Entirely agree with you. I'm often surprised by what is considered "normal" now. Some people here flip basses like it's their job. It also seems to be common practice to order several basses online, have them shipped, try them out, keep one (or none) and have the others sent back. Repeat.
I don't get it, honestly. For me buying an instrument has always been a significant commitment. Before I consider spending my money on one I need to see it, hold it in my hands, sit down with it, play it, hear it. Unless it's a custom order...which means I know exactly what I want (again, commitment).
Of course shipping basses individually should be expensive: It's a large, fragile object that needs to be handled with care! Fuel is getting more expensive in North America, but it's still not expensive enough. If it was that expensive, most of us wouldn't drive large trucks and SUVs for absolutely no reason. For the longest time Europeans have been paying almost twice as much as we do for their fuel. Maybe they used some of these taxes to get decent trains and public transit systems out of it, who knows?
