Shipping isn't bad, small HeNes are a LOT more robust than ion lasers and such. I think the most I ever paid was $15 to ship a Uniphase 1145P which is about 2 feet long. I got some small tubes and power bricks from Sam in a $10 flat rate box. The important part is packing. Roll the head in bubble wrap and securely tape an extra wad around each end. Coil the cord around and then put that in a box with some foam peanuts. Wrap the power supply in bubble wrap and tape that, add it to the box and stuff peanuts in the gaps. If you have to ship a bare tube, roll on a couple layers of bubble wrap, cut up a cardboard box and roll a tube of cardboard over that to form a tube a couple inches longer than the laser tube. Stuff some bubble wrap in each end to protect the mirrors and tape everything. For small stuff USPS is cheaper, for larger things UPS is, as long as it's domestic shipping. Either way the key to survival is packing. You want the fragile item to be padded and then secured so that it doesn't float around inside the box and bang against other items. If you ship several fragile items, pad them and then tape them all together and stuff the peanuts in around them to keep everything from moving around. Loose items will quickly sift down to the bottom of a box of peanuts and end up right against the bare cardboard.
