those boxes were never free, are you kidding me? the boxes have been getting smaller and smaller as the prices steeply increased, flat rate priority boxes are an absolute joke now.  Sell the USPS to somebody that can run it properly or at least break even.  Sorry and sad, government cannot do anything right. It is quite easy to take unwanted cardboard and cut/construct your own boxes... just need a razor knife, heavy duty packing tape and possibly a stapler if you want to get fancy