Retailer Commissions - How Much?

[knowithall]

I'd like to know how to calculate or research what cut of profits are taken by various retailers, both online and brick-and-mortar book stores.

I understand Lulu takes a 20% of net profits (list price minus the manufacturing costs).  But I haven't found any mention if there are additional commissions cut out if the book sells on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or if copies are sold at the local Borders bookstore down the street.  Other than the $75 globalREACH Distribution package, what fees are there, if any?  For instance CreateSpace has a low per-book fee but charges 20% off net profits for their eStore, 40% for sales via Amazon, and 60% for copies sold elsewhere (online & offline).

Also, is the $75 a one time fee for my account, an anual fee, a per-title fee, etc?

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

[Peter May]

Your books sells either directly by Lulu, i.e. by someone ordering from this site or via distribution, which is effectively Amazon.

The 20/80 model is sold via Lulu. Via distribution another cut goes to the seller (as one would expect).

When you have uploaded a book at the end of the process you set your retail price at anything from cost upwards. The higher you set your retail price the more profit you get and the calculator shows what you earn from Lulu sales and Distribution Sales. See http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Publishing-Process/Retail-pricing-example-Distribution/ta-p/32976

If you use Lulu's free ISBN and free extended distribution then you can get your book on Amazon etc at no cost to you other than buying one proof copy for yourself at the print price (not the retail price).

If you want to use your own ISBN you need to pay $75 for Global Distribution which gets the book on Amazon and makes the book available for bricks'n'mortar stores to order. In practise it is extemely rare for them to do so - for a whole raft of reasons mostly to do with the margin they make and not getting sale or return terms.

If you know a local bookshop that wil stock your book you are better to buy stock directly atthe print price and deal direct with the shop. Therefore free Extended Reach is a good option.*

*Nore, if you are outside the USA the the US Govt steals 30% of the profit of sales in the US when you use Extended

[Glenn_H]

Each retailer creates their own terms for using their distribution channels. Generally speaking, a retailer's split is approximately 50% of sale price for print books and 30% for eBooks. Please keep in mind this is just a general estimate.

[knowithall]

Thanks for the info guys, so it sounds like once you delve into other distribution channels, the retailer commission will vary depending on the retailer. Do they take a cut of the profits or a cut of the book's list price?

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Peter May wrote:

When you have uploaded a book at the end of the process you set your retail price at anything from cost upwards. The higher you set your retail price the more profit you get and the calculator shows what you earn from Lulu sales and Distribution Sales. Seehttp://connect.lulu.com/t5/Publishing-Process/Retail-pricing-example-Distribution/ta-p/32976

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This was something I didn't totally understand.  I understand the "Lulu Price", but the Retailer Price seems a little odd.  Maybe it's because I'm coming here from being familiar with Createspace which uses very specific percentages and printing costs don't vary between their distro.channels.

Page Cost - it's the same, easy.
Binding Fee - Okay, so Lulu has a higher "binding fee" than other retailers.  Got it.
Production Cost - This is simple Math, got it.
Creator Royalty - why is this different?
Lulu Commission - $2.50 because $21 x 0.20 = $2.50; so where'd the $1.00 come from in the Retail Price column?
Lulu Marketplace - $21.00 got it.  $10.50 = what?  And why's there a "x2" below it?

I've searched through Lulu's FAQ and KB and even contacted their support but haven't gotten any sensible explanations.  I can't be missing something complex, can I?

Any clarity would be awesome. Thanks!

[kevinlomas]

I am not sure that retail price even matters because you have no control of it and it is added to the price they pay for the book.

What is important is you not adding too much to the price because by the time it does get to, say, Amazon, and they add their bit, it will simply be too dear compared with mass-printed books.

Do not forget that if some other publisher was doing your book they would possibly only pay you 5p per sale, so you adding £1 profit (Lulu still call it Royalty) to a book you create here is a huge increase over that 5p, and you will sell more books than if you set your profit to £5.

You have to compete do not also forget.