Just to repeat, this is what Justin Jordan has said about digital vs. paper self publishing
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/07/3...comment-735399
I find that most people just flat out don’t have any idea how much it costs to manufacture things. Like, not even a little.
I work in comics, where the idea that digital comics should be .99 because print comics are 2.99 -3.99 , with the idea that bulk of a comic’s price is in the printing of the physical object.
It isn’t. One of my trade paperbacks costs about 1.50 to print. The single issues cost about a a quarter. And for bigger publisher, it’s going to be even cheaper. The printing and shipping of the physical objects accounts for at most 10% of the cover price for any of the books published by the large publishers.
I would guess that the same sort of scale is true for prose books. I do know, for sure, that what you’re paying for when you buy a hardcover at full price isn’t the object. You’re paying a premium to get it FIRST.