I find FedEx to be reliable, too. But the amount it adds to the overall bill is a bit much. The second tier up in EE's shipping options are very often well over $20 for me, sometimes closer to $30.
That has always been the main picking point that I have with EE. They are doing tremendous volume in retail sales, and they also act as a wholesaler. Other etailers like BBTS and Dorksidetoys do significant volume of sales (probabaly not as high as EE), but their shipping rates and services are also much more reasonable. It makes me wonder a couple of things about EE:
-Is Entertainment Earth building "handling" into their shipping prices? Meaning warehouse labor costs, shipping materials, etc, in addition to what the carrier charges
-Have they ever considered setting up a product fulfillment center that's more centrally located in the country? Or are they married to keeping their operation almost entirely in SoCal?