EXAMPLE:
I just purchased 5 books from Amazon, each one cost about a penny to a dime. . . I think the total (because one was nearly 2.00 dollars, was around $5.00 but when all was said and done shipping cost over $15.00 e.g. my huge savings on each book was squashed when it came to shipping & handling. . . that second part is also a catch; "Handling Fees" be it a dollar or five is a fee attached by the shipper so as to cover the time and materials needed for shipping a product. This is how the shipper can make a bit more money off that one cent clearance item which tends to be a similar and accepted (and legal) service charge standard and why, when buying that $18.00 vacuum cleaner the processing charges exceed $25.00 and so forth.
Some years ago there was an article in Business Week or some such publication that outlined how this particular tactic worked and how it made AMAZON.COM as well as EBAY.com huge money entities on the web in little over a year's time. This however, is why more and more companies are trying to go with downloads be it for a pdf or mp3 or better video. I think it's an excellent direction to go so long as the download service doesn't become a $1.50 per download routine (not that anyone is doing that YET).
"sigh" when it comes to money there is no low that some folks will go in order to separate what you thought was your cash from you and put it (temporarily) into their own pockets, that's just how life works. . .
