No worries; the shipping was not a loss; what you paid + the curation rewards from comments on the original post more than covered everything.
Trading makes Steemit a bit more like a "real" community, to me. I'm not suggesting-- nor do I have any desires-- to turn this into a shopping venue; more a full reflection of what an entire ecosystem looks like: People tell stories, share creativity, form groups, meet... and sometimes trade with each other.