A typical wholesale price as set by a publisher is about 50 to 60% of the RRP for mass-market stuff and 80% for specialised titles. But most bookstores buy the

A typical wholesale price as set by a publisher is about 50 to 60% of the RRP for mass-market stuff and 80% for specialised titles. But most bookstores buy their stock from middle-man distributors on a returnable basis. That's a couple of clicks of about 10 to 15% each on top of the wholesale price, plus the store has to add their operating costs and margin onto that. So discounting is very difficult for a small shop. Compared to Amazon which buys huge volume directly from publishers on a non-returnable basis and can park slow-selling stock in warehouses for years at a very low per-item cost.