I just put 5 4/24/2001 pre-orders in my shopping cart,
shipping comes up as $2.95/each. Sounds expensive to me.
Is this a bug or a feature?

Every preorder at 800.com will cost $2.95 for shipping(Even if multiple preorders are released on the same day).

If you continue through checkout it will give the option of shipping your order when it is complete. If you do that the price should change from $2.95 for the first DVD and $0.95 for each additional title. It will list the $2.95 charge for shipping in your cart until you change your shipping preference. I recently ordered three DVDs that were released on different dates, but was charged only $4.95 for all three.

Check this link for 800.com's shipping information.

800.com Shipping Preorders
 

They have taken a different approach to other vendors like Amazon who show the cheapest alternative up front and then take you through a page which asks you if you want to pay more to ship the titles as they become available and then adds the charge to your order during checkout. 800.COM shows you preorders as shipping seperately in the checkout and then you have the option during checkout to change to have them all ship together. If you want to order several movies that are released on seperate dates but some are released on the same date you have to place seperate orders for each date and select to have them ship all together.