That's a tough one. Shipping in general has gone up considerably over the past few years. $5 isn't all that bad for USPS priority mail or even standard parcel post dependign on the items. I would have no problem with it to be honest.

I did just order 3 props from Hobby Lobby though and the shipping cost was surprisingly only $3. We'll see what method is used and how long it takes.

One thing I do is try to anticipate what small hardware and other miscelaneous items I will commonly need and buy them whenever I am placing larger orders that generally get free shipping. These keeps stuff on-hand and saves on shipping cost.