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I went to a postal outlet today in one of the pharmacies to buy a couple boxes in which to send away gifts. The clerk rang them up to the tune of $48.00 for 2 empty, cardboard boxes! I almost had a heart attack! Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? I though she would say woops, sorry, made a mistake, but nope! $48.00! Why would they be so expensive?

Because they were flat-rate shipping boxes that i:nclude the cost of shipping. But without knowing what you were buying it's hard to say.  
 
For example, Canada Post sells a box that is roughly 15x10x5 inches and i:ncludes shipping anywhere in Canada for up to 5kg of weight. It sells for $22.99  
 
Edited by JosephC, 2020-11-30 19:15:17

$48 is very steep for two boxes, they must have been YUGE, or sold with prepaid postage for a heavy load as J suggested.  
 
If you have any branded cardboard boxes at home (from electronics, etc.) that are sturdy and the right size, you could turn them inside-out so the brown sides are facing out, then use packing tape along the open edges to seal it.  
 
Some stores probably have loads of empty cardboard boxes, if you ask a clerk nicely while doing your essential shopping, maybe they can give you one or two from their rear stockroom.  
 
Edited by HelpfulAvocado, 2020-11-30 19:19:46

I didn't know the price of the box i:ncluded the cost of sending it! I wish the clerk would have clued me in!

Really is you can send up to 5kg or 11lbs anywhere in Canada be sure to weigh it but you can get quite a bit in it.  
I use them all the time it's far cheaper then using your own box as I found out about a year ago.

The clerks at the retail postal outlets often aren't very good at clarifying how things work. It's frustrating for sure.