Online Stores and Shipping and Handling

So a few weeks ago I went to the NYC pen show. It was great! I purchased a nib and some sacs for some old fountain pens a coworker gave me that used to belong to her husband. I also received a lot of good information from a few vendors. While I was there I also purchased a TWSBI EF fountain pen. The great people of TWSBI were really great because they gave you a few ink choices to fill your brand new pen with, I chose Sailor Blue-Black.  OMG let me tell you, I normally don't like blue ink. It's just something about blue which makes me think of the ugly blue from the Bic Stic Pens in school. So normally I stay far away from blue. However the shading that Sailor Blue-Black gives in the TWSBI is phenomenal!

But back to the topic. I really love the ink so I decided to buy a bottle. Normally I would have purchased it at a physical store, because tax is cheaper than shipping.  However my normal stomping grounds don't sell this color ink. Well one just doesn't sell Sailor ink and another one only sells the newest colors. So that leaves me with buying it online. My usual online retailers for ink do not sell the brand either.  So I had to scourer the internet for a reputable company that did sell it. Now for the fun part, Shipping & Handling! I don't mind paying out the ___ for large and cumbersome items. However what ticks me off the most, with these charges is when I pay $8-12 in shipping and it only cost the proprietor $4-6 to ship the item. Do they refund you the money that you spent on shipping that was not used, No they do not. However we the customers are at their mercy for products that can not be found in local stores.

I guess I have become spoilt by online retailers that give free S&H after a certain dollar amount purchase or those that have a very nominal shipping fee.

I have now vented and should be ok for a while.