They started charging on shipping about 8 or 9 months ago I beleieve. Average shipping for Canada to U.S. is about 13 dollars so ebay takes just over a dollar. You can see how they hits the profits when you sell low and hope for quantity.
They apparently did this because there were too many sellers selling at 99 cents (free listing) and then boosting the shipping to make profit. Ebay would only make commission on the sale of 99 cents and not the profit made on shipping.
Basically the scammers ruined it for the small honest guy.