porcelainforyou2 - I rarely sell items which go at letter rate or below 500g. I send a variety of parcels which vary greatly in size and weight. Some of my items can go at a fixed rate Australia wide but a lot of of my parcels are based on weight and destination postcode. This usually happens due to the number of multiple purchases I have.
With auctions sometimes I have postage included in the starting price but if I am running loss leaders the postage component is listed separately.
I also sell Internationally using the flat rate method and select which countries/zones I choose to post to and enter the rates for each individual country or zone. Ebay provide the options to enter 5 different International Postage rates which I find more than sufficient to cover the countries I choose to post two.
Having done it for so long I know what the postage component of my sales is so I find it quite easy to work out a suitable selling price. For buyers who have a particularly big order I will usually enclose a free gift as a thank you if it appears that they have been "overcharged" by postage as it has been inbuilt into the price.
I have never had a buyer question me about getting a discount if they purchase multiple items at Buy It Now prices. For the auctions that I have the postage listed separately I still get lots of questions about combined postage rates. (which I do offer).
Basically I think they are two different types of buyers - you have the retail shopper or convenience buyer. For these type of buyers price is not always the main factor when purchasing. They shop online for convenience of having the parcel delivered to them as they don't have the time or inclination to go to regular shops. These are the ones who are happy to see an all inclusive price which means all they have to do is press the BIN, pay and wait for their parcel to arrive.
The buyers who bid at auctions seem to be more of the bargain hunter type buyer who wants to save every cent so therefore postage costs are more important to them.
