At present, book pricing is based on printed sheets, which is basically calculated by 2 yuan of printed sheets. Another pricing method is four to five times the direct cost of books. Li Bo calculated an account for the reporter: in the traditional book profit distribution, the cost accounts for 40%, publishers give sellers a discount of 60% to 70%, earning a gross profit of about 20%, wholesalers earn a profit of 5% to 10%, and the rest is the profit space of retailers, that is, bookstores, which is above 30%.

Converted into the book price according to various compromise ratios, it is probably like this: a 20 yuan book costs about 8 yuan, the publishing house earns 4 yuan, the wholesaler earns one or two yuan, and the bookstore earns 6 yuan. Some big bookstores purchase goods directly from publishers without going through wholesalers, and their profit margins will be higher.

It seems that the bookstore is the most profitable in this profit chain, but Li Bo thinks that "high risk and high income" is appropriate, and the operating cost of the bookstore is also very high, including storefront, water and electricity, employee salaries, taxes and other expenses, accounting for almost 15%. The bigger the bookstore, the higher the daily expenses. This explains to some extent why some small bookstores or newsstands can often sell at a discount. The key lies in low operating costs.