Since I never saw what BB US used for shipping material, this explains why there is so minimal damage to their shipments. There are plenty of options available for shipping SteelBooks, anyone who ordered worldwide knows that.

The box thing originated from the Future Shop days, and over time morphed into this oversized box solution. Why? probably because that's a popular shipping size all around which ends up being cheaper than specific packaging for a particular product.
Amazon does the same thing with their shipments, every so often you get this oversized box because there's nothing in between.

As for postage costs, that's pretty much irrelevant since Canada Post only has 2 low cost services available:

"Letter Mail" which must fit in a mail slot with very low weight allowance.
"Expedited" which is a businesses only option cheaper than consumer Parcel Post, but accommodates larger shipments & weights at a competitive pricing.
They work out contracts with the various carriers in order to negotiate better rates anyway, so the shipping costs are irrelevant.

It all boils down to common sense, obviously BB US has figured out that improper packaging results in losses and customer dissatisfaction. They listened and took action.

BB Canada on the other hand, we all know how that goes.