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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations August 6-7, 2005:

Special Handling.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. 

You see a stamp or envelope on eBay or another online site, and the price is right, so you buy 
it. But your final total includes another five or six dollars -- for postage and handling.

You have only yourself to blame. You didn't read the fine print. Or, if the seller didn't state 
what shipping costs would be, you should have asked before you made the purchase.

High postage and handling charges are one way sellers can make up for low prices. A five-dollar s
tamp's auction starts at two bucks....but there's a three dollar shipping charge.

So do the math: Figure in the postage, handling and insurance fees when making your bids or 
purchases. And ask yourself -- in advance, not after the sale -- if those charges seem 
reasonable. 

You can mail a couple of stamps or a collectible envelope by first-class mail for less than a 
dollar. Postal insurance for items worth less than fifty dollars is a dollar-thirty.

If you don't like the proposed charges, move on to another offer.

And that's Stamp Collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 

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