> So every time you think you've got just the right size/weight/price balance you get screwed. And where else are you going to go?

You've skirted around the obvious question: Why did you pick FBA to begin with? Amazon sellers existed long before FBA. They did their own shipping, so almost none of those fees apply. Many sellers continue to do well on the Amazon platform while not being part of FBA.

If you can't succeed without participating in FBA, then all that's happened is Amazon created an environment for previously unviable businesses to succeed, and has merely tightened it.