Perhaps they want you to have the option of buying it without the lid, so you can use it as a flower vase. Nice and multifunctional, or something like that, but I see this strange practice in more and more shops. A good example is the bikini, which used to be sold as a complete set. Now you have to pay for the bottoms and the top separately. And what about the printer? You used to get one with a cable, now you get a printer without a cable. That's like buying a watercolour or fridge without a cable.