Originally Posted by
NanaCsews2
The smart shops charge the price listed on the book. They get a deal on the shipping. They get a deal on the books they purchase. By charging the cost on the book, they are recouping their shipping costs, plus making a profit of the difference between costs they initially paid and what you paid. The smart shops don't tell you what you are being charged for shipping. It is included in the other costs. And then no one says anything. Everyone wins. Repeat: The Smart Shops.
Tell me please how you get a "deal" on shipping as a shop. As a shop owner I'd really like to know. And yes, we do pay shipping on everything that's shipped into our store. The only people who get "deals" on purchasing and shipping are the big outlets like Amazon and the big box stores. That's why they can often sell books for less than your regular LQS can buy them for and get them shipped in. And that's also why many many small online stores don't carry many, if any books anymore.
To the original poster -- if your LQS is charging you full cover price for the book, and not shipping it to you, they should not be charging you an additional shipping fee. If they are sending it to you in advance of the class, or selling it to you at cost, then they probably should be charging you for shipping.