Without knowing what the items are, there's no way I could know how much it would actually cost to ship them to the UK. It may be that $30 is a reasonable _difference_ betweeen the UK and US shipping costs. The things that annoy me are sellers who have _ridiculously_ high shipping costs. There's a guy who's got some manuals for sale -- fairly thin manuals, no binders or anything like that. His shipping charge to the UK is something over \pounds 60.00. Now, I relaise that filling in tyhe customs form for overseas shipping takes time, and that it's reasonable to have to pay for that. But, darn it, that charge is excessive compared to the shipping charged by other sellers for much larger/heavier/more delicate items. As with others here, I get annoyed when things are not packed adeguately and arrive damaged. I would be happy to pay more for proper packing on a rare device. And I wish sellers would (a) get in touch if there's a delay in sending out the package, and (b) would actually let me know when they send it. If I am not in to receive the parcel, it gets taken back to the post office or sorting office then (a) I have to go and collect it and (b) it appears such packages are much more likely to be damaged. So I want to be in when it's delivered. On the other hand, I don't want to have to wait around for a parcel that's not even been sent yet. A short e-mail from the seller 'I sent it on $date' would be much appreciated. -tony