hello sue . . . once again, i'm just guessing, if you and the seller actually communicated with each other via emails then i would not have thought that they would have taken an action like that . . . especially if you tell them that you'd like to win several auctions and combine them to save on s&h; although last week i had 1 ebay seller email me several times AFTER i had won that they would not allow me to combine and save on shipping and handling . . . they only wanted a very modest amount for s&h and it was still worth it to me; but i'll leave feedback for them after i recieve the items . . . i've learned that some sellers markup the s&h and set it as a high fixed $ amount so as to reduce the commissions that they would otherwise have to pay ebay and also to possibly catch unsuspecting buyers . . . for example, 1 item that i bought today (which is the same as dozens of identical items on ebay) i had scoped out because the seller was willing to use the "ebay USPS calculator" for a buyer to calculate the shipping costs (which in my location in houston, texas turned out to be $3.75) but i've seen the s&h costs FIXED by some sellers on the same identicay type of item to run as high as $21.00 . . . because of the relatively low s&h costs, i knew what total price (bid price plus s&h) i was filling to pay so i could afford to bid a little more, and i was fortunate to win it. regards, steve