I find that people like to know up front what the shipping charge is going to be. Since I live in California, I weigh my item, then I use the shipping rate calculator to figure the rate to Chicago. Round up to the nearest buck. If they live nearby, I either make a profit on the shipping, or I may ship priority with the extra money. If they live in Florida, I may lose a couple of bucks on shipping. I've never had a complaint, but If someone wants to worry about the shipping amount, I can just get them a custom quote. I usually use Post office Parcel post, figure the rate at
http://www.usps.gov
For heavier items, UPS is better, and they have a shipping rate calculator too.