I'd have to agree. Especially w/ someone in the same caliber as Erlwine. $80 for a new nut isn't all that bad when you take into consideration that he's doing it from a blank and shaping it down to size, making sure the slots are cut correctly etc... Even at that even the best of the best have a hard time getting it dead on the first time. Bone nuts are tricky to work with and very time consuming. Just from personal experience, there are about 5 shops in my area that do nut work. 4 of them charge around $40/$50 and most of the time, they look like they use butter knives to cut the slots. The one guy charges $75 and it's perfect every time. I'd personally rather spend the extra money knowing it was done right the first time.
I wouldn't really flip about a packaging charge either. Just think about all the times you've bought a guitar and it's been packed correctly. It takes some work getting it out of the box. And no matter how careful you are, you still have a mess to clean up. Also how long does it take you to properly pack a guitar for shipment. I don't mean tossing it in the case dropping in a box and tossing some crap in there. I mean securing it in the case and securing it in the box so it doesn't move. It takes awhile.
Bottom line is, in a busy shop like Dan's, time is money and you're going to pay for his time from the minute he lays hands on the package. If he were to do that for free, he'd be out around 45 minutes of bench time he could be working on another paying customers guitar that didn't ship his guitar in.
Just my .02, but I'm sure there other luthiers/techs out there that charge just as much. Maybe if XSSIVE has any clue what Mirabella charges for that kind of stuff he'll chime in. I'm betting he's not to far off either.
