Money making business

by Skinnedsheep 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Skinnedsheep

  Guesses

  est. Number of bibles printed 2,000,000

  suggested donation for each- $50-60

  total revenue from sales- 100,000,000

  minus dirtbag apostates like me who won't pay x.75

  total revenue generated $75,000,000

  est cost to produce per unit including labor, material and support- $20.00

  total cost to print 2,000,000 copies $40,000,000

  total profit realized after donations received- $35,000,000

  its a racket but definitely not a stunt they can do every year. Limited potential for future profits.

  I think that the new bible is more about doctrine than money. it will have to be significantly different to justify replacing everyone's bible.
• 

  problemaddict

  Your cost and suggested donation are way off. It cost them less than a dollar to make a bible, and I am sure the flock isn't donating over 20 per if they donate at all.
• 

  Skinnedsheep

  Less than a dollar to print a deluxe bible with a leather cover??

  what country do you live in?

  The estimate may be well off but it is not less than a dollar when you factor in insurance, labor, housing, food, medical, power, paper, ink, glue, leather, cardboard, trucks, fuel to ship, etc.
• 

  Athanasius

  While it's true that leather bound Bibles have a retail cost of $50-$75, the manufacturing costs are a lot less. I used to work for a retail bookstore chain and the discount for Bibles was around 50%. This means that the retailer paid the distributor $25 for a Bible that would be sold for $50 retail. The distributor received a similar discount from the publisher, and the publisher got a discount from the printer.

  Keep in mind that the Watchtower employs slave labor, whereas a for profit printer employs union labor. Since the Watchtower doesn't provide retirement or medical benefits for their workers, the Watchtower has minimal labor expense. The cost of materials would be their biggest expense in producing a Bible. Plus the Watchtower doesn’t have to pay out royalty fees, as the NWT is their own invention.

  So my guess is that the new deluxe NWT costs the Watchtower only $2 or $3 to print.