I'm with you. It is a fact of life that buyers simply will not pay what it costs to ensure delivery for cheap items. No buyer is going to pay an additional $7.00 or more for a $5.00 item and if you include that cost in the original price, it only increases eBay's profits always assuming that a buyer thinks that the $5.00 item is worth $12.00 and you can sell it at all. The best you can do is make the SOD/registraltion option available but put a GREAT BIG disclaimer that you will not be held liable once the item is posted.

On the issue of photographing your envelope with the address AND the posting label that would seem like adequate proof of posting to me. Can you other people please explain to me why anyone would pay the postage for an article and then not send it, risking their reputation and all for a $5.00 item. That would be crazy!!! I don't know what you people sell but let me tell you it does not pay to inflate the cost of cheap items with fancy posting options because they won't be taken up or the item WILL NOT SELL.