Extravagant shipping charge

" $150 shipping charge on a $150 item is ridiculous."

That statement is ridiculous. What one pays for an item has no relation to what it costs to pack, ship and insure. Weight, size, packing material, labor (if not done by the seller) and insurance decides the shipping price.

Is UPS or a UPS store doing the packing? If so, the item needs to be double boxed or maybe even crated, plus all the packing materials. All that costs money. Insurance also adds to the cost.

It has become obvious that the shipping charge complainers have not actually done much heavy shipping recently.

" The item weighs 55lb, and it is about 17x17x10 size. The shipping box will be about 20x20x15, and the total weight would be close to 60 lb. "

If I was shipping a 55 lb, item with those dimensions I would not use a 20 x 20 x 10 box, too small. The item needs to be double boxed with plenty of room between one box and the other. Remember, the selling price has nothing to do with safely getting a 55 lb. piece of audio gear from point A to point B without damage. If you want your item to arrive safely, it is simple, you have to pay for it. Shipping heavy items via UPS, FedEx and USPS is expensive. If you want cheap, ship Greyhound, terminal to terminal.

Not everyone knows how to ship or pack for that matter. There is part of our society that would pay someone else to do that for them, never think of doing it themselves and see no reason the buyer would have problem dealing that way. I have had dealings with similar people and they are not going to change their minds as it is the course of their everyday lives.

Just for fun, I took the OP's  20" x 20" x 15" - 60lb. box, shipped from Portland, OR to Northern Florida and ran it thru (3) shipping rate calculators: FedEx Home Delivery _retail - $107.44.  FedEx Home Delivery _ using my account - $75.79.  FedEx Home Delivery _ sold via eBay - $55.95 or 47% off of retail.

Ok, let's add $15.00 for (2) new boxes and $10.00 for packing material + any sales tax for your state.  So retail $107.44 + $25.00 = $132.44 + tax if charged. While there are always cheaper ways to do things, not everyone would want to spend time doing so.