We use USPS to ship all prints. Large prints are shipped in a tube while smaller print are shipped flat.
We use Fedex Insured to ship all frames within the continental U.S.
We don't make money shipping our work. Just like you we hate the sticker shock of getting to the end of a transaction on the internet only to find out the shipping cost is unreasonable.
No shipping software is perfect. While we try really hard to only charge the actual cost of shipping there are times when the shipping calculator is not appropriate for the item you are purchasing. If you feel the cost of something you want shipped is overpriced please contact us and we will look into how our system calculated the price. If we find an error we will adjust the price accordingly.