The handling fee is our charge for handling your order: buying your items for you, receiving them at our UK warehouse, inspecting and photographing them, and combining and preparing them for shipment.
It is calculated once on your combined items subtotal, not per item, charged on your items only and never on shipping, and shown as a single line on your quote. The fee reflects the size of your order, so businesses ordering in volume or regularly are charged at a better rate. Ask us about a trade account.
The handling fee is our margin. Shipping is passed through to you at cost, with no mark-up. Where there is no ready link and we find an item for you, a separate sourcing fee covers that work; and where an item cannot be posted to us, a separate collection fee covers collecting it in person. How shipping is quoted explains shipping, Sourcing explains sourcing, and UK Collection explains collection.
See: Terms of Service, section 4 (Payment Terms).