I would like to play devils advocate here as I have been on both sides of the shipping issue. I can only speak for my experience in Australia with couriers....which is often a better alternative to our national postage system. The size box that they are using may be due to a deal they have done to reduce shipping on a company wide basis. Some of our courier company's will do a very attractive deal if you agree to ship only certain size cartons, which means you essentially pay more for small parts shipped in larger boxes, but ultimately you pay much less for the heavier and larger items when shipped. At an individual consumer level you may think that's not fair but as a company you need to consider what is good for the whole base of customer....if you can offer cheap or free (free to customer - absorbed into profits) shipping on the heavy stuff it makes you a more attractive seller over those that dont.

Oh and to also put things into a pricing perspective....i ordered 4 nozzles for PP3DP Up! printers from a wholesales for one of my customers a few months back....in AU we pay over $20 for 1 nozzle wholesale....before shipping.....i read some of the prices you guys talk about and can only be envious