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And what about savngs by retailers and distributors ...
Continuing with my previous post. We always see the argument that the savings are only the $1 in printing costs. And, of course we must remember the server costs involved in ebooks.
However, the focus here should be on the entire supply chain. The publisher saves $1 in printing, but what about the retailer and distributor? Cut out the transportation costs. The physical warehouse space. The bookstore rent or mortgage. The physical shelves. I can't believe that the server costs more than a physical book store costs.
Then there are the labor costs. At the current U.S. minimum wage of $7.25 plus the employers share of social security plus a smidgen for unemployment tax the average worker costs about $0.13 per minute. Now add in the manpower costs of moving the boxes and pallets through the warehouse; loading and unloading the trucks; sorting the books and shelving them in the local store; time spent on the reference desk and checkout time by cashiers. Every minute of personnel time added to getting that book through the system increases the cost by 13 cents.
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