I'd be surprised if nobody (that bid high anyway) didn't read the rule about lucky time. I thought that was a great spin to get things rolling and encourage high bids at the start of the auction. In some cases, it definitely worked.
As for shipping, stick with what you think is reasonable. Shipping a single game via 1st class within the states runs about $3 with DC if you buy it direct from the PO, $2.30 if you use an online service. A mailer is another $0.50. An extra $1 is perfectly reasonable for the time it takes the seller to go out of their way to ship the item. The bottom line is if you don't like the shipping, don't bid.
Finally, what's a mudkip? I'd rather just ask as the last time a question of this nature came up in Refused's TL, I looked it up on Google images. I will carry that image to my grave.
As for auctions and idiots, aren't we all... aren't we all.