Sometimes it really is not cost effective to shop on line ,particularly for one yard of fabric. I really dislike the circumstances you just encountered.
I typically end up buying 4 or more yards to get the cost of shipping per yard to a more reasonable amount. This means I have to "save up" my planned purchases via the shopping cart , and run the risk of the fabric being sold out.
There have been more than a few times a "must have" fabric has gone unpurchased because I can't stomach the final bill of almost $20.00 for a single yard.