When did ebay shipping fee have become that expensive?

[jarl]

I'm pretty new to ebay, so few months ago i've tried purchasing crest whitestrips on ebay which the seller agreed to ship worldwide /Mongolia- the lost land/ cos we don't get to indulge in such variety of consumer goods in this 3rd world country. As i was checking out ,ebay calculated the shipping fee based on my location the lost land and it was 3.50USD i was surprised how low the shipping fee was. However its the 1st day of 2012 and i am planning on purchasing few more things on ebay however this time around ebay calculated my shipping fee to be 38.90USD for one item only its an BIO oil which costs 8.20only , i'm not so sure when did ebay started charging so much on shipping!! I am so damn sad right now cos i can't buy what i've wanted for so long cos the shipping fee is just ridiculously high , i believe in the USA due to time difference its still 2011 so i am wondering is it because of the Holiday season that ebay is charging so much on shipping or is there something else?