Hi Ben. The "crib" is really a packaging helper that can serve as a holder when it's on your bench rather than just throwing it out. It keeps the tips from banging together or poking through the padded envelope during shipping. If it had a lid, the unit would be too thick and have to be shipped in a box and the shipping cost would be even higher. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do for the shipping cost. You pretty much got this at cost. I quote $17.95 on Tindie to many countries, including Australia, for shipping from the US. This particular package cost me $16.39 for postage plus the envelope and a trip to the post office and then I stood in line to make sure it got recognized as an international package right away. If it gets mixed in with the regular post by dropping it in a box, it will take at least a day to sort it into international shipping and takes longer to get there. When shipping this item, I also have to fill out a customs form and the product cannot be shipped without one which also puts it in the international shipping category. I can't legally ship anything of value internationally that doesn't have that form. That takes time as well. Please check for yourself on the USPS website to know that I did not gouge the shipping cost. Australia is in price rate group #3. https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c341 USPS is actually quoting $17.25 for that price group from the US. I got it a bit cheaper since I created the label through PayPal's shipping service. Really, I'm trying to do the best I can to strike the balance on shipping costs and packaging. There are no other vendors of this type of product that provide any type of case and so I thought I was doing one better by including the crib to keep them together. I'm not complaining...just want you to know that you didn't get gouged on shipping and what the reason for the crib was.