Tuensday?

Cuz yeah, I totally missed Technical Tuesday.  Oh well.  It happens.  I am getting better, but I am still only human.

So... today's word of the day... Shipping!

And here is my question (already in convenient poll format over there to the right of this post):

Would flat rate shipping be a turn off for you in a shop?  Ie.  I know for a fact that the average cost for me to ship a package is $5 - even for 2 bars of soap.  Yes, 2 bars.  By the time I pay for postage, delivery confirmation, and envelopes, and the thank you cards that go in the packages. 

The fact of the matter is I can ship up to 6 bars of soap (sometimes 8 depends on the soap in question) well bubble wrapped and secure, in a flat rate priority mail envelope for $5. 

But, from the largest order to the smallest, it costs me $5 average to ship domestic packages.  So what I want to know dear readers (and customers, or potential ones)... Would it be a turn off for you if you saw a flat rate shipping charge of $5 for the first bar of soap, with free shipping on everything else you purchased?  Or would it encourage you to buy more products knowing that no matter how much you bought you'd only be paying $5 for shipping?

And, transparency being the goal here, yes, this is both a way for me to try to save my customers some money, but also a way to try to encourage larger sales... because while I must say that I don't mind shipping one bar at a time, and would always be willing to ship a single item at cost (postage plus envelope), it would be much easier on me in the long run to have multiple purchases done in a single shot.

So, express yourself!  What do you think?  Vote in the poll and tell me your opinions here.  Let's get a dialogue going!