Can someone tell me what in the HELL a handling fee is? Isn't the whole JOB of a vendor to HANDLE merchandise when they sell it. These morons just need to raise their prices a couple percent and ditch that ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- "handling" charge.
Someone packs the items. The person packing is paid per hour (I doubt salary), so the time costs money.
Add the packing materials costs, including tape, box, and padding.
That is what handing fee is. (And in California, handling fee get the sales taxed, but shipping shouldn't.)
And since the above costs of, for example, two trackballs is
not twice that of one trackball but almost the same, putting the costs in the list price of said items over changes high volume customers and subsidizes low volume customers. And since happs is oriented for high volume costumers...

Note: I am
not defending happs. I'm just explaining the "good" reasons
many businesses use handling fees. There are also the "hidden" and "sneaky" reasons most often mentioned by small customers.
I don't mind the fixed handling fees like happs as long as long as it's clearly stated, but ones that say something like "$7 for first item, $2 for each of the rest" get my goat. Just add the $2 to the list price and use a flat "$5 handling fee".
Disclaimed: I used to pack for a small business back in the days, and we charged a flat $1 handling fee, in addition to the shipping fee. Customers complained at the shipping costs, but we past on exactly what we were charged (+ the $1 handling fee). At the time, shipping costs for single items overnight were more than the items themselves even before the $1 handling was added, but we had zero control on the shipping fees. But some customers are just plain stupid: we gave a 40% discount at 5 items, so it cost more to buy 4 than 5 (and 5 cost the same as 3), but people still bought 4 even after I explained that the total for 5 was $30, and the total for 4 was $40. (The shipping costs we were charged were the same for up to 5 items.) We listed the shipping costs, but people still chose the highest costing carrier, and then blamed us for the shipping costs being so high. Even after they checked shipping costs online with the carriers (and they'd get the same numbers) they'd still complain we should give free overnight shipping.
So I've been on both sides of shipping fees.