That was originally a way to avoid ebay seller fees. They didn't originally charge fees on shipping, only the cost of the item, which makes sense. People took advantage of that so they had to change that policy and charge fees on shipping it's not really "fair" to be charged fees on shipping but that's the way they choose to handle the situation. Now most things on eBay have "free" shipping, in other words the cost of shipping is rolled into the price of the item. I think you also have to have "free" shipping to be featured on eBay's daily deals which encourages the practice.