If you can arrange to have your package shipped to a commercial or business site it is a little cheaper yet. Lots of people have their packages shipped to work.
Every bit helps to keep the price of the product down.
As for our packaging, we try to always re-use boxes we get from various friends and businesses. This also helps to keep the price of things down as an average size box cost us about two bucks. Bigger ones can be up to four dollars. This is why many companies charge a handling charge to cover this added expense. Just as important is the fact that this recycles this valuable resource.