We don't know that the original packaging wasn't just fine.  He asked for a specific thing, which cost extra.  I've had lenses shipped to me that weren't double boxed, but were so well padded that I could have hit the box with a baseball bat and knocked it off the back of a moving truck and it wouldn't have broken.

Everyone has said I'm wrong.  What that suggests to me is that everyone thinks differently than I do.  There isn't anything wrong with that, especially since I didn't do anything that's illegal or immoral.

  I didn't agree to pay extra money and then not pay it.  I didn't know the seller was going to be too lazy to pack the thing himself so part of the shipping money that I already thought was a lot was going to pay someone else.  The seller didn't tell me it was going to cost extra for double boxing until it was well after the fact.  The seller didn't ask me to pay him extra.  He just said I should think about it.

  I didn't screw him out of anything, either.  I didn't twist his arm behind his back and say "spend this money or else".  I didn't promise to pay him an additional 5 cents but didn't do it.  I did what I said I would do ... pay for the item and the shipping charge he set.  As I said before, if he couldn't double box it for the same price, he should've said so before he did it.  He had access to my phone number.  He could've called or texted me from the FedEx store to ask me what I wanted based on the new price.  He didn't, though.

  If he got screwed, and it's a big IF because I don't believe another box costs or should cost $12, he did it to himself.  Everyone here is saying I should send him the $12 but that doesn't mean that I should or have to do it.  In other words, I'm entitled to my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

  My eBay ID name is irrelevant because I generally don't buy fragile items or items that have electronic and/or moving parts.  They also pretty much stay under $30 because too many people say they will ship things but won't.  If I lose $30, it's pretty bad but it's better than losing $100.

They fulfilled your special request, pay them...