to everyone who questions my shipping costs;
please note, in addition to postage, i charge for packing materials, tape, boxes, etc.  also, if the shipping requires special needs (over sized box, extra heavy weight, etc.) and i have to stand in line at the post office and speak to a disgruntled, suicidal, manic-depressive postal employee with a 3 IQ, i charge for that too.  there is no free lunch here.  if i have to pay for material i pass that on as any good business person would.  if i have to spend time at the postal zoo, that also gets passed on.  25% of the time i don't charge enough anyway.

copy of letter sent 1/22 after over 10 requests for payment and just as many excuses:

nothing arrived today, monday.  i need either the payment in tomorrow's mail or the tracking number that you must have on your 'overnight' receipt by tomorrow or i will have to leave appropriate feedback with ebay.  you must realize that i am able to see that you closed about 65 other sales with ebay after my auction was closed.  i understand you had problems related to family, work, weather, health, etc. but sometime in the last 60 days you could have sent payment.  in 60 days i could have walked to tennesse, picked up my payment and walked back to new york.  this was christmas merchandise.  the season for it is over.

was i patient enough?

when they say "the check is in the mail," check the location of their genitalia and don't bite down.

when they say "payment has been delayed due to a death in the family," note how many times it was used as an excuse for negative feedback.  i saw one guy that had so many drawn out deaths in his family that i assumed they had an on going  bus accident on a five year family outting.