A couple of thoughts about shipping costs.
First, the current USPS rates for small packages are attached. While the prices USPS charges are high, and have gone up a lot, a small item does not cost anywhere near $14 or $17 to ship. For items less than 14 ounces, the cost is about $4 to $6, as shown in the attached current chart. The charge is less if you use a negotiated discount, such as shipping via eBay. I ship a lot and pay $3.22 on a routine basis. In practice, many of our favorite vendors will adjust charges closer to actual, on a case by case basis.
Second, there are a number of factors that influence rates higher. Ever noticed that when you order a small part via e-Packet service China, the price you pay is less than the cost of the postage alone, if postage is purchased in the USA? The reason for this is that the China rate is set by, wait for it, the United Nations. The USA and a number of other nations entered into an agreement that the UN gets the say-so as to rates, influenced by the economic status of the sending nation. The net effect is that the playing field is not level, that makers and shippers in the USA can not compete in the market, even if their cost of goods is zero.
To compensate for the low rates China pays to use USPS, the rates for USA customers are set high. The same one ounce letter containing a small, thick item that cost $0.05 in 1967 now costs $3.80 or more, as shown in the attached chart. That is basically 100x more expensive. Have USA wages risen 100x in that same period? Not really. On the lower rungs of the wage ladder, such as fast food labor, 1967 wages were about $2 / hour, now about $8 / hour. Eight over two doesn't yield one hundred.
Peter