Shipping and "handling" has gotten way out of line. Given, the post office has gone up again on postage, but they do have the envelopes and boxes that ship if it fits...however alot of sellers charge way too much. I called Clotilde for this very reason because a $7.99 pattern was going to cost me $4.95 in shipping. Knowing that the postage at the most would be under a dollar, I called. They said that it wasn't the postage, they had to pay somone to pull the pattern and put it in the envelope. (Handling) I don't shop this outlet. I don't mind paying for shipping if it is actual shipping abd they tell me ahead of time what I have to pay. Your seller was out of line. You did the right thing. By the way, why is shipping based on price of items with some sellers rather than weight/postage. For example: purchasing a software type CD for $149 could cost $18.45 with a retailer I was buying from....I called and said it would only cost about 75 cents to mail...they said this was their policy to charge according to the dollar amount...I found the item on Amazon.com with free shipping. During Christmas I shopped with my phone connected to amazon...everytime I found a gift for a family member, I checked my phone...sometimes the retailer would match the price. Most of my shopping was done via the internet with no tax and free shipping. Many of the fabric sites and sewing/quilting related retailers do offer free shipping with their source codes off of their mailing labels...just have to watch. BTW I do not work for amazon....I don't like paying sales tax or shipping.....use that savings for more fabric.
d in TX