Shipping

Why does it cost $12 to ship a one-inch circle of glass?

I broke my watch a few weeks ago (it fell out of my pocket in the locker room...) and it needs a new crystal. There's a place in Ontario (H. & W. Perrin Co. Limited, no website, unfortunately) that will sell parts to hobbyists, but the shipping price seemed a little bit steep to me: $9.45 for "registered mail" (which is just Canada Post's "business" version of regular service.) I probably could have got them to put the crystal in a little bubble-envelope for 52 cents, but the guy on the phone didn't speak English very well, and I just wanted my watch fixed already. "XpressPost" was only $12 (for "2 day service," compared to 4 days for registered mail) so I sprang for it.
I also asked for a catalog of their tools; there's nothing wrong with looking at more tools, so long as I don't buy any of them...

Here's the ironic part:
The shipment didn't make it until yesterday, a full week after I placed my order. Counting two days for the weekend, and one day for processing, that means expresspost from Toronto is actually four day service.
Even more bizarre, the parcel (containing a catalog and a tiny piece of glass) barely fit in the mailbox!

Here's why:

Someone decided that the catalog would be better off rolled up into a tube and stuffed into a box than lying flat in an oversized envelope.
The actual part?
A teeny tiny envelope.

Oh well. At least I can wear my watch again!