Many of my items are heavy, that’s often the nature of steelworks, therefor shipping costs can be high, for example a forged stool with a 30mm thick wood seat will cost just over £15 with Parcelforce and it will be tracked and insured.
I package my items up as well as I can, this means that (as they can be heavy) I need to source some heavy duty packaging materials, I’m resourceful so I go to the local domestics supplier’s warehouse where I can get very thick cardboard boxes that your American style fridges ship in. This of course takes time. I also need very strong tape to hold it all together, gaffa tape is best, this is not cheap.
Local collection is always welcome and you may even get a cup of tea!