For my ten cents worth (expensive i know lol) i think the following;
a sellers time is worth something too, BUT they must be upfront about handling charges and NOT bury them in postage
i think it has all got too dog eat dog and i dont really blame sellers (except the ones above that are "buriers") i blame sites like ebay who like to look like the heroes offering cheaper and cheaper goods all at the sellers cost, sellers are really struggling and despite the fact ebay and sites like it deliver less and less unique buyers, watchers and bidders, their fees have risen not fallen (which should be the case)
its no surprise to me that these sites have far less sellers and even sellers who prefer to sell on sites like oztion for comparative peanuts ON PRINCIPLE rather than be raped and pillaged by unfair fees.
like most things though this does not apply to ALL items and some go for crazy prices even beyond their market value even today, that is unexplainable by logic
i dont begrudge a seller a fee for handling, especially when the item they offer is special and offered at a reasonable price, as long as the item is well described and professionally handled it all seems fine to me, as long as it is disclosed, what rankles people is when it is not disclosed and a seller sends an item in cheaper packing and postage than described, or not registered when they charged for registered.
if the buyer wants the item enough and fees are reasonable and described well they will buy, although today this is less the case than before because in many ebay categories its a buyers market, but not all.
