy ebaying,
Zardoz131