I have seen a steady increase in shipping costs since about 1990. There was a brief few years when venture captalists were pouring literally tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars into internet startups, like Amazon, which lost money for something like 15 years before making a profit. Amazon subsidized Fed Ex and UPS to the tune of billions for years- and it was far from the only money losing online company that was propping up the shippers. When, in the last few years, the online stores stopped subsidizing the big shippers, they responded by beginning to charge what it really costs to ship.
So- we had a few years of free lunch, courtesy of hedge funds, but now we are back to the real world- where everything costs more every year, where inflation actually exists, and sugar daddy is no longer paying for our free shipping.
It aint fun, but its capitalism.
