Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
My guess is that any net profitability must be marginal -- otherwise more libraries would do it. But it's all speculation.
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Of course it's all speculation. Speculation is fun.
Still, at a minimum, there's a lot more potential loss than profit on each individual account. And as you pointed out, as the price of a membership goes up, the more the profitable paid patrons will drop out. I even suspect $50/year is a psychologically important pricing point. "Only a buck a week," even the marginal might think, but that's about as high as they'll go. And once they stop subsidizing the heavy paid users, it's game over.
I don't think thirty books a year is excessive. Some, many even, only read library books. If FLP is their main source (and they've probably joined because of a dire local alternative), easy-peasy. Speaking just for myself and I'm a heavy reader, about a third of my books each year are bought, which puts the remainder of my reads, amounting in the high two figures, sourced elsewhere.