65% of US Households are Amazon Prime

Though selling direct is tempting, the cost of POD shipping cuts into any benefit to the customer. Even selling my book at cost, but adding shipping, would end up costing more to an Amazon Prime customer. Ultimately, POD (ie: BookVault) can’t compete with Prime.

https://businesstats.com/total-number-of-households-amazon-prime-subscription-usa

Above link is a study that shows the statistics.

Kickstarters have the energy and excitement of the EVENT, so backers will pay the shipping. But regular sales of paperbacks can’t compete.

(Note: the study link has some funky filter over it to encourage clicking on ads. The close X is in the upper right corner of the screen)