How Much To Ship You Far Away?

We have a shop in Cape Town where we get a lot of tourists who would like to ship things back to their country. No problem — we have been doing it for years — but there is a question I get asked daily that grinds my gears.

Customer: “How much does it cost to ship?”

Me: “What do you want to ship?”

Customer: “I just want to know how much shipping is.”

Me: “I need the size, weight, destination, and method of shipping; they all determine the price.” 

Pause.

Customer: “I just want to know how much shipping is.”