Scan to Save: Arbitrage Between Paper and Digital
Remember when e‑books were supposed to undercut paper editions—no printing, warehousing, shipping, or returns to pay for? Fast‑forward ten years, and you’ll often pay more for a DRM‑locked Kindle file than for a used paperback plus scanning.
Case in point:
- The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited: Ebook (buy): $25.57 (Amazon) (Also available for $39.99 (!) on Google and CUP), Paperback: $8.48 (including shipping if you have Prime) and up for a used book in 'very good' condition.
- How Will You Measure Your Life?: Ebook - $19.99, Paperback - $1.79 and up (if you use Prime, shipping is 'free,' or at least can be amortized over lots of books, making the costs negligible).
Now add in scanning. Services like 1DollarScan charge $1.20 per 100 pages. (The service doesn't return the physical copy as they cut the spine to scan. The destruction of the physical copy also addresses some copyright concerns.) For a 240‑page book, How Will You Measure Your Life?, you can get a DRM‑free PDF that you can keep forever for $5. There lies an arbitrage opportunity.