It's somewhat stupid and suspicious that big companies like D&D or David Blaine aren't able to use the same low shipping quotes that of people from eBay or Kickstarter. Note that we're talking about the SAME shipping method, which is, in my case, USPS Priority Mail International.
You know that something is wrong when it's cheaper to buy from resellers on eBay than from a pre-sale on a official website. Even though resellers' product prices may be a little higher, their total price (products + shipping) is lower.
I agree, and think it's in very poor taste to charge so much for shipping. It's certainly OK to add a little for your shipping materials and handling time, but that should not add up to what we often see from these big name stores.
I do feel cheated when DB just keeps increasing the shipping cost. It was $10 for Blue white lions, $15 for Red ones and now $19 for the black label??? And i live an hour away from their office, if they keep increase the shipping price i expect DB to deliver my cards in person
Allow me to play devil's advocate here for a moment.
Until recently, D. Blaine Productions did all their shipping from their downtown office. The warehouse is relatively new. That means the cost includes not just the cost of the mail and packaging, but there's the cost of the warehouse rent, the payroll for the shipping department...and they don't get the volume discounts that companies like Amazon get because they don't deal in the volume that Amazon does.
Kickstarter projects are usually one or two people inviting all their friends and family over for pizza and packing, so there's no warehouse rent, payrolls, health insurance, etc.